Category: Fire Safety

Join Tetra Consulting and The Property Institute for this ARMA course which will deliver guidance on managing buildings in scope under the Building Safety Act 2022. 

Tetra’s Dr Shaun Lundy will lead this interactive and engaging session giving participants the confidence in delivering positive building safety outcomes in their areas of responsibilities.

Who should attend? Property Managers in the UK with responsibilities for managing buildings in scope under the Building Safety Act.

What is the course aim? To enable property managers to better understand their role in managing building safety under the Building Safety Act efficiently and effectively within their area of responsibility.

Date: 16/01/2023 - 17/01/2023

Duration: 3 Hours A Day Over Two Days

Start Time: 09:30am both days

Price for Members of ARMA: £100

Price for Non-member: £175

Click here to book.

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 (the Regulations) implement most of the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 report. The Regulations are being introduced under Article 24 of the Fire Safety Order and will come into force on 23 January 2023. The regulations cover residential buildings of all heights with additional requirements for those over 11m and 18m, see below.

In all multi-occupied residential buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises, responsible persons will be required to:

  • Fire Safety Instructions: provide relevant fire safety instructions to their residents, which will include instructions on how to report a fire and any other instruction which sets out what a resident must do once a fire has occurred, based on the evacuation strategy for the building.
  • Fire Door Information: provide residents with information relating to the importance of fire doors in fire safety.

In addition to the above in residential buildings with storeys over 11 metres in height, responsible persons will also be required to:

  • Fire Doors: undertake annual checks of flat entrance doors and quarterly checks of all fire doors in the common parts.

In high-rise residential buildings, those over 18m or seven storeys in addition to all the requirements above, the responsible persons will also be required to:

  • Building Plans: provide their local Fire and Rescue Service with up-to-date electronic building floor plans and to place a hard copy of these plans, alongside a single page building plan which identifies key firefighting equipment, in a secure information box on site.
  • External Wall Systems: provide to their local Fire and Rescue Service information about the design and materials of a high-rise building’s external wall system and to inform the Fire and Rescue Service of any material changes to these walls. Also, they will be required to provide information in relation to the level of risk that the design and materials of the external wall structure gives rise to and any mitigating steps taken.
  • Lifts and other Key Fire-Fighting Equipment: undertake monthly checks on the operation of lifts intended for use by firefighters, and evacuation lifts in their building and check the functionality of other key pieces of firefighting equipment. They will also be required to report any defective lifts or equipment to their local Fire and Rescue Service as soon as possible after detection if the fault cannot be fixed within 24 hours, and to record the outcome of checks and make them available to residents.
  • Information Boxes: install and maintain a secure information box in their building. This box must contain the name and contact details of the Responsible Person and hard copies of the building floor plans.
  • Wayfinding Signage: to install signage visible in low light or smoky conditions that identifies flat and floor numbers in the stairwells of relevant buildings.

References:

Government Fact Sheet on Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 - available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-england-regulations-2022/fact-sheet-overview

National Fire Chiefs Council Guidance on the Fire Safety Act 2021 and Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 – available at: https://www.nationalfirechiefs.org.uk/Fire-Safety-Act-2021-and-Fire-Safety-England-Regulations-2022

The Construction Index has reported shocking data from the Fire Door Inspection Scheme (FDIS) which reveals that 75% of fire doors inspected in the UK did not meet the required standard and 31% were never fit for purpose.

The research was based on more than 100,000 fire door inspections carried out by FDIS approved inspectors. Furthermore, it was found that healthcare buildings, local authorities and housing associations were the biggest failures.

A number of reasons were found for inspection failure. Common reasons included:

  • Excessive gaps between the door and the frame
  • Care and maintenance issues
  • Issues over smoke sealing
  • Improper installation

An FDIS representative commented:

“It’s crucial that reputable and trained fire door inspectors, such as those approved by the FDIS, carry out fire door inspections. However, the ongoing reporting of maintenance issues with fire doors is a role for us all – every building user should play a proactive role in reporting any faults to ensure they are quickly addressed so that the building’s safety is maintained.”

Fire Doors are an essential element in the passive fire protection of buildings. Are you clear on the correct specification, installation and maintenance of Fire Doors and their components to ensure that property and lives are protected?

The importance of annual Fire Door Surveys continues to increase, as does the need for regular reviews. We have now automated the process using our innovative tablet technology. When Tetra consultants complete a FD Survey, an automated audit trail will be created for every fire door, including all communal doors, flat front doors for residential blocks and all risers. We also provide a comprehensive review of every door which includes clear photos and reporting on any issues, together with a comprehensive summary of all the remedial actions.

If you would like to learn more about fire doors and fire door surveys click here to download our free guidance document.

Are you ready for the upcoming legislation changes around fire and building safety?

You should be acting now. We’re here to help.

State of the art technology is vital for ensuring visibility of compliance tasks and documentation across your portfolio.

Welcome to PRISM. Our innovative property risk management software can help you to manage and maintain your property compliance, enabling you to build your golden thread of information and documentation.

We’re excited to share our brand-new video which explores many of PRISM’s powerful features.

Want to learn even more? Join one of our upcoming live webinars for a deeper look at PRISM. Click here to register.

A new Central Register and Certification Scheme for Building Safety Managers has launched.

The Building Safety Alliance, an independent industry led ‘not for profit’ organisation, is launched with the purpose of implementing the certification of competent individuals wishing to deliver the role of building safety manager (BSM) and a publicly accessible register of those certified by the scheme.

