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Fire Strategies
There is a national requirement to ensure fire safety matters are incorporated at the planning stage of building work.
What is a Fire Strategy Document?
A fire strategy is a complex document specifically tailored to a building, reviewing all aspects of the building’s fire safety features including construction, compartmentation, means of escape and other fire safety features/measures - including management arrangements in place to ensure it is fit for use and complies with the Building Regulations.
Approved documents are used predominantly as guidance for achieving the requirements of the Building Regulations for new residential and commercial buildings. Alternatively approaches may be used such as that described in BS 9999, or a fire engineered approach in developing a fire strategy for a premises.
Is a fire strategy a legal requirement?
Where a building is erected or extended, or has undergone a material change of use, Regulation 38 of the Building Regulations requires that a package of fire safety information must be assembled and given to the responsible person of the premises. A fire strategy is commonly used as a means for collating and providing that information - albeit in many circumstances such information is sadly not provided. More enlightened building owners, given the recommendations made in the post Grenfell Hackitt Review, are now commissioning retrospective strategies to address this lack of information.
How does a fire strategy improve my business resilience?
Completing a fire strategy will protect business procedures and assets by analysing potential fire spread and implementing a plan to minimise the destruction caused by a fire.
What is included in a fire strategy?
- means of warning – analysing the standard of fire detection required.
- means of escape – analysing the travel distances and whether the existing escape routes leading to a place of safety are suitable and sufficient for all persons.
- Provision of emergency/external lighting and fire safety signs & notices.
- internal fire spread and passive fire protection – analysing that the level of internal protection required along escape routes is necessary in order to ensure fire separation is achieved to aid safe evacuation, and meet other fire safety objectives including those required by Building Regulations.
- consideration should also be made of specific requirements for wall and ceiling linings to ensure that surface flame spread is effectively minimised
- external fire spread – analysing the possible degree of further damage should the fire spread externally via windows, across roofs, via cladding or other materials used on the external envelope, or through the transfer of heat to adjacent buildings
- access/facilities for the FRS – ensuring all provisions satisfy both the Building Regulations and the local fire authority, which includes reviewing external vehicle access; hydrants; and establishing if there is a requirement for rising fire mains, access points, firefighting lifts etc.
- other factors – these may include the use of sprinklers or other suppression systems, smoke control and ventilation systems.
- Fire safety management for the building – including the adopted evacuation strategy and fire safety training specific to the building staff.
- company policy and procedures to be implemented, such as maintaining compliance with fire risk assessments; maintenance and testing of internal systems; implementing in house fire door checks; arranging planned preventative maintenance (PPM) schedules for the fire protection systems and any other relevant services; management of contractors and creating hot work permits etcetera
Who should create a fire strategy?
Fire strategies should only be developed by a competent person with comprehensive training and experience - preferably an accredited fire risk assessor or fire engineer, depending on the complexity of the building and the design approach.
Where design needs require a fully engineered approach the services of a fire engineer should be sought to assist. In any event, the client must ensure those undertaking the development of the strategy, whether retrospectively or for new work can clearly demonstrate their experience and competency.
Please
contact us to find out more about our fire strategy consultancy service.