Building Regulations Part B

The Home Office has released a guide titled "A Guide to Making Your Small Block of Flats Safe from Fire" in consultation with experts from the fire, business, and housing sectors. The purpose of this guide is to provide advice and suggestions to aid in complying with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (as amended). It is important to note that it is your responsibility to ensure that you comply with the legislation and seek legal advice if needed.

Download the Guide

A Guide to Making Your Small Block of Flats Safe from Fire offers easy-to-follow and practical advice for individuals who are responsible for fire safety in small blocks of flats to comply with fire safety regulations and keep their premises safe from fire.

Such persons include:

social housing provider
private sector landlords
freeholders
resident management companies
right to manage companies
managing agent

This guide focuses on small, general needs blocks of flats that:

were constructed as a purpose-built block of flats; or
were converted into a block of flats in accordance with the 1991, or later, versions of the Building Regulations; and
were, in either case, designed on the basis of a ‘stay put’ strategy, whereby, in the event of a fire in one flat, occupants of other flats are normally safe to remain within their own flats.

The guide is applicable to three-story blocks with not more than six flats, comprising a ground, first, and second floor.

The Home Office has released a guide titled "A Guide to Small Non-Domestic Premises Safe from Fire" in consultation with experts from the fire, business, and housing sectors. The purpose of this guide is to provide advice and suggestions to aid in complying with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (as amended). It is important to note that it is your responsibility to ensure that you comply with the legislation and seek legal advice if needed.

Download the Guide

A Guide to Making Your Small Non-Domestic Premises Safe from Fire has been published to assist persons responsible for fire safety in small non-domestic premises to comply with fire safety legislation and make their premises safe from fire.

The Home Office has released a guide titled "A Guide to Making Your Small Paying-Guest-Accommodation Safe" in consultation with experts from the fire, business, and housing sectors. The purpose of this guide is to provide advice and suggestions to aid in complying with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (as amended). It is important to note that it is your responsibility to ensure that you comply with the legislation and seek legal advice if needed.

Download the Guide

A Guide to Making Your Small Paying-Guest-Accommodation Safe aims at providing practical advice for persons responsible for fire safety in small premises that have simple layouts, limited fire risks and a small number of bedrooms designated as guest sleeping accommodation for short-term lets, such as small bed and breakfast, guest houses and self-catering accommodation.

The guidance applies to:

single premises of ground floor, or ground and first floor, providing sleeping accommodation for a maximum of 10 persons, with no more than four bedrooms on the first floor, such as houses, cottages, and chalets.
individual flats (whether within a purpose-built block of flats or a house that has been converted into flats), other than unusually large flats (e.g. as often found in mansion blocks in London).

The principles and recommendations in the guide can also be applied to smaller outdoor accommodations such as: holiday caravans, camping and glamping pods, bothies, lodges, shepherds’ huts, tents, tree houses and yurts.

If you are involved with any project which is subject to Building Regulations approval, it is important that you ensure that the design is fully compliant in order to avoid the disappointment and upheaval that can result from failing to incorporate a necessary measure.

Over the years, we have received many urgent requests for works to be carried out on a finished building which has failed the final Building Regulations inspection for a Fire Safety issue which should have been considered and incorporated at an earlier stage.

In addition to some of the more obvious examples such as Fire Alarm Systems, Emergency Lighting and Fire Extinguishers, items which are often overlooked include green emergency door release call points and disabled refuge alarm systems in multi-storey premises.

If you would like goodwill advice or wish to check that your project is compliant, please call Fixfire®, we will be pleased to help.

The following Building Regulations have particular relevance to fire safety.

Building Regulations Approved document B (Fire Safety)

Building Regulations Approved document M (Access to and use of buildings)

The Planning Portal is the UK Government’s online planning and building regulations resource for England and Wales. These documents can be downloaded from HERE.

Premises Guides. Which one applies to you?

Building Regulations Part B

Fire Safety Building Regulations