Fire safety

Preventing fires in your home

Serious fires in blocks of flats are rare but when they happen the results can be tragic. It’s best that everyone understands fire safety procedures and the rules about obstructing corridors and walkways. Please take a few minutes to read through this advice.

If you are a leaseholder, make sure you fit smoke alarms on each floor and test them once a week. The Fire Brigade provides FREE home fire safety checks and will give you a free smoke alarm. You can book an appointment online or phone them on 0800 028 44 28.
If you are a Council Tenant there should already be a smoke alarm in your flat. If not, please contact the Housing Service Centre on 020 7364 5015.
When you go to bed, make sure that you’ve closed all the internal doors.
Take care in the kitchen – most fires start here, so never leave your cooking unattended and take extra care with hot oil.
Never leave lit candles unattended.
Make sure cigarettes are stubbed out and disposed of carefully and never smoke in bed.
Don’t overload electrical sockets.
Don't overheat batteries for E-bikes and E-scooters. Incorrectly charging these batteries can start home fires. Read the Fire brigades guidance on how to avoid this here.
Keep matches away from children.
Do not store flammable liquids such as petrol in your home, bin store or chutes.

What to do if there is a fire

Watch short films produced by the London Fire Brigade on what to do if there is a fire in your property or block.

If you live in a block of flats

Your building, like many residential buildings, is designed so that it restricts the spread of fire and smoke between flats. This means it will usually be safe for you to stay in your own flat if the fire is elsewhere. Because of this we have specific advice on what to do to keep everyone safe.

This section provides you with fire safety information for Council owned residential buildings. The Council’s approach is influenced by residents and is based on meeting the requirements of the Fire Safety Order 2005 and the Fire Safety Regulations 2023.

Fire Risk Assessments (FRAs)

Why does the Council carry out Fire Risk Assessments?

In line with the law, the Council completes a Fire Risk Assessment for all the residential blocks that have a common area. Please read this guide as it tells you all about the process and how to understand the assessment for your block. The requirement to complete a Fire Risk Assessment is described in ‘The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005’.

Who does the Fire Risk Assessments?

The Council commissions Fire Risk Assessments from accredited companies who only employ qualified fire risk assessors who are external to and independent of the Council. The Council only employs Fire Engineers who are members of nationally recognised British Association of Fire Engineers and who can demonstrate they meet approved quality management standards. Each Fire Risk Assessment the Council received comes with a certificate of conformity which states it meets the required standards.

What are the types of Fire Risk Assessment?

There are different types of Fire Risk Assessments that can be used to identify any risks and the type depends on the circumstances of the block in which you live.

The most common Fire Risk Assessment that the Council use is referred to as a ‘Type 1’ which looks at fire risks in the common areas. All Council owned residential blocks with a common area have a Type 1 Fire Risk Assessment and this is a visual inspection at intervals with the frequency set out in the guidance, The Council usually carries these out every four years although the council completes an Assessment for the tallest blocks every year.

In some cases, the Council use a ‘Type 4’ Fire Risk Assessment which is a more detailed and ‘intrusive’ assessment of both common areas and residents’ flats. This involves looking at construction details and may include looking behind skirting boards and cupboards and into walls, floors and ceilings. This assessment provides the Council with more information and is only usually used for example when for example the block is complex in design or where the Type 1 Fire Risk Assessment recommends that extensive further investigation is required. The assessments routinely recommend further investigation of areas should an Assessor be unable to access any areas such as a plant room or store.

What does the Fire Risk Assessment tell us?

The Fire Risk Assessment describes the fire and building safety features, identifies any risks and recommends what’s needed to improve fire safety; giving a priority for each item. Many of the recommendations are routinely carried out for example, testing and maintaining communal lighting, completing day-to-day repairs and regularly removing items that obstruct communal areas.

The Fire Risk Assessment is intended to highlight not only any identified hazards but also to direct landlords and building managers to conduct further, more detailed investigations into specific areas of the building and to consider the best course of action. This means that the Fire Risk Assessment in itself is not a final view on all the actions that are required. Final decisions on the works that will be carried out on any building are made once a detailed survey and assessment of the building has been carried out.

What happens after the Fire Risk Assessment is completed?

