The team at 4site Consulting fill us in on the Fire Safety Bill as well as discussing the expected reforms in store for Building Safety.

2020 has been an unusual year so far to say the least. With the whole world dealing with an unprecedented pandemic, the UK government has certainly had its hands full- indeed, it would be perfectly logical to assume that most of their plans would have been side-lined for later on (rightly or wrongly so!). 

Matters relating to public safety, however, is one topic that simply should not be deferred. There have been steps towards answering the calls for the UK’s Building Safety system to be reformed which were initiated following the tragedy that was the Grenfell Tower fire of June, 2017. So, whilst nothing has changed yet, we do now have a blueprint of the intended regulations and a Fire Safety Bill that seeks to authorise an update to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

The combination of these updates will have widespread ramifications affecting planning, construction, building control, building management, occupation by residents and, importantly, new enforcement controls and oversight for all of the aforementioned. We are only going to focus here on those changes that affect building management.

The Fire Safety Bill 2020

On Thursday 19 March 2020, the UK Government introduced the Fire Safety Bill (FSB), which seeks to make changes to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. These changes affect all managed residential blocks located in Great Britain (aside from Scotland, which has its own Fire Safety Legislation) of any size that are classed as sleeping accommodation; blocks of flats, student accommodation, hotels, hostels and any other property where the buildings main use includes sleeping.

The amendment will focus on two specific areas- residents’ doors and external wall structures, and will place a clear legal obligation onto the Duty Holder (i.e. the Freeholder, RMC and any Managing Agent acting on their behalf) to ensure that these areas do not compromise the overall Fire integrity of the building.

As it stands, the Fire Safety Bill still requires Royal Ascent before becoming law, however, once it becomes Law, it will be effective immediately. Whilst not a huge amount has changed, the FSB will clear up any ambiguity in responsibility and some duty holders will likely need to review the way they manage this.

Changes of note include:

Residents Fire Doors

Historically, many Property Professionals have taken the view that, because non-communal doors were outside of their usual remit of control and maintenance obligations, that they then could not manage or influence the adequacy of the doors’ fire integrity.

This had left ensuring the Fire integrity of residential escape routes as a whole being a particularly difficult task to achieve and, with no clear legal obligation, many Leaseholders were free to contest paying for any necessary inspection regime or remedial works.

Once this Bill has passed, Freeholders, RMC’s and their agents will have a clear legal obligation to ensure that the residents’ entrance doors are suitable and sufficient in preventing the spread of smoke and flames.

They will then need to ensure that all Leaseholders’ fire doors leading onto escape routes are, and remain, sufficiently Fire Rated and this is something that can only be achieved through regular inspection. It is important to note that, when the Bill is passed, you can no longer satisfy your legal obligation by simply asking for residents to inspect their own doors and report back any problems. As a duty holder, you must now ensure this to be the case and this means holding your own records of routine inspections and acting accordingly on any remedial actions.

When inspecting Residents Entrance Doors, or any Fire Doors, it is important to select a good, competent Fire Risk Assessor with an understanding of Passive Fire Protection.

The frequency of completing such inspections is, at present, anticipated to be defined within guidance and there has been some suggestion that this may be at least quarterly. We will know for certain in the near future. In the interim you must ask yourself; how frequently should you inspect residents’ doors that will leave you feeling comfortable that you have done all that you reasonably can do to have ensured their adequacy?

External Structure: Cladding, Balconies & Windows

Until the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the external structure of a building- particularly the cladding, was seldom considered as a significant risk on the basis that building control measures were assumed to be adequate enough not to allow combustible materials to be affixed to the outside of any building. 

This assumption was proven incorrect for reasons that are still being investigated.

The introduction of the Fire Safety Bill 2020 means that Freeholders and their Managing Agents will now have a duty to ensure any external wall system on their properties, or anything affixed to the building (such as balconies), will not promote the spread of Fire, regardless of building height. 

For relatively new, or well documented buildings, this could be a simple process of reviewing construction information and completing a spot check to be sure it was installed as per this documentation. For other buildings with no historical data, it may require an intrusive survey in order to check the materials for combustibility and the adequacy of their installation.

Government Proposals for Building Safety Reform

In June 2019, the government published the ‘Building a Safer Future’ consultation, detailing proposals to achieve long-term reform of the building safety system. These changes will apply to the property industry as a whole and has bearing on the planning and construction of new buildings, through to completion, occupation and everything beyond.

