Fire Safety

What is the Building Safety Fund?

The Building Safety Fund (BSF) protects leaseholders from the costs of addressing life-safety fire risks, associated with cladding on high-rise residential buildings, where the building owner or developer cannot afford to do so.

An application to the BSF can be made by the organisation that has the legal obligation or right to carry out remediation work on their building (responsible entity). They may be the building’s: freeholder, head leaseholder, a management company, Right To Manage (RTM) company or social housing provider.

The BSF is part of the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government’s wider Building Safety Programme which aims to ensure that residents of high-rise buildings are safe and feel safe in their homes, both now and in the future.

The BSF was opened for applications in 2020 and opened again for new applications on 28 July 2022 for eligible buildings without a funding solution in place.

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What should I know about the Building Safety Fund, opened in 2022?

The Government is on the side of leaseholders and residents. It is committed to ensuring that people are safe and feel safe in their homes, both now and in the future.

As part of opening the Building Safety Fund (BSF) to new applications in 2022, the BSF has been adapted to ensure high-rise buildings continue to be made safe while focussing relentlessly on making sure our approach is risk-driven, proportionate and delivered more quickly.

For example, all funding decisions for new applications now involve applicants providing an assessment of the risks posed by fire spread over external walls to identify what, if any work, is needed. This is called a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW) and is undertaken by competent professionals. The FRAEW uses the new PAS 9980:2022 code of practice, with professionals using their expert judgement to assess risk and appropriate mitigations.

The BSF now cover works directly related to the recommendations of a FRAEW, conducted on an eligible building with cladding. These recommendations could be:

the removal and replacement of cladding (in whole or part)
mitigations such as the installation of sprinkler systems.

This approach is intended to increase the overall pace of addressing life-safety fire risk defects, minimise the disruption and inconvenience caused by works for those living in affected high-rise buildings, and simplify the process.

People’s safety will remain paramount.

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Who applies to the Building Safety Fund?

An application to the Building Safety Fund (BSF) can be made by the organisation that has the legal obligation or right to carry out remediation work on their building (responsible entity). Your responsible entity could be one of the following:

freeholder
head leaseholder
private sector building owner
right to manage company (RTM)
resident management company (RMC) or
registered provider of social housing such as a local authority or housing association.

Applicants can authorise a managing agent to act on their behalf: applying to the BSF and managing the application on a day-to-day basis. However, they only act on behalf of the applicant who retains the legal right to carry out works to address life-safety fire risks associated with cladding.

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How can I find out what happened to the Building Safety Fund application made for my building in 2020?

The applicant (responsible entity) should keep you updated on their application. As a minimum, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government expects applicants to provide regular updates at the following points in the process and at any time upon your request:

Documentation submitted
Eligibility outcome
Application submitted
Project procurement
Outcome of application
Commencement of works
Works completed.

You can also access the BSF Leaseholder and Residents Service if an application has been made. This is a secure online portal, designed to give leaseholders and residents status information about applications.

To access the Service you need a unique building code. If you have not received this, contact the applicant. You can use this MS Word letter template to request the code from them.

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What is a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW)?

All BSF funding decisions for new applications now involve applicants providing an assessment of the risks posed by fire spread over external walls to identify what, if any work, is needed. This is called a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW) and is undertaken by competent professionals. It uses the new PAS 9980:2022 code of practice, with professionals using their expert judgement to assess risk and appropriate mitigations.

The PAS 9980;2022 methodology has been developed by the British Standards Institution. It contains guidance, tailored to the risks posed by fire spread over external walls, and provides tools for a competent professional to carry out a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wall construction (FRAEW).

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Which applicants to the Building Safety Fund need to commission a Fire Risk Appraisal for External Walls now?

In line with the proportionate and risk-driven approach introduced in 2022, the Building Safety Fund (BSF) now covers works directly related to the recommendations of an FRAEW. This is called a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW), conducted on an eligible building with cladding, and is undertaken by competent professionals.

A FRAEW uses the new PAS 9980:2022 code of practice, with professionals using their expert judgement to assess risk and appropriate mitigations. These could involve the removal and replacement of cladding (in whole or part) or mitigations such as the installation of sprinkler systems.

BSF Applications made in 2020 that have passed eligibility checks are not obliged to provide a FRAEW. However, the applicant could choose to do one. All new applications require a FRAEW.

