Fire and Building Safety

Following approval by Parliament, the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations have become law, introducing new requirements on smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in the social rented sector. The regulations come into force on 1^st October 2022 and there is an expectation that landlords will be fully compliant from this date.

DLUHC has published a guidance document with advice for landlords and tenants on the regulations.

This joint webinar provided an update on the current fire and building safety legislation and the implementation of the new building safety regime.

On 18^th May 2022 the Government published its formal response to the Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPS) consultation for high rise residential buildings. This consultation involved proposals to implement the recommendations from Phase 1 of the Grenfell Tower Enquiry Report to make it a legal requirement for Responsible Persons to prepare evacuation plans for all residents unable to vacate the building independently in an emergency. Despite most responses being in favour of the PEEPs proposals, significant concerns were flagged up in three areas – practicality, proportionality and safety.

The Government has therefore published revised proposals in the Emergency Evacuation Information Sharing (EEIS) consultation which revert to reliance on ‘staying put’ where the building is considered safe to do so. Where buildings are known to have fire safety problems, the fire service would have access to relevant information about vulnerable residents requiring evacuation assistance. The EEIS consultation closed on 10^th August 2022.