Sounding the alarm

Fire safety has climbed higher up social landlords’ list of priorities since six people died in a blaze at Lakanal House, a council-owned tower block in south London, two years ago.

Although much of the fire safety legislation that applies to housing providers was in place long before this tragic event, the level of attention paid to it grew overnight.

‘The tragedy sharpened interest in the issue within the housing sector,’ sums up John Thornhill, senior policy and practice officer at the Chartered Institute of Housing.

A survey of local authorities conducted by Inside Housing in October 2009 as part of its ensuing Safe as Houses Campaign, for example, found that one in five had stepped up fire safety work on their tower blocks following the tragedy.

Two years on, however, landlords remain confused about exactly what improvement work they need to do and how to assess their properties for fire safety. A survey of almost 400 employees of housing providers conducted last year by the CIH and the fire service, found three quarters were not confident their organisation had undertaken a suitable fire risk assessment of its tower blocks (Inside Housing, 1 July). As a result, the CIH published new guidance on fire saftey for social landlords last month.

‘The aim was not to replicate existing and forthcoming technical guidcance, but to put emphasis on how, on the ground, the landlord can negotiate fire safety,’ says the CIH’s Mr Thornhill. ‘There is no one-size-fits-all approach. It’s going to be different depending on your stock profile and the profile of your residents.

Meanwhile Local Government Improvement and Development, an organisation that supports improvement and innovation at council level, is set to publish a legal guide on fire safety in flats at the end of July.

While some fire safety legislation differs in Scotland and Northern Ireland compared with that in England and Wales, and there are additional rules for care homes and sheltered housing, the obligations on social landlords are not onerous, says Adair Lewis, technical manager at the Fire Protection Association. Yet before the Lakanal House tragedy there was ‘a lack of publicity around fire safety’ - and that’s now being addressed.

‘A lot of organisations have not undertaken the [fire risk] assessment but as soon as they realise they have to do it, they do so,’ he says.

Fire safety can be a costly business but scrimping on precautions is not an option. So what should social landlords be doing to ensure their properties are safe and how much can they expect it to cost?

Inside Housing has compiled the following overview of the four areas of fire safety that landlords most need to be aware of to help minimise the chances of paying the ultimate price when struck by fire - the loss of life.

1. Fire suppression systems

Includes: Sprinkler systems and fire extinguishers

The law: The Building Regulations Part B, which applies to England and Wales, states that flats in buildings over 30 metres high must have a sprinkler-system. ‘Domestic and residential sprinklers have an established track record in reducing death, injury and fire and business continuity losses,’ states The Chartered Institute of Housing’s Fire safety in housing guidance.

The costs: Sprinklers can be expensive to retrofit. Colin Todd, managing director of consultancy CS Todd and Associates says a pilot scheme by the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association, South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue and Sheffield Homes, is about to fit sprinklers to a high-rise block in Sheffield to find out the cost, which he estimates will be more than £60,000.

Providing fire extinguishers, which cost roughly £65 each, in communal areas might sound sensible, but the idea has pitfalls, says Simon Brown, director of asset management at 10,000-home Liverpool Housing Trust. ‘They can get damaged and neglected,’ he says. ‘Do we really want to put tenants at risk trying to fight a fire?’

However, fire blankets, which cost about £10, and small extinguishers in the home can be useful, but tenants need to be shown how to use them,’ he continues. There is, however, no legal obligation to have them.

2. Fire prevention

Includes: Fire alarms, smoke control arrangements, smoke detectors, fire doors

The law: Part B of the Building Regulations 2010, says there must be a fire alarm, smoke control arrangements such as ventilation systems, a smoke detector and emergency escape lighting in new houses and individual flats in England and Wales.

The Housing Act 2004, which applies to all dwellings in England and Wales, introduced a health and safety ratings system which lists all safety hazards and groups them by severity. Under this legislation, local authorities require landlords to remedy the most serious dangers - category one hazards - which include fire risks such as defective heating and electrical systems.

The decent homes standard, the set of requirements for social housing in England implemented in 2000, also requires homes to be free of these hazards. The Welsh housing quality standard, introduced in 2002, meanwhile, goes further requiring mains-powered smoke and fire alarms.

Contractors and DIY-loving tenants should be made aware that upgrades to homes can compromise fire safety precautions, by breaking the separation between flats, for example. Any material alterations within buildings that could make them less safe must be approved by a local authority planning department or a an approved building control inspector.