Applications at an advanced stage – where full funding has been approved (and on-site works started) – don’t require a FRAEW and will proceed under the old 2020 process in order to avoid undue delays and additional costs.

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What happens to existing applications to the Building Safety Fund that didn’t make it to the application stage?

Applicants who registered to the Building Safety Fund (BSF) in 2020, but did not provide sufficient technical eligibility evidence, have two months to provide this (by 30 September 2022). If they don’t meet this deadline, they will have to re-apply to the BSF using the new criteria and get a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW).

Full details of the new process can be found in the Building Safety Fund guidance for new applications 2022.

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What happens to existing applications to the Building Safety Fund that made it through to application stage?

If the building’s application has successfully passed our eligibility checks, it will continue through the original process explained here.

However, if the full funding application has not yet been approved or where works have not started, the applicant can choose to undertake a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW), conducted by a competent professional, to help inform the scope of works.

Choosing to carry out a FRAEW could mean that works could be more proportionate, minimising potential disruption to residents and leaseholders.

If either full funding has been approved, or your building’s remediation works have started, the applicant needs to continue to follow the original BSF technical requirements for the removal and replacement of unsafe cladding systems. This means that there will be no additional delays at this advanced stage in the process.

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Why not just remove the cladding?

The Building Safety Fund (BSF) has been adapted to make sure it is risk-driven, proportionate and delivered more quickly.

For instance, all funding decisions for new applications now involve applicants providing an assessment of the risks posed by fire spread over external walls to identify what, if any work, is needed. This is called a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW) and is undertaken by competent professionals.

A FRAEW uses the new PAS 9980:2022 code of practice. This code, developed by the British Standards Institution and supported by government and industry, allows professionals to use their expert judgement to assess risk and appropriate mitigations.

The BSF now covers works directly related to the recommendations of a FRAEW, conducted on an eligible building with cladding. This could involve the removal and replacement of cladding (in whole or part) or mitigations such as the installation of sprinkler systems.

The above approach is intended to increase the overall pace of addressing life-safety fire risk defects, minimise disruption and inconvenience caused by works for those living in affected high-rise buildings, and simplify the process.

People’s safety remains paramount.

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What is the developer remediation contract?

Last year, 49 of the UK’s largest developers signed a public pledge to do the right thing.

On 30 January 2023, the government published a developer remediation contract reflecting the pledge, and wrote to housebuilders and developers to urge them to sign the contract in order to make the pledge commitments legally binding.

Once signed, the contract requires developers to:

Take responsibility for all necessary work to address life-critical fire safety defects arising from design and construction of buildings 11 metres and over in height that they developed or refurbished over the last 30 years in England.
Keep residents and leaseholders in those buildings informed on progress towards meeting this commitment.
Reimburse taxpayers for funding spent on remediating their buildings through government funds such as the Building Safety Fund (BSF).

On 14 March 2023, the Government published the list of developers who have signed the contract as well as the developers who have yet to sign the contract. This list will be kept up to date as further developers sign.

Find out more information about the developer remediation contract.

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How will the developer remediation contract affect my building?

Where developers take over responsibility for works to address life-critical fire-safety defects on buildings already in the BSF process, they must:

take forward full cladding remediation works or all works recommended by a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW), carried out according to the PAS 9980:2022 methodology. For more information see What is a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW)?.
reimburse all costs incurred by BSF applicants and relevant leaseholders in developing the remediation project; and
for projects which have completed a tender for the works under the BSF process, meet the current estimated completion date.

Where buildings remain in the BSF, the developer must reimburse the department once works have been completed where:

BSF funding has been agreed and a contract signed; and
(in some cases) where BSF funding has been agreed but the contract has not been signed.

If BSF funding has been agreed but the contract has not been signed, the developer has a choice:

agree with the department that the building should continue to be remediated in the BSF process and reimburse the department; or
remediate the building themselves.

Either way, the developer has to pay.

If your building’s developer has agreed to take responsibility for works, or reimburse the BSF in full, the BSF applicant should notify you.

If your building’s developer takes over responsibility for works, under the contract, they are also encouraged to provide updates and may provide you with contact details so that questions or concerns about the works can be raised.

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Can building owners re-apply to the Building Safety Fund?

Applicants (responsible entities) can re-apply if they believe their building meets the eligibility criteria outlined in Building Safety Fund guidance for new applications 2022. They need to follow the process in this guidance.

