Fire safety consultation announced

The government announced its fire safety consultation on 20 July, seeking views on proposals to:

• Strengthen the Fire Safety Order.
• Implement the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry phase one recommendations.
• Strengthen the regulatory framework for how building control bodies consult with the fire and rescue authorities.

The consultation follows the publication of the Fire Safety Bill in March, which amends the Fire Safety Order 2005 to clarify duty-holder responsibilities for the structure and external walls – including cladding, balconies and windows – and entrance doors to individual flats, of multi-occupied residential buildings.

The government also stated that the bill would ‘provide a foundation for secondary legislation to take forward the recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry phase one report’.

Recognising that some of the inquiry’s recommendations would have been difficult for our members to implement to the letter, we published a briefing seeking feedback from members in May, in anticipation of this consultation.

We will now use the feedback gathered from members, and seek further input, to develop a sector response to the fire safety consultation, which closes on 12 October 2020.

We will be in touch with our members shortly with more information and details of how you can contribute to our response.

You can find out more about the consultation on GOV.UK.