Residential high-rise buildings ‘should have individual evacuation plans’, says government-funded review

NatCen added that it was able to “tentatively conclude” that partial or phased evacuations were safer than ‘simultaneous evacuation’ – where all residents of the building leave at once – in buildings where the correct fire separation measures are in place. 

Further research, which followed some live testing in high-rise buildings, is still underway. 

The report into the first phase of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, published in October 2019, recommended that building owners and managers be legally required to develop evacuation plans for their blocks. 

It said this should include specific personal plans for the evacuation of residents of disabilities and the installation of manual alarms that could send an alarm to all or part of a building. 

None of this has been implemented by the government in the three years since, with the Home Office overtly rejecting the recommendation relating to residents with disabilities as too costly and not “proportionate” in May. 

Instead, it has suggested dividing buildings into either ‘stay put’ or ‘simultaneous evacuation’ categories.

Stay put buildings would have no plans made for evacuation, with total reliance placed on the building’s compartmentation to keep residents safe.

In simultaneous evacuation buildings – which are known to have severe fire safety issues such as combustible cladding – residents with disabilities would have their location notified to fire services which would then be expected to rescue them. 

The Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 people, making it by far the most deadly cladding fire ever to occur globally. Around the world, serious cladding fires have destroyed other buildings, but proved non-fatal because the blocks were swiftly evacuated. 

Evidence introduced during mini-inquest hearings suggested the vast majority of victims could have survived if they were urged to flee earlier in the night.   

Expert witness to the inquiry Professor José Torero said it was “essential” that the UK abandon the stay put policy, adding that the country is an “outlier” globally due to its “rigid” reliance on the policy. 

“Most countries will have a provision for a phased evacuation for high-rise buildings,” he said. 

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are committed to delivering proposals that enhance the safety of residents whose ability to self-evacuate in an emergency may be compromised.

“Our public consultation on Emergency Evacuation Information Sharing Plus sought views on the scope of evacuation plans and we are currently analysing the responses.

“Working closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council and London Fire Brigade, we commissioned research to test evacuation strategies, for which live testing took place this year. A research team is now completing the evaluation of the evacuation strategy tests.”