FRConsultants

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THE FIRE SAFETY ACT 2021
An integral piece of law that all those
responsible for multi-occupied buildings should
know and understand
Presented by Dorian Lawrence, Managing Director
of FR Consultants.
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Dorian Lawrence
MCIOB, C.Build E, MCABE Managiing Diirector,, FR
Consulltants A Chartered Building Surveyor and
Chartered Building Engineer with 35 years'
experience in external façades in construction,
process, project management, materials, design,
programming and testing.
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The UK's Leading Façade Experts
We work natiionwiide,, proviidiing an end-to-end
sollutiion to façade and fiire safety,, and
complliiance.. FRC''s mission is to make
Britain''s buildings safer,, compliant,,
saleable,, mortgageable and insurable.. We
deliver services nationwide,, with a highly
qualified workforce..
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What is the Fire Safety Act?

• The Fire Safety Act was introduced on the 19th of
  March 2020.
• It became an Act of Law on the 29th of April 2021
  after passing through parliamentary process and
  receiving royal assent and commenced in full on
  the 16th of May 2022.
• The Act follows the Government Fire Safety
  Consultation
• The Fire Safety Act is the first legislative step
  in the process of implementing the
  recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry -
  Phase 1

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The Fire Safety Act 2021
The Act makes essential changes to the Fire
Safety Order (2005). Where a building contains
two or more sets off domestic premise, the
Responsible Person must take account off
structure, external walls and flat entrance doors
in a fire risk assessment.
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Section 1

• Premises to which the Fire Safety Order applies
• Section 2
• Power to change premises to which the Fire Safety
  Order applies
• Section 3
• Risk based guidance about the discharge of duties
  under the Fire Safety Order
• Section 4
• Extent, commencement and short title

The Fire Safety Act 2021 makes essential
amendments to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety)
Order 2005, including the types of premises to
which it applies and clarifications of the scope.
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SECTION 1
All multi-occupied buildings (of any height) in
England and Wales must have a Fire Risk
Assessment which takes into account (via an
FRAEW)
Structure and external walls (assessments may
need to check through to internal plasterboard)
Doors between domestic premises and common parts
Attachments to the external wall, including
balconies
Doors and windows within the external wall
Any common parts
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SECTION 2

• SECTION 3
• Risk based guidance about the discharge of duties
  under the Fire Safety Order.
• Where it is alleged that a person has contravened
  regulations made under article 24 of the Fire
  Safety Order
• Proof of failure to comply with applicable risk-
  based guidance may be evidenced to establish a
  contravention
• Proof of compliance with applicable risk-based
  guidance may be evidenced to establish that there
  was no contravention

• Power to change premises to which the Fire Safety
  Order applies.
• The Fire Safety Act 2021 gives relevant
  authority the power to amend the Regulatory
  Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 for the purposes
  of changing or clarifying the premises to which
  it applies.
• In England, the relevant authority refers to
  the Secretary of State.
• In Wales, the relevant authority refers to the
  Welsh Ministers.

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SECTION 4
Commencement
In England
Section 2 of the Act commenced on the 29th of
June 2021
In Wales Welsh ministers have commenced all
sections of the Fire Safety Act as of the 1st of
October 2021.
Section 1 and Section 3 of the Act commenced on
the 16th of May 2022 meaning the Fire Safety Act
is now in full force.
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What is the new Fire Risk Prioritisation Tool?
A new Fire Risk Assessment Prioritisation Tool
has been made available following the
commencement of sections 1 and 3 of the Fire
Safety Act. The tool can assist the Responsible
Persons in showing due diligence and assist in
establishing in any proceedings that they are
meeting their obligations under the FSO (as
amended by the Fire Safety Act 2021).
Competent Fire Safety Professionals are expected
to prioritise buildings in Tiers 1 and 2.
Following completion, a priority rating will be
given which will assist with prioritising the
review of the fire risk assessments for the
building, including external walls. The results
may be referred to, and relied upon, in relation
to any legal proceedings concerning a responsible
persons alleged contravention of the duties in
the FSO as amended by the Fire Safety Act.
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What information is required?
What do the priority ratings mean?