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Can my building owner apply to the Building Safety Fund if they have already started remediation work?

Applications can be made if the removal and replacement of cladding started after 12 March 2020 and before 28 July 2022 and works have not been completed.

Applications cannot be made for buildings where cladding removal and replacement works were committed to, started or completed before 11 March 2020 when the BSF was first announced.

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Do I have to pay for safety repairs if my building is over 11 metres high?

From 28 June 2022, the Building Safety Act gave leaseholders in buildings of at least 11 metres or 5 storeys with historical safety defects financial protections. The protections prevent a landlord passing on the cost of putting right these defects via the service charge to leaseholders.

The law is quite complex on this area and the level of protection given depends on several factors. The most important being whether the leaseholder held a “qualifying lease” as of the 14 February 2022. You held a “qualifying lease” if you, or the previous owner, lived at the property as their main home, or if they did not, they did not own more than 3 properties in total in the UK.

If you have a “qualifying lease” you are protected from all costs to do with unsafe cladding and there is a cap on the amount that a landlord can pass on for non-cladding costs.

If the Landlord was responsible for the defect, for example if they were the developer, or associated with the developer, then the landlord cannot recover the cost of any cladding or non-cladding remediation costs via the service charge. This is the case even if you do not have a “qualifying lease”.

Landlords must provide a completed landlord certificate, if you request one, and in certain other circumstances, certifying if they were responsible for the defect and showing their net wealth. The latter is relevant as to how much they can pass on for non-cladding costs, if anything.

Your landlord can also ask you to complete a leaseholder d eed of c ertificate that you must provide to your landlord showing whether you held a “qualifying lease” on the 14 February 2022.

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Do I qualify for protection from paying to fix my building’s safety defects?

Under the Building Safety Act 2022, ‘qualifying leaseholders’ are protected from all costs related to fixing unsafe cladding and the cost of fixing non-cladding defects are either capped or not payable.

You are a qualifying leaseholder if your property is in a building of at least 11 metres (or 5 storeys) and on 14 February 2022:

your property was your main home, meaning it was the home where you spent most of your time, or if this was not the case
you owned no more than 3 homes in the UK.

Please note that homes outside England do not qualify for leaseholder protections (i.e. homes in Wales, Northern Ireland, or Scotland).

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What can leaseholders and residents do if their responsible entity is not taking action to rectify historical building safety defects?

The Building Safety Act 2022 created legal protections for leaseholders from historical building safety costs. The Act protects qualifying leaseholders from all costs relating to the remediation of unsafe cladding systems and contains robust protections from non-cladding remediation costs.

To ensure that those who are liable to pay under leaseholder protections actually do so, the Act includes what are called anti-avoidance and enforcement provisions. These include Remediation Orders and Remediation Contribution Orders. You can find out more in the guide Making sure remediation work is done.

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As an economic actor, will the Building Safety Fund be capped for my building?

You are an economic actor if you are a leaseholder who uses the property principally for financial gain, for example, you let your property or use it for business purposes.

Previously, funding for your building may have been capped due to subsidy control regulations that applied to leaseholders who are economic actors.

As a result of the Building Safety Act, there will no longer be a cap on the amount of funding received through the Building Safety Fund.

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How will Government make sure that building owners make high-rise buildings with cladding safe?

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government is committed to making sure that dangerous high-rise buildings, across England, are safe and that leaseholders are protected.

In June 2022, the Secretary of State wrote to freeholders and made clear that the days of leaseholders being faced with large invoices for building safety repairs are now over.

The letter reminds freeholders that: qualifying leaseholders now have protections, in law, from costs; and that they will be acting illegally if they attempt to circumvent them.

Freeholders or owners of buildings over 18 metres with cladding, who do not already have clear plans to address these issues, must act and get a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW), to the PAS 9980:2022 methodology, ready to submit to the Building Safety Fund (BSF).

Taking these steps will ensure applications can be handled in good time, reducing disruption and stress to leaseholders and residents. They must inform and consult leaseholders and residents throughout the BSF process.

In July 2022, under the Building Safety Act, new legal powers for responsible authorities came into force. Responsible authorities are those who can apply to the Tribunal for these orders, for example:

the Secretary of State
the building safety regulator
local authorities
fire and rescue authorities, and
(for Remediation Consent Orders only) a special measures manager.

This means authorities can compel freeholders to remediate their buildings through Remediation Orders and cover the cost through Remediation Contribution Orders.

