Hi,

I’m in a high rise building 34m with 15 floors, occupied flats with inset balconies. We have a Stay Put policy.

Our balconies need cladding remediation for flammable floors and soffits (12 months in, no progress). Our external wall cladding has a open cavity not filled by insulation and our flats ventilate into the cladding. These last two issues are not being remediated.

The Fire Risk Assessments confirm Stay Put relying on AOVs and a flat sprinkler system (>30m flow). Though an interim safety measure has been dropped by our managing agent and also removed from our latest FRA (it was an Evacuation Alert System).

I have a balcony. Should I “stay put” if there is a fire on a balcony below me or near me? We have one fire exit staircase.

Any human advice welcome. AI generally panics me.

'Stay put' is a shorthand reference - what it mean is that unless you are directly affected by fire or smoke you should be safe to remain in the building due to it's construction & safety. It doesn't mean you must stay put either. If you are aware of a fire in the building call the fire service and if you wish to you can evacuate.

Due to the size of the building there should be by law a resident engagement process where you can raise concerns and receive suitable updates on safety in the building. If you have serious concerns about safety not being addressed through the engagement process you may need to consult the fire service & the Building Safety Regulator

Thanks for the reply - I think we’ll exit in a fire if there’s no corridor smoke! I was concerned and did contact the London Fire Brigade. They seem really busy and accepted an email from the managing agent that our AOV and flat sprinklers were fine for Stay Put. The LFB didn’t ask them for any documents (they told me they were not qualified to review them anyway), did not visit the building and don’t assign case numbers.

I guess the Regulator is next. I recently discovered that the Evacuation Alert System & a LFB familiarisation visit were marked Grade 1 Hazards in the FRA action plan but were ignored for eight months before being dropped. I’m still waiting for the reasons why.

We’ve asked for a smoking ban on balconies, but been told it’s not legally possible - which we challenged and then got radio silence. Tenants are still dropping cigarette butts off balconies in one of our buildings!

I will check out the Resident Engagement Strategy to see if this helps.