High-rise fire evacuation policy
Absence of clear policies and procedures for managing a transition from 'stay put' to 'get out' in high-rise building fire emergencies.
50 items
5 sources
2 inquiries
Strongest theme matches
Mixed across source types and ranked by classifier confidence plus text match strength.
Inquiry recommendation
100match
P1-29 - Fire services develop evacuation policies and training
Fire and rescue services develop policies for partial and total evacuation of high-rise residential buildings and training to support them.
Matched on
terms: evacuation, fire, high, rise
Inquiry recommendation
100match
P1-28 - National guidelines for high-rise evacuations
The government develop national guidelines for carrying out partial or total evacuations of high-rise residential buildings, such guidelines to include the means of protecting fire exit routes and procedures for evacuating persons who are unable to use the stairs in an emergency, or who may require assistance (such as disabled people, older people and young children).
Matched on
terms: evacuation, fire, high, rise
Inquiry recommendation
99match
P1-31 - Require evacuation alarm systems in high-rise buildings
All high-rise residential buildings (both those already in existence and those built in the future) be equipped with facilities for use by the fire and rescue services enabling them to send an evacuation signal to the whole or a selected part of the building by means of sounders or similar devices.
Matched on
terms: evacuation, fire, high, rise
Inquiry recommendation
99match
P1-30 - Require evacuation plans for high-rise buildings
The owner and manager of every high-rise residential building be required by law to draw up and keep under regular review evacuation plans, copies of which are to be provided in electronic and paper form to their local fire and rescue service and placed in an information box on the premises.
Matched on
terms: evacuation, fire, high, rise
Inquiry recommendation
91match
P1-35 - Require clear floor number markings in high-rise buildings
In all high-rise buildings floor numbers be clearly marked on each landing within the stairways and in a prominent place in all lobbies in such a way as to be visible both in normal conditions and in low lighting or smoky conditions.
Matched on
terms: high, rise
Inquiry recommendation
90match
P1-36 - Require understandable fire safety instructions
The owner and manager of every residential building containing separate dwellings (whether or not it is a high-rise building) be required by law to provide fire safety instructions (including instructions for evacuation) in a form that the occupants of the building can reasonably be expected to understand, taking into account the nature of the building and their knowledge...
Matched on
terms: evacuation, fire, high, rise
Inquiry recommendation
90match
P1-32 - Require personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs)
The owner and manager of every high-rise residential building be required by law to prepare personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs) for all residents whose ability to self-evacuate may be compromised (such as persons with reduced mobility or cognition).
Matched on
terms: evacuation, high, rise
Inquiry recommendation
90match
P1-26 - Equipment for BA communication in high-rise buildings
The LFB urgently take steps to obtain equipment that enables firefighters wearing helmets and breathing apparatus to communicate with the bridgehead effectively, including when operating in high-rise buildings.
Matched on
terms: fire, high, rise
Inquiry recommendation
89match
P1-1 - Require external wall information for fire services
The owner and manager of every high-rise residential building be required by law to provide their local fire and rescue service with information about the design of its external walls together with details of the materials of which they are constructed and to inform the fire and rescue service of any material changes made to them.
Matched on
terms: fire, high, rise
Inquiry recommendation
85match
P1-38 - Require quarterly fire door checks
The owner and manager of every residential building containing separate dwellings (whether or not they are high-rise buildings) be required by law to carry out checks at not less than three-monthly intervals to ensure that all fire doors are fitted with effective self-closing devices in working order.
Matched on
terms: fire, high, rise
Inquiry recommendation
85match
P1-37 - Urgent fire door inspections required
The owner and manager of every residential building containing separate dwellings (whether or not they are high-rise buildings) carry out an urgent inspection of all fire doors to ensure that they comply with applicable legislative standards.