The Ministry has also set up a dedicated Recovery Strategy Unit to pursue companies and individuals that fail to do the right thing.

Stronger measures in the Act include:

new powers for the Secretary of State to restrict irresponsible developers’ ability to build new homes;
expanding the scope of the Building Safety Levy so it can be charged on any new development requiring building control approval; and
improving building owners’ rights to launch legal actions against developers.

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How is Government helping leaseholders and residents with mortgage and insurance issues?

On 18 December 2023, UK Finance and the Building Societies Association issued an update to this joint statement. The statement clarifies which mortgage lenders will lend on properties with building safety issues.

These are: Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, NatWest, Santander, Skipton Building Society, TSB and Virgin Money. They have confirmed they will lend on buildings in England 11m+ in height that:

will be remediated by the developers that built them or are in a government-funded remediation scheme,
or the leaseholder is covered by the leaseholder protections described in the Building Safety Act, as evidenced by a Leaseholder Deed of Certificate.

This is a significant step forward and will enable thousands of leaseholders in homes with building safety issues to move on with their lives.

To help you understand your rights and whether you qualify for leaseholder protections, the Government has produced a Leaseholder Protections Checker and detailed guidance. The Checker uses information from leaseholders to work out the maximum amount they may be charged under the new protections in the Building Safety Act.

Those that the protections apply to will need to complete and submit a leaseholder Deed of Certificate to their freeholder who will confirm if they have to pay any money or not.

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How often should a building have a fire risk assessment?

The law does not give a specific time period for how often to undertake a fire risk assessment. It simply says that the person responsible for the assessment in your building must review it ‘regularly’ to make sure it’s up to date.

The responsible person must review the fire risk assessment if:

there’s reason to think it’s no longer valid (for example, there has been a fire in the shared parts of the building).
there have been significant changes since the assessment was done (for example, major building works or more people using the building).

The assessment itself might also include a recommendation of how often it should be reviewed or updated.

Reviewing an existing fire risk assessment can take less time and be done more frequently than carrying out a new one.

Guidance on timings

Gu idance on fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats recommends that for low-rise blocks of up to 3 storeys above ground, built in the last 20 years, fire risk assessments should be:

reviewed every 2 years
redone every 4 year

For blocks with higher risks – for example, because of the age of the building or those more than 3 storeys high – the guidance recommends that fire risk assessments should be:

reviewed every year
redone every 3 years

In extreme cases – for the highest-risk buildings – the guidance recommends doing a new fire risk assessment once a year.

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Who is responsible for carrying out a fire risk assessment?

In law, the responsibility for fire safety in the shared parts of a residential building falls to whoever has ‘control of the premises’. This is usually the owner (freeholder), a residents’ management company, a Right to Manage company, or a managing agent.

One of the duties of the ‘responsible person’, as they are known in the law, is carrying out a ‘suitable and sufficient’ fire risk assessment. Depending on the circumstances, this may be a review of existing fire safety arrangements or a new assessment.

The freeholder or management company responsible may decide to pass this duty on to a managing agent.

The responsible person or their agent may carry out the fire risk assessment themselves or may employ someone else to do it.

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How do I get a copy of my building’s fire risk assessment?

To get a copy of your building’s fire risk assessment you should contact the responsible person and ask them to send you a copy. The person who is responsible for carrying out the fire risk assessment in your building is usually the owner (freeholder), managing agent, or management company.

It is best practice for the freeholder or managing agent to provide an occupant of a building access to the fire risk assessment, on request.

What if the freeholder, management company or managing agent doesn’t give me a copy?

Unfortunately, there is nothing in law that requires the responsible person to provide residents with a copy of their building’s fire risk assessment.

Some industry bodies, such as the Association of Retirement Housing Managers, recommend that freeholders or building managers provide residents with a copy of the fire risk assessment if they ask for it. With this said, some freeholders or managing agents may ignore your request or refuse to send you a copy of the fire risk assessment.

It can be incredibly frustrating if you are unable to get a copy of the fire risk assessment, however if your freeholder uses a managing agent, there is an official complaints procedure you can follow.

First, you should complain to the individual agent directly. If that does not work you should make a formal complaint through the internal complaints procedure at the agent’s company.

If you are still unhappy, you can then complain directly to a redress scheme. All managing agents in England must be a member of one of two redress schemes:

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My building has no fire risk assessment. What should I do?

