All new buildings and some alterations are required to achieve planning permission. Additionally, where located within Greater London all buildings are required to adhere to the London Plan requirements. For those developments a fire safety report is required to be submitted with the planning application, which can take the form of a Fire Statement for larger developments or a Planning Fire Safety Strategy for smaller developments.
In addition to the above, the “Building a Safer Future” report prepared by Dame Judith Hackitt proposed the introduction of the ‘Gateways’ higher risk residential buildings (referred to as relevant buildings).
The primary purpose of the Gateways is to introduce an element of Governance into managing fire safety through the design, construction and handover stages.
The first gateway (Gateway One) is the planning application stage, when fire safety issues which impact on building and surrounding areas should be considered, including emergency fire vehicle access to a building and whether there are adequate water supplies in the event of a fire.
To aid the local planning authority in their decision as to whether to grant planning permission on relevant buildings, the developer will be required to submit a Fire Statement with their planning application, which sets out key fire safety considerations that are specific to the development.
If you require a fire statement to support the planning application of a project and would like to discuss this with a member of the team, please get in touch.
Who should issue a fire statement?
It is required that fire statements are completed by a suitably qualified person with relevant experience in fire safety, such as a chartered engineer registered with the Engineering Council by the Institution of Fire Engineers, or suitably qualified and competent professional with the demonstrable experience to address the complexity of the design being proposed in terms of fire safety.
What type of buildings are considered relevant under planning gateway one?
Relevant buildings under planning gateway one must contain two or more dwellings and meet the height condition of 18m or more, or 7 or more storeys.
What are the additional requirements for projects in Greater London?
The Mayor of London has published The London Plan 2021. This document came into effect on 2nd March 2021 and sets out the Mayor of London’s spatial development strategy. It provides the framework for how London will develop over the next 20-25 years.
Policy D5 and D12 of The London Plan place additional requirements for planning applications for relevant buildings in Greater London. Examples include the inclusion of evacuation lifts and more onerous requirements for the qualifications of fire safety professionals that produce fire statements.
The team at Marshall Fire can demonstrate such competency and have years of experience at producing Fire Statements.