Fire safety requirements for flat owner

[Guest Tilly]

I recently bought the top floor flat in a Victorian converted property (5 storeys total and 4 flats, a basement flat with its own entrance and three above with a communal entrance and hallway/staircase). 
I have renewed our buildings insurance but have been told this is only valid if we are compliant with fire safety regulations for communal areas. 
Do I need to hire someone to do a fire safety assessment for our hallway/stairs? I am an owner occupier but the other two flats that share the communal hallway and entrance are rented and have tenants. 

[Mike North]

Technically no.

But the insurance company may ask about your competency to conduct a fire risk assessment before they payout any claim.

[AnthonyB]

On 20/09/2023 at 18:21, Guest Tilly said:

I recently bought the top floor flat in a Victorian converted property (5 storeys total and 4 flats, a basement flat with its own entrance and three above with a communal entrance and hallway/staircase). 
I have renewed our buildings insurance but have been told this is only valid if we are compliant with fire safety regulations for communal areas. 
Do I need to hire someone to do a fire safety assessment for our hallway/stairs? I am an owner occupier but the other two flats that share the communal hallway and entrance are rented and have tenants. 

You could do it yourself, but the premises fall out of the scope of the small premises guidance and being a conversion of an older building would fall between two very different guidance documents with very different outcomes regarding installed fire protection and fire procedures depending on when, how and to what standard it was converted, so a degree of competence is required to determine which applies.

If a modern conversion following the guidance in Approved Document B this is your guide:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-in-purpose-built-blocks-of-flats

If an older conversion or a modern one that departed from Approved Document B due to the constraints of the host building then this is your guide:
https://www.cieh.org/media/1244/guidance-on-fire-safety-provisions-for-certain-types-of-existing-housing.pdf

[Guest Rae]

I live in a 2 storey masionette shared small hallway with neighbour, fra report was done stating converted off street property, these properties were purpose built in 1920, it was a trpe 1 fra it stated one exit but we also have rear exits, they never entered the flats but recommend  grade ld2 system. Can they put a converted property if its not, can they say it needs that alarm if they didn't check the properties it's about 5ft by 5ft communal space with 2 front doors and a fuse box cupboard, the landlord also said about a hmo I said its 2 separate Dwellings we don't share amenities 

[AnthonyB]

It sounds like a completely inadequate FRA (even a Type 1 should have entered the flats to fully examine the front doors) by someone who doesn't understand the guidance. If they've never been converted they can't be s257 HMO which requires them to be:

• buildings or parts of buildings converted into self-contained flats, AND 
• The conversion did not comply with building standards and still doesn't, AND 
• Less than two-thirds of the flats are owner-occupied. 
   

Even then unless the local council has additional licensing in place for that postcode it doesn't really require much.

With your premises, even though they do require an FRA they generally require no special precautions or additional fire safety measures. The dwellings only need Grade F Category LD3 (legal minimum, recommended is Category D Grade LD2) if rental under landlord specific regulations.
Notional 30 minutes structure and front doors (self closing) and an enclosed or metal distribution board is usually all these need.