If you find out that your building does not have a fire risk assessment you should contact the freeholder, managing agent, or management company and ask them to carry out an assessment as soon as possible.

They have a legal duty to carry out a fire risk assessment on the building’s communal areas.

What if the freeholder, management company or managing agent do not carry out the assessment?

If they do not carry out a fire risk assessment, they have not met their legal duty to keep residents safe and could face an unlimited fine and up to 2 years in prison.

Complaining to your freeholder or management company

If the person responsible for carrying out the assessment is your freeholder or a management company, you can complain to them directly.

If they still will not carry out an assessment, you should contact your local fire and rescue authority (FRA). Ask your local fire service or council who your FRA is.

Your FRA is responsible for enforcing fire safety regulations and they can order your freeholder or management company to carry out a fire risk assessment.

Complaining to your managing agent

If the person responsible for carrying out the assessment is a managing agent, you should complain directly to them.

If that does not work, you should make a formal complaint through the internal complaints procedure at the agent’s company.

If you are still unhappy, you can complain to one of the organisations below. All managing agents in England must be a member of one of these two organisations:

As well as complaining to these redress schemes you could also speak to your FRA, as mentioned above.

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What is a fire risk assessment and do I need one?

A fire risk assessment (FRA) reviews the dangers of a fire breaking out in your building and recommends ways to reduce risks and protect residents.

Controlling fire risks is an important part of building management and the FRA is like the guide book for fire safety measures in your building.

The assessment looks at:

how likely a fire is to start
what would happen if a fire did start
measures to minimise the risk of fire starting or spreading
measures to keep people safe

What does a fire risk assessment cover?

A fire risk assessment covers the shared parts of a building, such as common stairwells and entrance halls, external walls and front doors to flats that open on to common areas. Also, ‘general fire precautions’ to keep people safe.

These should include measures to:

reduce the risk of fire starting, such as ‘no smoking’ signs or regular safety checks of electrical sockets or lights
reduce the risk of fire spreading, such as fire doors
alert people to a fire, such as smoke alarms
help people get out of the building, such as clear escape routes
tell people what to do if a fire starts, such as an emergency plan
reduce the harm caused if a fire starts, such as fire extinguishers or sprinklers

The general fire precautions must protect:

people in the building
people who are near the building who may be at risk if a fire started

Does my building need an FRA?

In England and Wales, all blocks of flats and large houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) must have an up-to-date FRA.

The law says the assessment must be ‘suitable and sufficient’ for the building.

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Who is allowed to carry out a fire risk assessment?

The law does not specify who is allowed to carry out a fire risk assessment, but simply states that the person must be competent enough to complete a ‘suitable and sufficient’ assessment for a given building.

The “Responsible person” is, normally, the landlord, or his agents but can include a Residents Management Company or RTM company. The “Responsible person “has a duty to organise the fire risk assessment. They can carry out a fire risk assessment, or review, themselves, but, if it is a large or complex building, or if they do not have the knowledge, or competency, to do so, they should find a specialist to do it for them.

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Who enforces fire safety law?

Your local fire and rescue authority (FRA) and your local council Private Sector Housing Team are both responsible for enforcing fire safety in your area.

If you are not sure who your fire and rescue authority is you local fire service will be able to give you their information. The fire service may also have information about the FRA on its website. You can also search for your local fire and rescue service on the Chief Fire Officers Association website.

The FRA gets its power for enforcing fire safety regulations from the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

The Order gives FRAs the power to:

inspect buildings
make the person responsible for fire safety in your building carry out a fire risk assessment or safety improvements (through an enforcement notice)
make the person responsible for fire safety tell the FRA about any changes to the building that may raise the risk of fire (through an alterations notice)
force buildings (or parts of buildings) to close (through a prohibition notice)

The local council gets its powers for assessing and enforcing fire safety matters from Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004 (“the 2004 Act”) which introduced the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).

Twenty-nine categories of potential hazard are considered of which hazard 24 is fire.
The HHSRS is the main tool for assessing fire safety risk and regulating standards in all types of residential accommodation.

The 2004 Act covers the whole building whereas the 2005 Order covers the common parts only. The 2004 Act gives the local council the power to serve a range of notices including an improvement notice which requires the owner to fix issues that risk residents’ health and safety.

It is an offence not to comply and councils have powers to do the work themselves if it is continually ignored. Councils can also impose fines of up to £30,000.

