Are you meeting your legal duties as a Responsible Person for tall buildings?
Posted on 17 April 2024
Are you a Responsible Person for a tall building in our county?
Today (Wednesday 17 April), we've launched new online forms for Responsible Persons of tall residential buildings.
This will make it easier to complete your legal duties to keep the people in your buildings safe.
Reminder: What are the Fire Safety (England) Regulations?
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations came into place in January 2023, following the Grenfell Tower Enquiry, and place increased Fire Safety requirements upon Responsible Persons.
Three of the Regulations require the Responsible Persons of taller residential buildings to provide fire services with:
a) Plans of their building which contain specific Fire Safety information
b) Details of the design of the external wall system of their buildings
c) Details of any faults to essential Fire Fighting equipment within their building which will not be resolved in 24hrs (e.g. a dry riser)
Note: these requirements are in addition to the existing, weekly, tests required of all Responsible Persons.
What do you mean by 'tall residential buildings'?
For the purpose of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations, a residential building is to be considered as high-rise if either of the following circumstances apply:
a) The building is at least 18 metres above ground level, measured from the lowest ground level adjoining the outside of the building to the height of the floor in the top storey (ignoring any top storey that contains only plant or machinery); or
b) The building is seven storeys or more, excluding any storeys below ground level.
Where can I find more information on my responsibilities?
The Home Office provides advice on checking your responsibilities under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations.
Submitting information
To complete submit your information and complete the forms, follow the instructions for each item.
Please remember that hard copies of your floor and building plans should be kept in your Secure Information Box (SIB). The SIB is to provide firefighters with readily accessible information about the building.
The Fire Industry Association, in conjunction with the National Fire Chiefs Council has produced a guidance document which outlines the information and detail that should be stored within a SIB.