Under the Building Regulations 2010, homes only have to have one smoke detector in the hallway and upstairs landing, but adding a heat alarm in the kitchen and a smoke alarm in the lounge can help, says Mr Todd, whose consultancy helped write the Local Government Improvement and Development guide.

‘Most fires start in the kitchen, most fatal fires start in the lounge,’ he says. ‘If you have a smoke alarm in the lounge, you have early warning of fires most likely to result in fatalities.’

These provisions are already required in new homes in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

3. Fire risk assessments

Includes: Hiring specialist fire risk assessors and training in-house staff to become assessors

The law: Fire risk assessments are included in the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 which applies to England and Wales. ‘Carrying out a comprehensive risk assessment is at the heart of a modern approach to fire safety,’ says the Chartered Institute of Housing’s Fire safety in housing guidance. ‘[Fire safety] legislation isn’t prescriptive - it’s based on risk assessment,’ explains John Thornhill, senior policy and practice officer at the CIH.

In residential buildings, the order only applies to the common parts of flats and the front doors to living areas. In houses in multiple occupation, it applies to both the living and communal areas.

A fire risk assessment - which must cover ways to reduce the risks, effects and spread of fire; safe escape routes; an emergency plan; firefighters’ facilities (as laid out in the 2010 Building Regulations); and the maintenance of all these measures - must be carried out by a competent person to ensure there are adequate fire safety measures in the areas of the block where the order applies.

The Local Government Improvement and Development guide suggests that the fire risk assessments of low-rise blocks might be reviewed every two years, with a new assessment taking place every four years. Higher-risk blocks over four storeys might be reviewed annually with a new assessment every three years, and the highest risk blocks should be reviewed annually and reassessed every two years.

Fire authorities can carry out inspections of buildings, check the landlord’s own fire risk assessment and demand changes. They can also serve enforcement orders if landlords do not comply with legislation.

The costs: Costs vary massively: a former fire officer turned fire risk assessor might charge £50 for a single assessment, whereas a consultancy, such as the Fire Protection Association, might charge up to £500 per day during which an inspector could assess a whole tower block and write a report.

Even if a landlord hires a specialist fire risk assessor to conduct initial assessments, reviews can be carried out by someone in-house, but they must be ‘competent’. David Wadsley, modernisations manager at Broxtowe Council in Nottingham, says The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health’s fire course, which he attended for five days at a local college, cost around £520.

The price of courses can also vary, depending on whether an organisation sends a sole employee or they are bought in bulk for several staff members. Courses can also be tailored to the needs of a particular organisation.

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, landlords have to use a ‘competent person’ to carry out the assessment but there is no obligation to use someone on an approved list. There are currently three lists of approved assessors - the Institute of Fire Engineers, the Institute of Fire Safety Engineers, and the Institute of Fire Prevention Officers. It is important to ensure your assessor has experience in checking the types of properties that you have.

A new register, to be run by British Approvals for Fire Equipment, should help with this by providing a list of approved companies that offer the services of fire risk assessors.

And the Fire Risk Assessment Competency Council is preparing a competency standard for people who carry out fire risk assessments commercially, which should be published by the end of the year.

4. Gas safety

Includes: Gas appliances, fittings and flues; the services of Gas Safe engineers

The law: The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 say landlords in England and Wales must ensure gas appliances, fittings and flues are safe, and must be serviced annually by a registered Gas Safe engineer.

One of the demands of Inside Housing’s Safe as Houses campaign was to require builders to hardwire carbon monoxide alarms into new homes with gas appliances. In March 2010, the Communities and Local Government department announced it would alter to Part J of the Building Regulations to require carbon monoxide alarms to be installed in homes with new or replacement solid fuel heating systems, which burn wood or coal. The change took effect from October last year.

The law does not, however, require carbon monoxide detectors to be fitted into all homes with other gas systems. Inside Housing continues to push for this to be the case. But Adair Lewis, technical manager at the Fire Protection Association says that the reason the law does not extend to all properties that use gas is ‘probably because if you have a safe installation [and have gas safety checked every year by a qualified engineer] then you don’t need a detector’. Nevertheless he recommends installing a detector in homes with a boiler where the flame is visible.

The costs: Most landlords will have contractors who check gas installations. Battery powered carbon monoxide alarms can cost £10 each if bought in bulk at trade prices, to £24 per alarm if bought from a shop.