Fire safety in residential and commercial buildings

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 Report raised many issues about how fire and health & safety are managed in buildings. Our health and safety consultants, S2 Partnership, produced the attached summary of the inquiry recommendations, and the following is our briefing of this.

The Grenfell Inquiry report is an opportunity for change. It has long been the case that landlords and property managers have not given fire safety and health & safety in buildings the full and proper attention required.

It is important to note that the recommendations relate to all residential and commercial buildings and not just to high-rise properties. However, some of the recommendations are specific to those.

The sector must not wait for the government. The Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 Report report offers the opportunity to make changes now, and landlords, surveyors, and property managers should take a proactive approach and plan to implement the inquiry report's recommendations even before government implementation. It should never be too late to act.

The report states there was no contingency plan for the evacuation of Grenfell Tower in the London Fire Brigades (LFB's) operational risk database for buildings. The information on the tower was either wrong or out of date because it did not account for the refurbishment.

The British Safety Council welcomed recommendations of the report relating to proactive fire door inspections, enhanced firefighting lift inspections and a significant increase in the provision of information to the fire enforcing authorities.

The report recommends new legal duties on owners and managers of high-rise residential buildings in particular. Still, it is clear that many of the recommendations also relate to low rise and commercial property.

The British Safety Council has advised that it is calling for the government to consider the implementation of the following from the executive summary of the report:

• • • Legal requirement for the provision of up-to-date plans to the local fire and rescue service and of a premise's information box on site. These information boxes are also to include information about the construction of the building, fire lifts, and details of any occupants whose ability to evacuate may be compromised by disability or other circumstances. Any changes in this information should be notified to the authorities.
    • Legal requirement for enhanced, monthly checks of firefighting lifts and provision of information to the local fire and rescue service.
    • Provision (for all existing and future buildings) for the local fire and rescue service to be able to send an evacuation signal to all residents of high-rise buildings.
    • Legal requirement for owners and operators of every residential building to provide information and instruction to residents in a format that can be reasonably understood by all.
    • Urgent inspection of all fire doors of every residential building which contains separate dwellings, as well as a legal requirement to inspect fire doors on a quarterly basis.
    • Amongst the many recommendations in the report, putting evacuation plans in place for all high-rise buildings is paramount. Building owners and managers would be required by law to develop evacuation plans for all high-rise buildings if adopted. Still, it is not yet known how these changes will impact the sector in terms of legal obligations.
    • However, whether residential or commercial, all multi-occupied buildings should have proper evacuation plans regularly advised to all occupiers.
    • Personally, develop plans for residents whose ability to evacuate themselves is compromised by disability or other circumstances.
    • The provision for all buildings of alarm systems, building plans, construction information, emergency procedures and fire lifts to emergency services, and electronic and physical copies to be immediately available both on site and remotely.
    • An "urgent" inspection of fire doors in all properties with separate dwellings – not just high rises.
    • Improvements to fire signage.
    • "Vigorous" progress in the slow rate of the removal of dangerous cladding – with particular attention to be applied to decorative features that could allow a fire to spread horizontally.
    • The provision of evacuation strategies which will include the retrofitting of manual or smart alarms to alert residents.
    • The provision of clearly marked floor numbers, on each landing, stairwells and in a prominent place in all lobbies to be highly visible in normal and low lighting or smoke.

In consultation with S2 Partnership, we can assist all landlords in ensuring their buildings' health & safety compliance from initial risk assessment to implementation of compliance works and the provision of fire and evacuation guidance to all occupiers of their buildings.