Matched on
terms: fire, high, rise
Inquiry recommendation
85match
P1-8 - Require monthly firefighter lift inspections
The owner and manager of every high-rise residential building be required by law to carry out regular inspections of any lifts that are designed to be used by firefighters in an emergency and to report the results of such inspections to their local fire and rescue service at monthly intervals.
Matched on
terms: fire, high, rise
Inquiry recommendation
81match
P1-5 - Require building floor plans for fire services
The owner and manager of every high-rise residential building be required by law to provide their local fire and rescue services with up-to-date plans in both paper and electronic form of every floor of the building identifying the location of key fire safety systems.
Matched on
terms: fire, high, rise
PFD report
77match
Zainab Hashim and Tafaoul Abdulkarim
Residents in council-owned blocks of flats were unaware of the "Stay Put" fire policy, and communication methods have not changed despite this proven lack of awareness, risking future deaths.
Matched on
terms: fire, policy
PFD report
77match
William Erskine
Current building regulations do not mandate fixed window restrictors in high-rise residential buildings, including existing ones, allowing windows to open fully and posing a significant fall risk.
Matched on
terms: high, rise
Committee recommendation
77match
#32 - Insurance premiums will remain high without full property protection alongside life safety.
In written evidence, the ABI called on government to adopt an approach that priorities property protection and building resilience alongside risk to life. It said that without a standard requiring the removal of combustible material in external walls (insulation and cladding), the risk of significant fire spread would remain after remediation and there would be a limited impact...
Matched on
terms: fire, high
Inquiry recommendation
76match
P1-9 - Require monthly lift control mechanism tests
The owner and manager of every high-rise residential building be required by law to carry out regular tests of the mechanism which allows firefighters to take control of the lifts and to inform their local fire and rescue service at monthly intervals that they have done so.
Matched on
terms: fire, high, rise
Inquiry recommendation
76match
P1-6 - Require premises information boxes
The owner and manager of every high-rise residential building be required by law to ensure that the building contains a premises information box, the contents of which must include a copy of the up-to-date floor plans and information about the nature of any lift intended for use by the fire and rescue services.
Matched on
terms: fire, high, rise
Inquiry recommendation
75match
P1-18 - Develop stay put to evacuation transition policies
Policies be developed for managing a transition from 'stay put' to 'get out'.
Matched on
terms: evacuation
Inquiry recommendation
74match
RONA-22 - Review regulations for storing explosive materials in high-rise residential blocks
The Regulations governing the storage of other potentially explosive materials in high blocks of flats should be reviewed {paragraph 173}.
Matched on
terms: high, rise
Inquiry recommendation
73match
P1-33 - Require PEEP information in premises information box
The owner and manager of every high-rise residential building be required by law to include up-to-date information about persons with reduced mobility and their associated PEEPs in the premises information box.
Matched on
terms: high, rise
Inquiry recommendation
69match
P2-10 - Require fire safety strategy from registered fire engineer at Gateway 2
That it be made a statutory requirement that a fire safety strategy produced by a registered fire engineer to be submitted with building control applications (at Gateway 2) for the construction or refurbishment of any higher-risk building and for it to be reviewed and re-submitted at the stage of completion (Gateway 3). Such a strategy must take into...
Matched on
terms: fire, high
Inquiry recommendation
69match
P1-34 - Equip fire services with smoke hoods
All fire and rescue services be equipped with smoke hoods to assist in the evacuation of occupants through smoke-filled exit routes.
Matched on
terms: evacuation, fire
Committee recommendation
65match
#13 - Government funding programmes exclude non-cladding fire safety defects, burdening property owners and leaseholders.
In their written evidence to us, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and The Property Institute also raised concerns about the exclusion of non– cladding defects from government funded programmes. The NFCC told us there was a “large proportion” of buildings needing temporary measures— such as waking watches—to ensure life safety for serious internal fire safety issues other...