The Grenfell Tower tragedy brought to the fore how the safety of all buildings needs to be ensured. Recognising the role they play in delivering safe buildings, representatives of both the public and private sector have come together to deliver the change in culture needed and the uniform standard of competence that residents should expect from those responsible for their safety.

The Building Safety Alliance will deliver initially two functions:

  • The certification of individual building safety managers (BSMs) or Nominated Individuals within the BSM (organisation) (both referred to as BSMs here); and
  • A publicly accessible register of those certified by the scheme.

In due course, they will also work with others to evaluate how organisations who wish to deliver the function of the BSM can be assessed as having the organisational capability to do so and how to assist contractors and suppliers to higher risk building to deliver a competent workforce that understands how to ensure that residential buildings are safe for residents. For further information click here.

 

Produced in partnership with Fixflo, Block Manager's Guide: The Role of a Building Safety Manager aims to provide you with essential information about one of the most important elements in the Building Safety Bill — the Building Safety Manager (BSM). Download this free guide and learn:

  • The responsibilities of the Building Safety Manager
  • The potential competencies and qualifications required of the Building Safety Manager
  • What should be included in your building safety case report

Click here to download the guide from the Fixflo website.

We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded Supplier status on Fusion21’s Building Safety & Compliance Framework for the delivery of Fire Safety Services across England and Wales.

Our appointment to the framework allows us to provide:

  • Fire Risk Assessments
  • Fire Safety Inspections
  • Fire Door Surveys
  • Fire Safety Advice

Phil Woodhead, Fusion21’s Category Manager, shares our sentiments:

"We are delighted to welcome all of the new suppliers onto the framework, including Tetra Consulting. The tender process was highly competitive and the process has identified the best contractors for our members to use."

"A further, real benefit to our members and their communities is the social value delivery that is aligned to organisational priorities and can be monitored and reported against for all call offs."

If you would like to chat about working with us via the framework, please get in touch by calling +44(0)208 875 0700 or emailing info@tetraconsulting.co.uk.

The Building Safety Bill, currently going through Parliament, is expected to be passed into Law later this year, and will require businesses to demonstrate visibility and compliance across all elements of fire and risk related documentation, enabling the creation of the “golden thread” of information that enables the production of the Building Safety Case Report.

Dame Judith Hackitt warned businesses that they need to act now in readiness for the Bill. Part of that is making sure that you have the right technology in place to prove that you’re proactively managing risk.

Are you reacting quickly enough? Do you know what your responsibilities will be on your 18m high and above residential blocks when these bills are passed into law?  Don’t delay - join our webinar on Wednesday 28th April at 10am to learn more about what the Bill requires and the vital part technology will play.

In this session we will cover:

  • A quick overview of the Draft Bill
  • The “golden thread” of risk management documentation
  • Why risk management software is becoming more and more important
  • A demonstration of PRISM, Tetra’s risk management software, and how it can help your business comply with the upcoming legislation

To register to attend this webinar, please email info@tetraconsulting.co.uk

Since the Grenfell Tower tragedy in June 2017, “Stay Put or Evacuate?” is a question that has raised a lot of conversations and is still debated today.

But what are the different fire evacuation strategies and when is it most appropriate to use them? Join our webinar on 29th April at 10am where we will discuss these various strategies and the importance that Fire Risk Assessments play in underpinning a successful fire strategy.

We will cover:

  • Stay Put Strategy
  • Simultaneous Evacuation
  • Phased Evacuation
  • Fire Strategy
  • Fire Risk Assessments

To register to attend this webinar, please email info@tetraconsulting.co.uk

Fire doors are an essential element in the passive fire protection of buildings. Surveying fire doors on an annual basis, and reviewing a sample of fire doors every 6 months, is becoming increasingly important and common.

Are you clear on the correct specification, installation and maintenance of fire doors and their components to ensure that property and lives are protected?

Tetra Consulting now provides Fire Door Surveys to most, if not all, of our clients on both a small and large scale project basis, ensuring that all areas of concern are addressed in relation to ensuring that the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO) and the relevant Building Regulations are being met.

As we move closer to the Building Safety and Fire Safety Bills passing into law, the importance of Fire Door Surveys will continue to increase, as will the need for thorough reporting. We have now automated this process, so using our innovative tablet technology, when Tetra consultants complete Surveys, an automated audit trail will be created for every fire door.

If you would like to learn more about our Fire Door services, including Fire Door Survey Reports, click here to download our free guidance document.

Alternatively, if you have any questions or would like to chat further, please send an email to Jack.Aaron@tetraconsulting.co.uk.

Over the last few months, we’ve run a number of extremely well received sessions around the Draft Building Safety and Fire Safety Bills. Now we’re getting closer to these Bills being approved and passed as law, we thought it would be a good time to revisit what you should expect from the Bills and also further updates since our previous sessions.

Join us on Thursday 25th March at 10am for our session which will help Residential Block Management companies and Property Owners & Investors gain a better understanding of the new Draft Building Safety Bill and Draft Fire Safety Bill.

In the session, we will cover:

  • A quick refresher of the two Bills
  • Updates - timelines and where we’re at
  • Implications and how to prepare

To register to attend this webinar, please email info@tetraconsulting.co.uk

With a variety of legislation changes around fire safety - both in 2020 and moving forward into 2021 - how clear are you on your responsibilities in this area?

Join us on Thursday 28th January at 10am for our virtual briefing session to explore a number of key topics around fire safety including:

  • The Types of Fire Risk Assessment & When They Are Required
  • What Is A Fire Strategy?
  • What Is A Fire Safety Management Plan?

To register to attend this webinar, please email info@tetraconsulting.co.uk