• Before the responsible person can utilise the new
  tool, they will need to ensure they have the
  following information
• Height of the building (in storeys)
• Composition of external wall and covering
  materials
• Most recent fire risk assessment for the building
• Details of any balconies on the building
• Composition of windows
• Number of staircases
• Details of current evacuation strategy
• Information on the buildings fire safety systems,
  sprinklers or communal fire alarms
• If the building is designed as general or
  specialised
• Details of any recent fires

Tier 1 - take immediate action to engage a
competent (Very High) professional who can advise
on external walls and update the FRA Tier 2 -
take action as soon as practically possible to
engage a (High) competent professional and update
the FRA Tier 3 - appoint the services of a
competent professional (Medium) when they are
able to do so (this reflects the understanding
of availability of competent fire safety
professionals) Tier 4 - not expected that the
responsible person will need (Low) to appoint a
competent professional to assess the external
walls. May wish to bring forward review of
FRA. Tier 5 - consider those duties in the FSO
amended by the (Very Low) FSA when next reviewing
FRA
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How will we assess the at risk buildings?
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PAS 9980 FRAEWs
As part of ongoing reform, the Government have
commissioned a new Publicly Available
Specification (PAS) code of practice for
examining external walls of existing
multi-occupied buildings of any height. The PAS
9980 has been developed by the British Standards
Institute (BSI) and was published 12th January
2022. The FRAEW to which PAS 9980 refers is not
within the competence of a typical Fire Risk
Assessor who carries out the FRA for a block of
flats. Where an FRAEW is considered necessary,
the PAS is intended to provide recommendations
and guidance tailored to the particular risk
posed by fire spread over external walls, and to
provide tools for a competent person to carry out
the FRAEW. Examples are buildings in which the
external wall construction can readily be
confirmed as being of traditional masonry
construction, or cases in which it can,
otherwise, readily be determined by a typical
fire risk assessor (e.g., from the age of the
building if it predates the mid-1960s, from an
operation and maintenance manual or an existing
report by a competent person, based on a relevant
BS 8414 test) that no FRAEW is necessary.
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How do the risk ratings work?
PAS takes a risk-based approach rather than a
compliance-based approach
HIGH RISK Category 3 ACM
The PAS seeks to apply a degree of quantitative
and qualitive judgement, however any FRAEW will
inevitably be to a large degree subjective.
MEDIUM RISK LOW RISK 75mm masonry wall
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Factors for Consideration
Facade Configuration Building Height Height of
Cladding above the Ground Extent of Cladding
Extent of Continuous Cavities Continuous
sections of Spandrel Panels Setbacks and
Overhangs Proximity of Windows and Openings
Presence of Vents or Service Openings Presence
of Combustible Materials to Openings on the
Escape Routes Attachments such as Balconies
Fire Strategy Occupancy Evacuation Strategy
Escape Route Design Compartmentation Smoke
Control Fire Alarm and Detection System Fire
Suppression Fire-Fighting Facilities Rising
Mains Fire- Fighting Lifts Specific Fire
Hazards
Fire Performance Cladding Material Cavities and
Cavity Barriers, Fire Stopping Gaps
Insulation Substrate including Fire Protection
of Structural Frame Sheathing Board Spandrel
Panels
Risk Rating
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Sample Report
In each of our reports we ensure the Façade
Materials, Façade Complexity and Fire Strategy
Measures are assessed and ranked accordingly in a
tabular format.
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Review Risk Factor Analysis
As a baseline, you should assume during the
analysis that the starting point is high risk
Factoring in each of the three elements in turn
determines how this effects the overall risk
scale. It will be important to detail your
considerations and limitations when preparing
this analysis. The outcome of your assessment
could require further intrusive analysis of fire
engineering determination, especially where the
conclusions cannot fully confirm whether the
combustible elements within the wall can remain
in-situ without further compensatory measures
being required. The scale is an intrusive tool
and should only be used to indicate where the
risk sits broadly within a band i.e. high, middle
or low.
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An Example Report
Location of façade/cladding set back from main
elevation
High Pressure Laminate with combustible insulation
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Expected Skillsets of a Competent External Wall
Assessor
The cultural change, training, metrics, tools
and resources applied to health and safety now
need to be applied to technical competency. -
Adam Nicholson, McLaren Construction. The FRAEW
to which PAS 9980 refers is not within the
competence of a typical Fire Risk Assessor who
carries out the FRA for a block of flats. PAS
9980 has been specifically developed for
competent Fire Engineers and other competent
building professionals undertaking a Fire Risk
Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW). A key
requirement for all three levels is to know the
limitations of their skillset and can draw in
additional skills if required.
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Fire Safety Act Compliance with FRC
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Regulations
Recommendations from the Hackitt report and the
Grenfell Tower Inquiry will form part of future
regulations under section 24 of the Fire Safety
Order.