The Crown Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate (CPFSI) is responsible for enforcing the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in government buildings, Parliament and other Crown premises, excluding Ministry of Defence buildings who have their own Inspectorate. In respect of buildings owned by the Crown Estates Commissioners including those containing flats, the Inspectorate is responsible for enforcing the 2005 Order.

The CPFSI role is to:

undertake risk-based inspections
provide advice and guidance on fire safety
investigate fire safety failures following fires and injuries
respond to consultations on proposed building work
share information with stakeholder to promote consistency and reduce risk
take enforcement action in accordance with the CPFSI enforcement policy (ODT, 54.9KB) and follow the principles of good enforcement set out in the Regulators’ Code

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Who pays for a fire risk assessment?

If you are not sure who should pay for a fire risk assessment you should read through the terms of your lease. It will typically depend on the terms of the lease between the building owner (the freeholder) and the leaseholders as to who pays for specific maintenance or safety works.

There is often no specific mention of fire risk assessments in the lease, however the freeholder may be able to use other wording in the lease (for example, in a ‘sweeping up’ clause) to justify passing on the cost to the leaseholders.

If leaseholders are asked to pay, the cost is usually included in the annual service charge.

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Which law covers fire safety?

In England and Wales, the law that covers fire safety is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. This current law came into force on 1 October 2006 and replaced most of the fire safety law that went before it.

The law says that the person responsible for fire safety in a building must take ‘reasonable’ steps to:

reduce the risk from fire
make sure people can safely escape if there is a fire

The Order gives fire and rescue authorities (FRAs) the power to:

inspect buildings
make the person responsible for fire safety in your building carry out a fire risk assessment or safety improvements (through an enforcement notice)
make the person responsible for fire safety tell the FRA about any changes to the building that may raise the risk of fire (through an alterations notice)
force buildings (or parts of buildings) to close (through a prohibition notice)

Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004 (“the 2004 Act”) also gives local councils the power to asses and enforce fire safety matters. The 2004 act also introduced the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). The HHSRS is the main tool for assessing fire safety risk and regulating standards in all types of residential accommodation.

The 2004 Act covers the whole building whereas the 2005 Order covers the common parts only. The 2004 Act gives the local council the power to serve a range of notices including an improvement notice which requires the building owner to fix issues that risk residents’ health and safety.

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Can my landlord force me to change my front door?

Your landlord has a duty to carry out regular fire risk assessments, which should include all doors between your home and shared parts of your building.

If the fire safety risk assessor recommends that your front door is brought up to current fire safety standards, your landlord could ask you to upgrade or replace your front door under the terms of your lease. Failure to do so may be breaching the terms of your lease.

Leases commonly have a clause that requires the leaseholder to comply with statutory requirements, which could include following fire safety recommendations about entrance doors.

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Who pays for the replacement or upgrade of an existing fire door?

Your lease should tell you if you own a door and whether it is your responsibility to maintain and repair it. If you do own it, you will have to pay for its replacement or upgrade, if this is necessary.

If the lease says that a door is the freeholder’s responsibility to maintain and repair, then usually you and the other leaseholders would pay to replace or upgrade it through your service charge.

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I’m responsible for fire safety in a block of flats. Do I need a fire risk assessment?

If you are responsible for fire safety in a building, it is your legal responsibility to make sure that the building has an up to date fire risk assessment.

The law says that the ‘responsible person’ must get a ‘suitable and sufficient’ fire risk assessment that covers the shared parts of their building.

As the responsible person, you must also:

get the fire risk assessment reviewed regularly
act on any recommendations in the assessment, such as keeping escape routes clear or providing fire extinguishers

If you do not carry out a fire risk assessment you could face an unlimited fine and/or up to 2 years in prison.

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Do my fire doors comply with current building regulations?

The front door to your flat should have complied with Building regulations when it was installed. If you are installing a new one, it should comply with current Building regulations

All new fire doors should be FD30s rated, providing fire and smoke resistance for at least 30 minutes.

Your door supplier or contractor should give you a test certificate confirming that the fire door and any included ironmongery or letter boxes comply with any of these fire safety standards:

BS476: Part 22 1987 (the British Standard)
BS EN 1634-1 2000 (the UK adoption of European standards)
BM TRADA Q-Mark scheme
BWF Certifire scheme
The door should also meet the Secured by Design standard.

