Legal context
The Fire Safety Act 2021 confirmed that the structure, external walls and flat entrance doors of a multi occupied residential building fall within the Fire Safety Order 2005. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 then added duties by building height: resident information and fire door checks in all blocks, quarterly communal door checks and annual flat entrance door checks above 11 metres, and secure information boxes, wayfinding signage and monthly equipment checks above 18 metres. A communal assessment covers the shared parts, not the inside of a leaseholder's flat, unless a Type 3 or Type 4 scope is agreed.
Why this sector is different
- Stay put strategies depend on compartmentation nobody has opened up and checked
- Flat entrance doors are leaseholder property but a landlord duty under the 2022 Regulations
- Service risers, meter cupboards and old cable penetrations breach compartment lines
- Bin stores, buggy stores and mobility scooter charging sit on the only escape route
- Contractor works to one flat can quietly break protection for the whole stair
Typical scope on a blocks of flats job
- Type 1 communal assessment as standard, Type 2 to 4 where compartmentation is in doubt
- Flat entrance door sample against FD30S with self closer and smoke seals
- Evacuation strategy tested against the building, not the previous report
- Communal detection and any AOV or smoke control checked against design intent
- Emergency lighting on stairs, lobbies and external escape to a place of safety
- Resident information pack and fire action notices reviewed against Regulation 8
Common findings we record on blocks of flats sites
- Stay put in place with no compartmentation evidence behind it
- Flat entrance doors replaced by leaseholders with non fire rated doors
- Riser and meter cupboard doors missing intumescent seals or locks
- Combustible storage, prams and bikes in the protected stair
- No record of the quarterly communal door check the 2022 Regulations require
How often to reassess
Annually as a baseline for a low rise block, and sooner after works to the structure, a change of evacuation strategy, a cladding or balcony issue, or a reported incident. Blocks above 11 metres also carry the quarterly communal fire door check and the annual flat entrance door check.
What it costs
Fixed fee agreed up front. A small converted block of 4 to 6 flats sits at the lower end, a purpose built block of 20 to 40 flats with a single stair in the middle, and multi block estates are priced per block with a portfolio rate. Fire door registers are quoted per doorset.