Matched on
terms: fire
Inquiry recommendation
61match
P2-11 - Develop new test methods for evacuation strategy assessments
Assessing whether an external wall system can support a particular evacuation strategy is difficult because the necessary information is not always available. We therefore recommend that steps be taken in conjunction with the professional and academic community to develop new test methods that will provide the information needed for such assessments to be carried out reliably. (113.17)
Matched on
terms: evacuation
Inquiry recommendation
61match
P2-2 - Review Building Safety Act higher-risk building definition
That the definition of a higher-risk building for the purposes of the Building Safety Act be reviewed urgently. (113.7)
Matched on
terms: high
Committee recommendation
60match
#20 - Seventh Report - Building Safety: Remediation and Funding
Given that the introduction of the PAS 9980 will not result in the elimination of EWS1 forms, we remain concerned that uncertainty will remain about the safety of buildings and will continue to stymie those trying to sell their homes. We welcome the work being done with lenders to try to share information and reduce the demand for...
Matched on
terms: fire
Inquiry recommendation
60match
P1-39 - Require compliant flat entrance doors where unsafe cladding exists
All those who have responsibility in whatever capacity for the condition of the entrance doors to individual flats in high-rise residential buildings, whose external walls incorporate unsafe cladding, be required by law to ensure that such doors comply with current standards.
Matched on
terms: high, rise
Scottish FAI
59match
Simon Midgley; Richard John Dyson
Hotel operators to implement robust ash disposal procedures; prompt guest accounting during evacuations; night shift staff to participate in evacuation drills; Scottish Government to require active fire suppression in historic building hotel conversions; expert working group on fire risks; SFRS to reduce intervals between fire safety audits
Matched on
terms: evacuation, fire
PFD report
57match
Henry Boddy
There is a gap in enforcement powers regarding fire risks in residential properties, specifically the risks of a fire load arising from hoarding behaviour.
Matched on
terms: fire
PFD report
57match
Liam Allan
Inadequate visibility of riverside buoyancy aids and slow, telephone-based police-to-fire service communication create critical delays in emergency response, increasing drowning risks.
Matched on
terms: fire
Committee recommendation
56match
#2 - Seventh Report - Building Safety: Remediation and Funding
In the absence of PAS-79 guidance which was withdrawn in August 2021, it is imperative that the British Standards Institute publish its new standard as soon as possible. We urge the Government to report on its consultation on Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans at the earliest opportunity. (Paragraph 6) Protecting leaseholders from future costs
Matched on
terms: evacuation
Committee recommendation
56match
#21 - Seventh Report - Building Safety: Remediation and Funding
The evidence we received clearly indicates that it should be the regulator—and not building owners—who decides whether a building needs a fire risk assessment. As such, we recommend that the Building Safety Regulator decides whether a building needs a fire risk assessment; sets the standard that a building need to meet; sets out the methodology for undertaking assessments;...
Matched on
terms: fire
Inquiry recommendation
53match
RONA-29 - Appraise tall blocks for progressive collapse, wind loads, and fire resistance
All blocks over six storeys in height should be appraised by a structural engineer: (a) whether they are susceptible to progressive collapse {paragraph 191}; (b) whether they adequately resist the maximum wind loadings which they may experience {paragraph 214}; (c) their behaviour in the event of fire {paragraph 216}.
Matched on
terms: fire
Inquiry recommendation
53match
P1-19 - Train control room staff on evacuation advice changes
Control room staff receive training directed specifically to handling such a change of advice and conveying it effectively to callers.
Matched on
terms: evacuation
Committee recommendation
50match
#21 - First report - Building to net zero: costing carbon in construction
The post-Grenfell prohibition on the use of combustible materials in external walls has had a disproportionate impact on the use, innovation and testing of structural timber. Material safety perceptions have also affected the availability and cost of insurance, making it near impossible for developers to use timber in high rise or medium-rise buildings. There has been a substantial...
Matched on
terms: high, rise
PFD report
49match
Kevin Branton, Richard Smith, Audrey Cook, Alfred Cook and Maureen Cook
The absence of a national database for gas appliances hinders rapid identification and tracing of dangerous items. Lack of mandatory recording impedes urgent communication and tracing between stakeholders.
