Industry Viewfinder
What percentage of your properties have a Category LD2 fire detection system installed?
to communal areas of blocks of flats and HMOs, not to the individual flats or houses.
LEGISLATION POST-GRENFELL In 2017, the Grenfell Tower fire in London took the lives of 72 people, including 17 children and 15 of the 37 disabled residents, and injured more than 70. In response to the fire, guided by the Hackitt review of building regulations
and fire safety and the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, the Government made several changes to fire safety legislation. Te 2021 Fire Safety Act clarified and furthered the duties of the responsible
person, required to share fire safety information with residents, as well as keep documentation of the building’s structure, external walls and flat entrance doors, and ensure regular checks of equipment and fire doors. In 2022, Te Building Safety Act established the Building Safety Regulator
(BSR), giving the body and local authorities further powers to take action against violations of building regulations. Further changes were introduced to protect ‘higher-risk’ buildings, defined
as those over 18 metres tall, or with seven or more storeys. Under the changes, developers need to obtain approval from the newly established BSR to build ‘higher-risk’ buildings, also to make changes to existing ones. Responsible persons of buildings of this height have to prepare floors and
building plans as well and share this information with their local fire and rescue service. Te Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 introduced further requirements
for an ‘accountable person’, to be held accountable by the BSR for ensuring fire risk assessments are conducted regularly, and if any faults are found, safety measures are put in place.
TWO YEARS OF CHANGE While promising, questions remain over how well this change has been adopted. Looking back on our previous study in 2023, more respondents are now
working on housing that requires further requirements for responsible persons, up this year to 74% from 56% last year, with no significant change in the location of each study’s respondents. In the same years, the vast majority of those that managed housing
applicable to the various updates are meeting the new requirements, although a minority remain yet to action them – almost up to a third in buildings over 18 metres.
What percentage of the housing you’ve worked on in the last 6 months would you estimate has unsafe cladding?
BUILDINGS OF ALL HEIGHTS For the rules that apply to buildings of all heights, there was a rise in respondents who believed the rules to be applicable to their stock, a corresponding rise in those who had taken action to meet these rules, as well as a small rise in those who were yet to take action. Te number of respondents who had actioned the measures prior to the legislation changed little.
DISPLAYING FIRE SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS When asked if they display fire safety instructions in their stock following fire safety regulation updates, this year 52% had done so prior to the updates (56% in 2023), 33% did so because of the updates (12%, 2023), 8% believed the rules to be inapplicable to their stock (28%, 2023), and 8% believed the rules applied to their stock, but were yet to install them (4%, 2023).
PROVIDING INFORMATION ABOUT FIRE DOORS Tis year, 47% said they had provided information about fire doors to their tenants before the updates (53%, 2023), 33% had actioned this because of the changes (17%, 2023), 8% did not believe the changes were applicable to them (26%, 2023), and another 8% believed the rules said they should inform tenants about fire doors, but were yet to do so (4%, 2023).
OVER 11 METRES More consistently, there was less change year on year in those who believed the rules for buildings of 11 metres or higher were not applicable to their stock. Tough still a small minority, the number who believed the rules were applicable to them, and were yet to take action, were more stark here.
CHECKING FIRE DOORS TO RESIDENCES Asked if they check fire doors at the entrances of individual flats every 12 months following the updates, 19% were doing so prior to this (17%, 2023), 20% have done so because of them (13%, 2023), 4% were yet to action this (2%, 2023), and 57% said the rules didn’t apply to their stock (68%, 2023).
CHECKING FIRE DOORS TO COMMUNAL AREAS Te new requirements for buildings over 11 metres also include checking fire doors in communal areas every three months.
26 | HMMAugust/September 2024 |
www.housingmmonline.co.uk
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