Fire safety guidance - existing high rise domestic buildings and specialised housing and similar premises: impact and effectiveness

6. Research findings: Legislative requirement

This chapter considers moving towards a mandatory approach to aspects of fire safety risk assessment.

Chapter 6 - Key points

Almost all research participants supported further consideration of a move towards making it a legal requirement to carry out premises-based fire safety risk assessments in common areas.

Some concerns were raised around the cost of carrying out the FSRAs, enforcement of actions, and the cost of compliance.

In England and Wales a duty holder is legally required to carry out a premises-based fire safety risk assessment of communal areas in domestic premises, such as common stairs and passageways. New legislation is expected to clarify that flat front doors, building structure and external walls should form part of this. Scotland has different fire safety and housing legislation. Although considered good practice, there is no legal requirement to undertake a fire safety risk assessment at present. Occupiers have a legal duty to keep common areas clear of obstructions and combustible items. Common areas and any firefighting facilities provided must be maintained in an "efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair".

Survey respondents were asked whether Scotland should also make it a legal requirement to carry out a fire safety risk assessment and act on its findings. Almost all (19) were in favour of this approach. None of those opposed were from high rise housing.

Supportive comments were around the importance and value of prioritising fire safety; requiring housing providers to adopt high standards of fire safety within their buildings; and empowering landlords/factors to take action in response to risk assessments.

One respondent noted: "As a factor we advise owners to keep landings, stairs and communal areas clear as part of fire prevention/safety, however, owners do not always heed our requests. We also advise that front doors (apartment doors) must remain fire doors and can only be changed to fire safety standard, again owners do not always heed our requests." – Survey respondent, Specialised housing

Where there were concerns about moving to a mandatory approach, these related to the cost of carrying out the FSRAs, enforcement of actions (especially where the properties in question were in the private sector), and the cost of compliance (again especially where the properties were in the private sector and even more so if the owner was an elderly and/or vulnerable owner).

"It is unclear in our organisation whose responsibility this would become. We have private owners in some of our blocks; it may be that some of the front doors to these properties are non-compliant and the private owner does not have the resources to install a new compliant door - who instructs this; who pays for it?" – Survey respondent, Specialised housing

Generally participants were supportive of retaining the guidance approach for managing social rented stock. There was a view that organisations have structures and systems in place to manage their stock. Further, there were some concerns around officers potentially being subject to legal action for non-compliance outwith their control – for example, failures on the part of their employers; actions (or lack thereof) of tenants; and/or risk assessment actions not being adopted through lack of resources.

"I'm in two minds about this. The English system has a bit more bite. But the Scottish prevent and educate system works well – we have a very good relationship with our colleagues in the Fire and Rescue Service. We email them every couple of days just now so they know where the Covid and suspected Covid cases are. They asked us to do that. We work closely with them. If anything goes wrong here, we would learn the lessons and move on. In England, I could go to prison. I don't like the idea that I could go to prison." – Depth interview, high rise

One respondent commented that there is now a great deal of legislation to ensure that fire safety measures are included within buildings, for example, dry risers across the social rented sector, necessary fire equipment, smoke alarms in communal areas, and now smoke alarms within the apartments as well. However, he was of the opinion that building managers' powers to respond, should owners fail to comply, were limited.

There was fairly widespread support from participants for measures that would give participants greater authority in their dealings with residents around keeping common areas clear, although not all felt that legislation was the answer.

"When it comes to walkways, fire equipment and maintenance, I think it should be law. If you've got a communal area and it's a fire route, it should be kept clear at all times. No ifs or buts. If you get the police, they can say you've had a notice on that for three weeks now and you've still not moved it. It's a fire risk. Therefore you're getting a fine and it's getting taken away or something like that. Because people don't care. You can go to their door and say 'you need to move that'. And they'll say 'what are you going to do about it?'. But as factors we can't do anything." – Depth interview, high rise

One participant commented, unprompted, that it should be a requirement that relevant staff, such as building managers, should have to demonstrate, as a requirement of their registration, that they are up-to-date with relevant legislation and Scottish Government guidance.

"So the industry needs to be more aware of its existence and like I say in Scotland we're regulated so it should be mandatory to be aware of something like that, the bare minimum that we expect our industry to maintain." - Depth interview, high rise

Controlling mobility scooters was a fraught issue in specialised housing. For some participants, the guidance was helpful in that provided back-up in their discussions with residents – they felt they had clear evidence that it was a requirement the scooters should not be stored or charged in common areas. However, for those encountering resistance from residents, they did not feel the guidance goes far enough, and considered a mandatory approach would be more appropriate.

"I do think for things like waste and storing things in communal areas we would be better with legislation where we've got enforcement where we can make and do ourselves. At the moment we can't. If somebody decides to charge his mobility scooter in the corridors we can't stop them doing it and we can't remove it without going into a long process… sometimes having to take it to court." - Depth interview, Specialised provider

One participant suggested that the Housing Regulator might consider including an indicator in the Annual Return on the Charter (the ARC) to audit social housing landlords' performance on undertaking fire safety risk assessments.

"If you give this leeway of best practice, some providers might just say that they're not doing it as it's just best practice. Now whether in the future the Housing Regulator on the ARC return starts asking for a percentage of premises fire risk assessments and for person-centred risk assessments?" - Depth interview, Specialised provider

One participant noted that this approach is already best practice within their organisation, with two fire safety KPIs in the association's strategic KPIs: reducing the number of domestic fires (by a specified percentage) and ensuring that every high rise building and all specialised housing are covered by an up-to-date fire safety risk assessment.