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You need a fire risk assessment for the communal areas of blocks of flats rather than the flats themselves.  This is to ensure that a fire in one flat does not impact the safety of occupants in other flats and to ensure all other occupants can escape safely.

Having said that, the flat entrance doors to flats do form part of the assessment and we also need to determine what level of smoke detection you have in your flats.  So, we don’t necessarily have to access all of the flats, other than check a sample of flat entrance doors and ask about the detection.

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, it’s the communal areas which require a fire risk assessment.  This is also a requirement under the new Building Safety Bill and up and coming Fire Safety Act 2021.

Only in extreme cases, where the compartmentation of the block of flats is in severe doubt, would we need to inspect and assess the flats as part of a more intrusive survey (types 2-4 fire risk assessments).  This is rare though.

What needs assessing is the communal areas to ensure it is adequately protected and compartmentalised to protect the occupants means of escape route.

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The frequency of a fire risk assessment is generally related to the risk.  Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, you must ensure the assessment is reviewed on a regular basis and the general rule is that these should be done annually.  This is always the case for high rise blocks of flats and the fire brigade would not expect anything less.

I would always advise that all residential properties have their fire risk assessments reviewed annually.  This is because each of these buildings is a sleeping risk and therefore, requires the highest standard of compliance. 

Where you have lower risk blocks of flats of say 2 floors or less and say less than 3 flats, then it can be agreed to carry our a fire risk assessment every 2 years and in extreme cases, every 3 years.  Some managing agents review their fire risk assessments in house every other year and use a qualified company every two years. 

We can work with you and offer a range of options for carrying out fire risk assessments on a risk based and client friendly basis.

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The fire regulations for the communal areas of flats falls under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, Building Safety Bill and Fire Safety Act 2021 which is due to come into force soon.

The requirement is for the responsible person to carry out a fire risk assessment for the communal areas which should ensure that the flat entrance doors are fire resisting and have self-closing devices. 

Each flat should have mains-wired smoke detection.  The requirement for a fire detection system in the communal areas depends on whether the flats are converted or purpose-built.  It also depends on the number of floors and flats in the building and number of escape staircases.

The fire risk assessment for the communal areas will include all flat entrance doors (although generally speaking only one-two doors need to be checked) so the cost can be shared between all tenants/landlords etc.

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If you require a fire risk assessment for the communal areas (otherwise known as common parts) of your block of flats, then we would be delighted to help you carry this out.

We have a team of qualified assessors who specialise in carrying out these assessments for both purpose-built and converted blocks of flats.  Sometimes these communal areas can comprise of just a few metres and be just a single storey.  It is often frustrating for landlords who feel such a small communal area should not be subjected to this legislation.

However, the size of the communal areas is irrelevant as far as the law is concerned but of course, can lead to fewer recommendations in a fire risk assessment report.

We need to know the age of the building, how many flats, floors and communal staircases.  Whether you have an existing fire alarm system and emergency lighting is important as well as the location of your gas and electrical meters.

Whatever the answers to these questions, Whale Fire can help and carry out these fire risk assessments to your communal areas quickly and for a competitive fee.

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Whale Fire use a nationally recognised PAS 79 fire risk assessment template which is detailed, well organised and also easy to understand for the client.  People often want to know what type of template they should use.  The template you use, although important, is not as important as understanding what you are doing and what you need to look for when carrying out the assessment.

You can have the best template in the world but that doesn’t make you a good assessor.  Fire risk assessment templates vary from a simple checklist template to a hugely detailed matrix report.

You should adopt a template that works for you and is easy to complete and understand.

You should, however, never think that having a good template will make you a good assessor. A competent experienced fire risk assessor using a bad template would win every time against a bad assessor with a superior template.

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Lots of people are asking what the new PAS 9980 code of practice is all about.

I wanted to summarise what the code is and how it will apply to you as the responsible person for a block of flats.

PAS 9980 is a new documented code of practice which has been commissioned by the Government.  The actual title is ‘PAS 9980:2022, Fire risk appraisal of external wall construction and cladding of existing blocks of flats – Code of practice’.

PAS 9980 provides a unique methodology for a competent assessor to complete and then record a fire risk appraisal of external walls (FRAEW).

The idea is to introduce a risk based, proportionate response to the external wall construction with a view to protecting the occupants of the building.

It replaces a whole range of consolidated advice notes that the Government had previously introduced.

PAS 9980 went live on the 31st January 2022.

The Fire Safety Act makes it a legal requirement for any building containing two or more sets of domestic premises to have a fire risk assessment that takes into account:

The structure of external walls, including any attachments (for example, balconies, doors and windows within walls, communal areas and all doors between flats and communal areas).

Therefore, it is crucial that external walls are assessed and considered as part of the fire risk assessment for a building.  Cladding and other elements of an external wall such as insulation can play a huge part in the spread and development of fire along external walls.

PAS 9980 is purely focused on life safety for a building and does not address (as a method) a way of proving compliance with building regulations, nor any risk to a property through fire damage.  An EWS1 form is for valuation purposes, not risk based.

Not all buildings will require a PAS 9980 risk assessment. 

PAS 9980 applies to multistorey blocks of flats, as well as student accommodation, sheltered housing and some specialised housing.

Using a risk matrix involving fire performance, façade configuration and fire strategy, PAS 9980 introduces a risk-based approach to give a low, medium or high-risk rating.    This is based on a whole range of factors such as the cladding material, building height and evacuation strategy as well as many more.

What I like about the PAS 9980 code of practice is that it introduces this risk-based approach that has been missing from fire risk assessments in the last few years.  We can consider an overall approach and take into account all of the fire safety measures in the building and the life safety risk to occupants as a whole, rather than a one size fits all approach.

Whale Fire can help you with these assessments and save you money with our pragmatic and common sense approach to our work.

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A freeholder fire risk assessment is fundamentally a fire risk assessment that is required for the communal areas of a block of flats (converted or purpose-built) which is required to satisfy the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Act 2005.  If you are the freeholder that is responsible for a flat or for the maintenance of the whole building, then it will be your responsibility to obtain a fire risk assessment.

It is sometimes a grey area, confirming who is responsible for a fire risk assessment.  If there are say six flats off a communal areas with 6 separate freeholders then you are all jointly responsible for ensuring a fire risk assessment is completed for the communal areas.

It is effectively no different to a Landlord fire risk assessment.  The most important thing is that a fire risk assessment is completed for the communal areas rather than arguing about who is responsible and not having one completed.

We specialise in carrying out freeholder and landlord fire risk assessments and can carry these out at short notice if required.

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