Building regulations requirements can vary depending on the type of building and the location of the doors. You can also refer to official guidance published on fire safety regulations.

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How am I protected by the Building Safety Act?

As a qualifying leaseholder, you are protected by the Building Safety Act 2022 from the cost of replacing your building’s unsafe cladding or other historical safety defects. They came into force on 28 June 2022 for relevant buildings with relevant historical safety defects.

The Act ensures that:

developers pay to fix buildings they developed or refurbished even if they no longer own them
companies and building owners associated with those developers must pay for fixing historical safety defects – preventing the use of complex corporate structures to avoid liability
where developers cannot be identified funding for remediating unsafe cladding is available
leaseholders are protected from crippling bills for historical safety defects

You can check if you qualify for protections here.

Your protections

Qualifying leaseholders are protected from all cladding system remediation costs. You are also exempt from all historical remediation costs if on 14 February 2022:

the value of your lease was less than £325,000 in Greater London or £175,000 elsewhere in England
your landlord has a group net worth of more than £2 million per relevant building

The Act ensures that any contribution required from qualifying leaseholders for non-cladding defects and interim measures (including waking watch costs) is firmly capped and spread over 10 years, with costs already paid out since 28 June 2017 counting towards the cap. If remediation costs exceed the cap, building owners must make up the difference.

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Who owns and is responsible for the fire door?

Your lease should make clear who owns the fire door to your property. This will be if it forms part of your ‘demised premises’ – the property you own.

Usually it will be you who has ownership of the entrance door to your flat and be responsible for its maintenance and repair.

However, where the freeholder retains ownership and responsibility for the door, then you and the other leaseholders may have to pay the cost of any repairs through the service charge.

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I own the front door to my flat and want to replace it. What do I do?

If you own the front door to your flat and you want to replace it, you should start by obtaining Building Regulations approval from the Building Control department at your Local Authority. You are required to seek such approval from the local authority due to the safety implications of replacing a fire door.

Many leases will also require leaseholders to apply for written consent from their landlord before they can carry out any alterations. This would usually include any alterations to or replacement of the entrance door to the flat. If you need to get consent from your landlord, you should write to them and clearly explain the changes you plan to make.

It is important that the fire door you install is compliant with Building Regulations. If the alteration does not meet these standards your freeholder will require you to reinstate the door at your own expense to ensure it complies with Building Regulations and meets the requirements of the Fire Safety Order.

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Who do I use to replace my fire door?

If you need to replace your fire door it is recommend that you only use a competent third party accredited fire door installation company. There are various third party accredited schemes, where you can view their registers and find a suitably qualified trades person:

Third party certification is a helpful guide but should not be relied upon. Composite fire doors on the market should all have furnace test certificates for both sides of the door.

Installing a fire door correctly is as important as ensuring the door itself is to the correct standard. Correct installation of the fire door is important in order to make sure the door is fit for purpose.

A test certificate for all replacement doors should be provided to you by the contractor supplying/fitting the door, confirming that it meets the required fire safety standard. Alternatively fire doors can be marked in accordance with an accredited fire door installation scheme.

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When a seller of a leasehold flat replies to a purchaser’s enquiry and uses the Leasehold Property Enquiries Form LPE1 (LPE1), should it disclose proposals to replace the cladding?

Question 4.8 of LPE1 asks if “within the next two years are any Section 20 works proposed to the Property”, and, if so, to provide details of the works and the contribution anticipated from the leaseholder.

‘Section 20’ refers to a consultation process that the law requires a landlord to conduct if planned works (‘major works’) will cost any leaseholder in the building more than £250.

It follows that any intended cladding works should be disclosed in answer to question 4.8.

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What if my building has ACM cladding?

If your building has ACM cladding your landlord or managing agent should have been in contact with the Department and/or delivery partners regarding a funding solution for remediation of their building.

In this instance, your landlord should continue to work through the private sector or social sector ACM cladding remediation funds as appropriate, including for funding for remediation of any unsafe non-ACM cladding systems, which may now be in scope for the Building Safety Fund.

The Building Safety Fund was first opened in June 2020 and has now reopened for new applications on 28 July 2022. All funding decisions for new applicants will now involve applicants providing an assessment of the risks posed by fire spread over external walls to identify what, if any work, is needed. It uses the new PAS 9980:2022 code of practice and means fire safety professionals will be using their expert judgement to assess risk and appropriate mitigations, which could include removal and replacement of ACM cladding.

