If you're a regular reader of our blog, you'll know that we've spent considerable time getting to grips with the new building safety regime introduced by the Building Safety Act 2022 (the BSA). This sizeable piece of legislation has introduced a large number of new obligations for those responsible for the safe construction and operation of residential buildings, but it's worth noting that the BSA is only one string in the legislative bow of building safety.

Those involved in real estate, either as a developer, an owner or an occupier, will be familiar with the existing fire safety regime which has been in operation for a number of years, and stems from the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the Fire Safety Order). Following the increased focus on building and fire safety following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the Fire Safety Order was further amended by virtue of the Fire Safety Act 2021, which extended the scope of the Fire Safety Order to make it clear that the structure and exterior (and anything attached thereto) of a building containing two or more dwellings also fell within the scope of the Fire Safety Order. And we're about to see a further increase in application of the Fire Safety Order, with supplemental provisions concerning high-rise residential buildings taking effect from 23 January 2023 pursuant to The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 (the Regulations).

The explanatory notes to the Regulations state that the intention of the legislation is to make provisions regarding precautions to be taken or observed in relation to the risk to safety of persons from fire in high-rise residential buildings. These take the form of additional obligations which fall on those qualifying as "responsible persons" under the Fire Safety Order, which (broadly speaking) will be the person who has control of the premises, such as the owner of the property, or managing agents appointed to manage the operation of the building, or indeed an employer where part of the building is a workplace Some of the new obligations introduced by the Regulations apply to all buildings, for example, the requirement to display fire safety instructions in a conspicuous part of the building, covering matters such as the evacuation strategy for the building. However other, more stringent, duties only apply to those who are responsible for high-rise buildings.

The definition of a "high-rise residential building" in the Regulations is very much aligned with that of a "higher-risk building" under the BSA, in that it is a building containing two or more residential premises, that is at least 18m above ground level or has at least seven storeys. Where these criteria are met, there are some fairly specific obligations to be complied with by the responsible person under the Regulations, including (amongst others):

  • installing a secure information box in or on the building which contains the contact details of the responsible person, and which can be accessed by the fire and rescue authority;
  • preparing a plan of each floor of the building, identifying the location of all lifts and specifying whether the lift is one for use by firefighters, and the key fire-fighting equipment in the whole building – the floor plans are then to be placed in the secure information box; and
  • preparing a single-page building plan containing information as to the use of the building, information about the building, such as its dimensions, access points, the location of any firefighting shafts and the main stairways of the building, which must then be placed in the secure information box.

The aim of the Regulations is to provide the fire and rescue service with information which will assist them with their operational pre-planning and that will be of value to front line crews should a fire occur. As such, in addition to keeping the above-mentioned materials in the secure information box, the responsible person must also email copies of the same to the fire and rescue service, and keep them updated as and when any significant changes are made to the layout of the building or the location of fire-fighting equipment.

The government has published detailed guidance for those who fulfil the role of a responsible person, and whilst these changes may present an additional administrative burden, there can be no argument with the intentions behind the Regulations, which are endeavouring to avoid a repeat of the tragedy seen at Grenfell.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.