• Secure Information Boxes
• The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 will
  make it a legal requirement from 23 January 2023
  for existing high-rise residential buildings to
  have a Secure Information Box installed on the
  premises. The regulations will require the
  responsible person to install a suitably secure
  information box in, or on, their building.
• They will also be required to provide
• Their UK contact details
• The UK contact details of any other person who
  has the facilities to, and is permitted to,
  access the building as the responsible person
  considers appropriate
• Copies of the buildings floor plans which
  identify specified key fire-fighting equipment
• A single page block plan which identifies
  specified key fire-fighting equipment
• The information in the boxes is information only
  of use by and interest for the fire and rescue
  service, who should have access provided. Boxes
  should be maintained, and their contents kept up
  to date in line with the duties imposed by the
  regulations and the Fire Safety Order.

• Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans
• The Grenfell Tower Inquiry made recommendations
  for the preparation of PEEPs for relevant people
  to be required by law and that the owner and
  manager of high-rise residential buildings be
  required to keep these plans on site in a Secure
  Information Box.
• STATUS The Fire Safety Consultation consulted on
  proposals for PEEPs but found that the issue was
  extremely complex. The Government sought further
  views from those most likely to be impacted
  through a public consultation, which ended in
  July. The consultation raised more questions
  around the substantial difficulties of mandating
  PEEPs in high-rise residential buildings around
  practicality, proportionality and safety. Given
  these concerns, the Government will undertake a
  new consultation, including a proposal called
  emergency evacuation information-sharing
  (EEIS).
• The consultation will look to ensure that the
  golden thread exists between planning for the
  safe evacuation of a mobility-impaired person
  when needed and the response of the fire and
  rescue services in the event that a building
  needs to be evacuated.

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A Summary

• The Fire Safety Act 2021 makes assessing the
  external walls (including attachments) and flat
  entrance doors in multi-occupied buildings of any
  height a mandatory requirement meaning that even
  buildings that do not fall into the scope of the
  Building Safety Act are protected.
• The Fire Safety Act commenced fully in England on
  the 16th May 2022, so those responsible for
  ensuring compliance with these new requirements
  will need to be planning accordingly.
• The Building Safety Act is still in the process
  of being finalised. Once it passes, new and
  existing buildings over 18mtrs/7 storeys will be
  subject to a stringent new set of requirements,
  including safety case reports and Golden Thread
  information gathering.
• Both pieces of legislation will greatly enhance
  life safety in all multi-occupied buildings
  through more stringent assessments,
  risk-management and accountability, albeit
  increasing the cost to the lessee.

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an end-to-end solution to façade safety and
compliance.
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consultants.co.uk