Matched on
classifier match
Inquiry recommendation
48match
P2-21 - Introduce licensing scheme for principal contractors
That a licensing scheme operated by the construction regulator be introduced for principal contractors wishing to undertake the construction or refurbishment of higher-risk buildings and that it be a legal requirement that any application for building control approval for the construction or refurbishment of a higher-risk building (Gateway 2) be supported by a personal undertaking from a director...
Matched on
terms: high
Inquiry recommendation
48match
P2-20 - Require principal designer compliance statement at Gateway 2
That it be made a statutory requirement that an application for building control approval in relation to the construction or refurbishment of a higher-risk building (Gateway 2) be supported by a statement from a senior manager of the principal designer under the Building Safety Act 2022 that all reasonable steps have been taken to ensure that on completion...
Matched on
terms: high
PFD report
45match
Grenfell Tower
No structured health screening programme is in place for individuals impacted by the Grenfell Tower incident, risking unaddressed future health issues.
Matched on
classifier match
Inquiry recommendation
36match
RONA-25 - Design all system-built blocks to resist internal explosions and progressive collapse
All system-built blocks should be designed to withstand an internal explosion of a specified intensity without suffering progressive collapse {paragraphs 129, 188}.
Matched on
classifier match
Inquiry recommendation
36match
RONA-19 - Disconnect gas from unstrengthened system-built blocks to prevent progressive collapse
Gas supplies to properties in system-built blocks should be disconnected from those existing tall buildings, until they have been strengthened to prevent progressive collapse {paragraph 161}.
Matched on
classifier match
Inquiry recommendation
36match
RONA-13 - Disconnect gas supply to unstrengthened buildings susceptible to progressive collapse
Until the building has been strengthened the gas supply to it should be disconnected {paragraph 131}.
Matched on
classifier match
Inquiry recommendation
36match
RONA-12 - Design system-built blocks to resist internal explosions and progressive collapse
The structure of all system-built blocks should be designed to withstand an internal explosion of a specified intensity without suffering progressive collapse {paragraphs 131, 145}.
Matched on
classifier match
Inquiry recommendation
36match
P2-24 - Create cladding materials library for designers
We have referred to the Cladding Materials Library set up by the University of Queensland, which could form the basis of a valuable source of information for designers of buildings in general. We recommend that the construction regulator sponsor the development of a similar library, perhaps as part of a joint project with the University of Queensland, to...
Matched on
classifier match
Inquiry recommendation
32match
RONA-30 - Disconnect gas from tall blocks susceptible to progressive collapse until strengthened
If any existing tall block is found to be susceptible to progressive collapse, the gas supply should be disconnected until it has been strengthened {paragraph 191}.
Matched on
classifier match
Inquiry recommendation
32match
RONA-24 - Strengthen existing system-built blocks susceptible to progressive collapse
In system-built blocks that are susceptible to progressive collapse, it is probable that a considerable number of existing blocks are, the structure should be strengthened to prevent progressive collapse {paragraph 192}.
Matched on
classifier match
Inquiry recommendation
31match
P2-23 - Consider national building control authority
We recommend that the same panel consider whether all building control functions should be performed by a national authority. (113.38)
Matched on
classifier match
Inquiry recommendation
31match
P2-22 - Independent panel review of building control commercial interests
That the government appoint an independent panel to consider whether it is in the public interest for building control functions to be performed by those who have a commercial interest in the process. (113.37)
Matched on
classifier match
LGO / SPSO decision
13match
24-002-256 - London Borough of Enfield
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about noise nuisance from a communal door near Mr X’s property. It is unlikely we could add to the Council’s response about noise nuisance and the Housing Ombudsman is the appropriate body to consider a complaint about the Council’s maintenance of the communal area in its role as social landlord.
Matched on
classifier match