Please refer to the guidance for more information.

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Are sprinklers required to be installed in blocks of flats?

A sprinkler system is one of the tools available to prevent the spread of fire in tall buildings. The Statutory Guidance in England meant that only buildings taller than 30 metres and constructed since 2007 were recommended to have sprinklers fitted and existing high-rise buildings in England must have them fitted if a fundamental change is made to the structure or use of the building.

Currently, there is no requirement for existing buildings (that is, those built before 2007) to fit sprinklers.

In May 2020, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (since renamed to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government) published amendments to the Statutory Guidance in Approved Document B (fire safety) volume 1 to state that sprinkler systems should be fitted throughout blocks of flats with a top storey more than 11m above ground level. In the majority of cases, therefore, sprinkler protection will be necessary in any newly formed accommodation that falls above the new 11m trigger height.

The changes are:

Sprinkler systems in accordance with BS 9251 (or BS EN 12845 for residential blocks of flats outside of the scope of BS 9251) should be fitted throughout blocks of flats with a top storey more than 11m above ground level. BS 9251 is the British Standard for fire sprinklers, which covers (amongst others):

Individual dwellings (houses, flats and maisonettes)
Houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs)
Boarding houses
Blocks of flats
Residential care premises

Further detailed information can be found here

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What is the ACM cladding remediation fund?

The Government has announced its commitment to fully fund Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding replacement and to protect private sector leaseholders in high-rise residential buildings (over 18 metres) from the costs of remediation. This does not apply where a warranty claim has been accepted.

The government has already provided a social sector cladding fund for the removal and replacement of unsafe ACM cladding on residential social housing buildings over 18m.

Applications for the Private sector ACM cladding remediation fund closed on 31^st December 2019.

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What are interim safety measures?

These are interim measures put in place to ensure residents are safe until the cladding has been removed and replaced and could include the provision of a patrolling waking watch service.

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Where can I find a summary of the ‘Building a Safer Future: Proposals for reform of the building safety regulatory system’ consultation?

A quick read guide of the consultation is available here

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Who is responsible for paying for works recommended under the fire risk assessment?

If you are not sure who pays for works that are recommended under a fire risk assessment you should read through your lease. The responsibility for paying for works will depend on the terms of the lease between the building owner (the freeholder) and the leaseholders.

It may well be there is no specific mention of fire risk assessments in the lease or indeed of works recommended to be carried out as a result of such an assessment. If this is the case, it is possible that the freeholder will try to include the cost of these works in the service charges that are paid by leaseholders.

Depending on the terms of the lease, the freeholder may be able to rely on other wording in the lease to justify passing on the cost of such works to the leaseholder in the form of service charges but ultimately it is a matter of interpretation of the particular lease.

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What is waking watch?

Waking watch is a fire safety system where suitably trained staff continually patrol the floors and the exterior perimeter of a building to maintain the safety of its occupants from fire. The aim of a waking watch is to ensure there is sufficient warning in the event of a fire to support the evacuation strategy.

A waking watch is required when the presence of dangerous cladding or fire safety issues changes the evacuation policy of a building from stay put to simultaneous evacuation. This change requires fire marshals to patrol the building 24 hours a day looking for signs of fire.

The provision of waking watch has left leaseholders facing average costs of £17,897 per building, which equates to £331 per flat.

Further information:

Has the government banned the use of combustible materials in cladding on blocks of flats?

On 21 December 2018 the government brought in a clear ban on the use of combustible materials on the external walls of new buildings over 18 metres high which contain flats, as well as new hospitals, residential care premises, dormitories in boarding schools and student accommodation over 18 metres high.

Regulations were presented to Parliament on 29 November 2018 to give legal effect to the ban.

All materials which become part of an external wall or specified attachment must achieve European fire rating Class A2-s1, d0 (both limited combustibility) or Class A1 (non-combustible).

This includes balconies, sun shadings and solar panels attached to an external wall
The ban applies to new building work and also existing buildings going through a change of use to become a building falling within the affected category. Accordingly, office buildings being converted to apartments will have to comply with this requirement.

The regulations do not apply where a building notice or an initial notice has been given to, or full plans deposited with, a local council before 21 December 2018 and either the building work to which it relates has started before that day, or is started within two months from that day.

These regulations apply in England only.

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