Today, there is understandably a great deal of attention paid to health and safety regulation of all types. Whether it is electrical safety standards or fire safety regulation, there is little room for compromise when it comes to making sure the correct procedures and features are in place to ensure the safety of all individuals in public and private spaces.

When it comes to fire safety for flats, it is essential that a fire risk assessment is performed. This is a way of evaluating the conditions of a building and highlighting areas that might need attention before it is safe for residents to inhabit the property. Depending on the findings of this assessment, a legally responsible person, such as the landlord or manager of a block of flats, is required to carry out a number of modifications.

These changes will be governed by the latest Fire Safety Standards from the government and should always be applied with professional help from qualified expert, to ensure that all considerations are taken into account and the correct changes are made to the property.

What does a fire risk assessment look like?

A fire risk assessment is a process as well as a physical record. Once the inspection is carried out by a professional, a legally-recorded document will be created that outlines the various aspects of fire safety in any given property. This document must be carefully stored as it may need to be inspected by safety authorities in the future.

Also, the document will need to be renewed or replaced following the most recent fire safety assessment. Ultimately, your fire safety document will include all the recommendations relating to fire safety standards that should be carried out by the person responsible for the property.

Who is responsible?

When it comes to fire risk assessment for flats, landlords or managing agents acting on behalf of the freeholder, or the actual freeholder themselves, has a legal responsibility to arrange for a fire risk assessment to be carried out. However, the landlord or managing agent will need to officially nominate a responsible person who will be responsible for maintaining a fire risk assessment. This person’s name will need be to be officially recorded.

Ongoing maintenance of fire safety measures

Flats should be designed with fire safety regulation in mind. For instance, it is a legal requirement for all blocks of flats to have a fire risk assessment before tenants are allowed to inhabit them. This applies whether they are houses converted into flats or purpose built flats.

Aspects that should be designed to improve the overall safety of the building will include things like communal areas and front doors, where fire-resistant materials are usually required to limit the chance of fires spreading quickly. In theory, the role of a building manager or freeholder is to make sure that existing precautions are maintained and replaced when necessary.

However, it is sometimes necessary for new changes to be added to a property due to them not being included in the building’s original design, or updates to government regulation, which means that added protection is needed.

If, for whatever reason, there is doubt about the building’s ability to protect its inhabitants from fire and reduce the risk of any fires spreading to other buildings, a more extensive assessment may be required.

Basic principles of a fire risk assessment for flats

The measures required to make a building safe are not the same for every building, as there are many things to consider, such as the age of the building, its proximity to other buildings, its size or even its layout. This makes it important to always seek the advice of professionals, who can make the assessment based on all the important factors that will impact the fire safety of your building.

Below are some basic principles for fire risk assessments:

Stairs, corridors, fire exits and any passageways that would be used for people to escape from the building during an emergency must be clear, sufficiently signposted and lit by emergency lighting.

There should be a suitable degree of compartmentalisation between individual flats to ensure that fires do not spread easily from one to another.

Communal areas and flats must be reasonably separated, making fires less likely to spread within a building.

Carrying out your fire risk assessment for flats

You are not legally required to employ a professional to perform a fire risk assessment, however, if you don’t, you must be completely sure you are able to take into account the current legislation and guidance from the government about maintaining effective fire safety standards and acting within the most updated version of Fire Law.