The proposal begins by including any buildings that are 18 metres (or 6 stories) and higher, with indications of an intention to increase the scope gradually thereafter by lowering that height. It is still early days and as of May 2020 the reform still needs to be drafted and put through Parliamentary Debate, however, once it does come into effect existing buildings will be introduced to the system in a “phased way” (although there is little detail as to quite how this phased process will be operated).

One of the main things that will come from Building Safety Reform will be the introduction of important new roles that will work together to ensure safety. 

One of the roles which we have talked about a lot at industry events is that of a Building Safety Manager, and this often comes with an array of questions- some of which are yet to be answered and are still under debate. 

We have however, put together an outline of each of the new roles that are to be introduced, including what we know about them so far:

Building Safety Regulator

• The Building Safety Regulator will be a new government body set up to oversee every stage of the building safety management process across the UK. The Building Safety Regulator will possess strong enforcement powers, akin to that of the HSE – It will also be run by the HSE.
• Among many things, this new Regulator will be responsible for issuing and controlling building licenses that authorise the buildings occupation, as well as, overseeing and intervening (if necessary) in renovation and refurbishment projects. Furthermore, they will be accessible to all parties in the chain, including residents who may choose report unsafe activities or management practices.
• The Building Safety Regulator will also have pivotal roles in the Planning and Construction of new buildings, but this article focusses on management, so more on that another time.

Accountable Person

• The Accountable Person for a building is set to be the Landlord/Freeholder, or someone from a board of RMC directors, for that building. The Accountable Person can appoint a professional (e.g. a Managing Agent) to assist with their responsibilities, but they will not be able to delegate their accountability for these responsibilities to that professional.
• The role of the Accountable Person takes on ultimate responsibility for fire and structural risks of the building – they must sign the building safety charter and they are also responsible for appointing (and funding) the Building Safety Manager role for the building. As far as we know, the Accountable Person can be an individual or a legal entity, but they must meet a competency criteria level, which is yet to be announced.
• If you are a Managing Agent working on behalf of a freeholder or RMC, then its worth keeping an eye on the competency frameworks that will no doubt be released soon (we will provide an update once they are finalised) – As a property professional, this will give you some idea as to whether you wish to – or, indeed, if you are able to – speak to your clients about assisting them with this new responsibility.

Building Safety Manager

• The role of the Building Safety Manager will be appointed by the Accountable Person and they will be responsible for maintaining the overall safety of the building. 
• The role is a vital part of the reform and will be key to maintaining the Building Safety Case, and ensuring that residents engage with the important and significant risks documented within.

• The safety case for each building will contain the “totality of the building safety information”, detailing every schematic and technical feature from the buildings planning and construction phases as well as detailing all current fire and structural risks. The Building Safety Manager must ensure that any changes to the building or projects that affect the Fire or Structural integrity are recorded here as the Building Safety Regulator will have an ongoing keen interest in this document.
• Much like the Accountable Person, the Building Safety Manager must also meet a competency criteria level that is yet to be announced.

The Resident

Ok, so the residents have always been there and so this isn’t exactly a ‘new role for the industry’ as the title suggests, although the residents have been handed a significantly more prominent part to play – and it makes complete sense.

• If you are residing in a building where your safety is managed by others, then why shouldn’t you have ready access to pertinent information that may one day save your life?  Under the new system, Residents are given a voice, entitling them to access relevant safety data and, among other things, have a means of reporting safety concerns to the Building Safety Manager for their building.
• It will be a requirement under the new regime for the BSM to initiate and facilitate this process through a Residents Engagement Strategy. Residents will also be able to report unsafe practices to the Building Safety Regulator, if they feel that their concerns are not being listened to.

What’s Next?

This article seeks to prepare you as much as we can for the changes soon to come. As the plans progress through the usual parliamentary processes the specifics of them may be subject to change.

We will keep everyone updated as soon as more definitive information comes to light. In the interim, it is worth considering how you plan to implement these changes and beginning to act on those points that you are able to right now.

You can always call and speak to one of our many safety professionals for more advice or assistance on this. We are always happy to support where we can and are already have a number of ongoing solutions in development that are specifically designed to assist you with these emerging requirements.

Sticking with the theme; this stage of the process should be viewed akin to the initial site plan of a building for which planning permission has already been granted – the building is coming and, although we don’t quite know quite when it will arrive, we can now begin to visualise what that final structure will look like.