A new guide to fire safety in purpose built blocks of flats has now been published by The Local Government Group, aiming to bring consistency to fire risk assessments and help keep residents safe.

The new guidance is titled ‘Fire Safety In Purpose Built Blocks of Flats’. It is published by the Local Government Group and sponsored by the Communities Department and the Electrical Safety Council and is intended to fulfil the need for a clear and consistent message to enable flat owners to comply with the relevant legislation and provide some definitive standards of fire safety.

By law, fire risk assessments must be carried out and a fire policy established in the communal areas of blocks of flats. The responsibility for these duties falls on the party with ultimate control of the management of the building: the freeholder, landlord, Residents Management Company or Right To Manage Company.

However, confusion often arises over what is required as part of a fire risk assessment, its precise scope and how frequently one should be carried out. This has led to widely varying outcomes with excessive action being taken in some blocks of flats and in others none at all, potentially endangering lives.

ARMA has welcomed the publication of the first, and much needed, national fire safety guide for purpose built blocks of flats. “The importance of this new guidance cannot be overestimated,” comments chairman Peter Dening.. “ARMA have pushed long and hard for some national guidance on fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats and we hope this new document will finally provide specific and practical advice to those responsible for carrying out fire risk assessments. As an indication of the significance and demand for this guidance in the leasehold sector, ARMA recently devised a dedicated training course in anticipation of its publication – it sold out within days”.

Launched in July?, the 192 page document covers guidance on a range of topics including ‘stay put’ policies, alarm systems, requirements of a fire risk assessment and the law relating to fire safety in these buildings. The document also includes relevant case studies that focus on some of the common issues found in blocks of flats with suggested fire safety solutions.

ARMA was part of an industry group established to help produce the guidance, which also included the Federation of Private Residents Associations along with a variety of industry professionals. Federation Chairman and member of the reference group Bob Smytherman said:

“Ever since The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 was approved by Parliament on 7th June 2005 and came in to law on 1st October 2006 those of us responsible for fire safety in blocks of flats have been calling for clear, comprehensive and unambiguous fire safety guidance and I am delighted that we have been able to inform the new guide.”

“The previous advice covered most types of property, but it was never sufficient for common parts of blocks of flats and some landlords and residential management companies which are often run by volunteer Directors were unsure of their legal responsibilities in such buildings. This was also compounded by fire risk assessors being unclear about the level of investigation required when carrying out risk assessments, which often led to confusion over the need for things like firefighting equipment, alarm systems and emergency lighting in the common ways.”
The guide is free to download from www.arma.org.uk and from www.local.gov.uk/fire-safety-guidance

A recent case heard in the Court of Appeal means landlords may have to pay for internal repairs, says ARMA

An important decision has been made in the Court of Appeal in the case of Grand v Gill. The case revolved around the question of whether or not internal walls class as part of the structure of flats. The Court ruled that “plaster forming part of or applied to walls and ceilings is part of the structure of the relevant premises” and unanimously agreed that an obligation to repair “structure” (such as the obligation contained in section11 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985) included plasterwork. This decision is important to local authorities, social landlords and housing lawyers as well as leaseholders, because the issue of whether landlords are liable to repair damage to internal plasterwork has been unclear for a number of years.

So what does this mean for leaseholders? ARMA says that, despite the judgement in Grand v Gill, if the lease clearly puts the internal plaster on walls of flats in the ownership and repairing responsibilities of the lessee, then the landlord cannot be held liable. If the lease is not explicit and simply states that the landlord is responsible for structure and exterior then the responsibility for repairs could be his. And what if the damage to the plaster work was caused by an external leak from the structure? That would be classed as ‘consequential’ damage that the landlord should be responsible for.