Fire Strategy - RIBA support

Fire Statements

The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure, England) Order 2015 requires that a Fire Statement must be included in the planning application for the construction or development of any building over 18m in height or which has 7 or more storeys, and which contains 2 or more dwellings, or educational accommodation. 

TecFire can assist in the development of a suitable Fire Statement, collating the necessary information onto the prescribed form to support the application for planning permission. 

Initial Concept Review

TecFire can assist in ensuring that a project starts on a sound footing by carrying out an Initial Concept Review of the general approach proposed for a project to identify the most appropriate fire safety concepts and guidance to be employed in the development of a suitable fire strategy.

This review will be from the concept plans and is usually carried out to support the application for planning approval.

The outcomes of the Initial Concept Review can be used to assist the design team to identify potential fire safety issues likely to impact on the design of the project proposal, and to assist the client to identify potential solutions to be employed in the development of the initial proposal for the project.

Initial Design Review

An Initial Design Review follows the development of the architectural plans for the project, and is the first step towards the development of a suitable Design Fire Strategy.

The Initial Design Review focuses on the provision of fire precautions to meet the requirements of the Building Regulations Part B: Fire Safety, to support the application for building regulations approval for the project and takes the form an outline report, and where necessary, contains requests for further information or recommended alterations considered necessary to achieve compliance with part B of the building regulations.

Design Fire Strategy

The Design Fire Strategy is a detailed report recording the full range of fire precautions proposed for the development of the proposed building and how these fire precautions achieve compliance with the requirements of the Building Regulations Part B: Fire Safety. 

The development process involves an Initial Draft document informed by the outcomes of the initial desktop review and the agreed solutions to issues identified. Where further issues are identified during the development of the draft Fire Strategy report, these will be recorded in the draft Fire Strategy report, along with recommended solutions.

A second draft is then issued, recording the agreed solutions to issues identified, to enable the client to check that all information and assumptions are correct. Once confirmed, the final version of the document is issued, to support the building regulations application process.

As-Built Fire Strategy

On completion of the construction phase of the project, TecFire will carry out a survey of the relevant building to assess and record the final details of the fire precautions. Where these differ from the fire precautions as described in the Design Fire Strategy developed to demonstrate compliance with the Building Regulations Part B: Fire Safety for the relevant building, or where the proposed use of the premises has rendered the fire precautions inadequate, TecFire will identify the issues and propose solutions where necessary.
Once the remedial actions to any such issues have been agreed upon, TecFire will update the Fire Strategy to record any changes to ensure that the As-Built Fire Strategy Report accurately reflects the fire precautions that have been provided.  

Construction Site Fire Safety Plan and Fire Risk Assessments

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to construction site general fire safety, including means of escape, while the  CDM Regulations 2015 also impose duties including the requirement to prevent risk from fire.

TecFire can assist clients in the management and maintenance of suitable fire precautions on their construction sites by developing and recording a suitable Construction Site Fire Safety Plan, and further, by carrying out fire risk assessments of the site at regular intervals.

During Constructions support

TecFire can provide support during the construction phase of a project.

• General consultancy support to address issues and design changes during construction.
• During construction inspections to evidence the standard of build and implementation of safety features which are otherwise concealed.