Where work is needed, the Fire Risk Assessment recommendations are reviewed and the Council often includes them with any other work programmes that are being undertaken. The Council’s resources and capacity mean it cannot do all the work at once. The guidance on Fire Risk Assessments advises that the time limits set against recommendations in the report may be altered to allow programming of works and to group works across a number of blocks. This means that sometimes the works will be completed outside the recommended timescales but it can mean that value for money is achieved and disruption to residents is reduced.

The Decent Homes programme of improvement works has reduced a lot of the fire risk and the Council have been completing fire safety works for a number of years now. All Type 1 Fire Risk Assessments and works that will be completed are published on the Council’s website. After any major works are completed to a building, the Council carries out another Fire Risk Assessment to check that the block is as safe as possible.

The Fire Risk Assessment contains general information about the block before the assessor’s visit is made and a ‘desk-top’ risk is applied due to its construction and other factors such as height and occupancy. This risk is either ‘High, Medium or Low’ and never changes.

The Fire Risk Assessment provides a risk rating for the block following the site visit by the assessor and what the rating would be once recommended works are complete.

The standard risk ratings (in order of increasing risk) are: ‘Trivial, Tolerable, Moderate, Substantial and Intolerable’. The long-term aim is to complete enough works so all blocks move as close to a tolerable rating as possible, or lower - but this will not be achieved until every significant fire safety action is completed for the block.

The Fire Risk Assessment also reviews all of the components in the block and fire safety features and identifies any areas that should be regularly inspected (such as the block electrics or emergency lighting) or require any works. The assessor gives a risk rating on any risk or action identified which could range from no action being required or an advisory comment through to low, medium or high levels of risk.

FRAs for the residential housing blocks owned and managed by the council are available on our FRA map website.

As we complete the latest round of assessments, we will replace those currently on the website with the most recent versions.

Fire inspections

In our continued drive to keep residents safe in and around their homes, staff will be making more routine inspections of building escape routes.

Nearly all blocks managed by the council are designed as a “Stay Put” block meaning that it is usually safer to stay in your flat if there is a fire elsewhere in the building. The London Fire Brigade’s guidance is to ‘Stay Put’ unless your flat is affected by fire and smoke. This is because:

Blocks of flats are usually built to prevent the spread of fire – ‘compartmentalisation’ includes fire breaks between flats and between floors.
By leaving your flat, you may walk into smoke or fire in common areas.
Opening your fire door may allow smoke and fire into your home and help spread smoke and flames.
Staying put will also help firefighters tackle the fire safely and quickly without being delayed by many residents evacuating down the stairways.

But you should know your escape route if you need to escape the building or be asked to by the emergency services. Some flats are designed to have a ‘secondary means of escape’ to provide additional safety. These can include a small walkway that you can get to through one of your windows, external metal staircases leading to other walkways, shared balconies and in some maisonettes an internal staircase that leads to an exit on a different floor level to the one your front door is on.

These are the areas we need to inspect on a routine basis to make sure they are clear and there are no obstacles that may get in your way. We’re letting residents know that inspections will be more frequent (usually once a month to the small walkways) as some of these areas mean a member of staff will be walking directly past your windows. We will be inspecting the secondary means of escape in maisonettes yearly but as we will need to come into your homes, we will contact you beforehand. Our staff will always carry photo identification cards and when they are in communal areas they will be wearing high-visibility jackets.

If you have any questions you can call us on 0207 364 5015

Fire safety works

Fire safety works to the blocks with the highest priority have already begun; residents received letters detailing the works as well as being given the opportunity to attend drop-in sessions and residents’ meetings.

Works on blocks will vary according to the recommendations made by the independent Fire Risk Assessor but include items such as: making sure all doors meet the fire safe standards; improved signage; renewing services intake cupboard doors; inspecting communal areas; removing combustible items; informing residents of policies in place and making improvements to bin store areas.

We’ve been out on estates, door knocking, holding meetings and drop-in sessions to discuss your fire safety. We also regularly update information here and our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). If you can’t find the answer to your questions please contact us on 020 7364 5015.

Buildings and the Fire Safety Strategy

Fire is a serious potential risk if not suitably managed and we set out how it achieves fire safety and resilience in the fire risk management strategy. This strategy details the framework that we use to manage the risk of fire and to deliver fire safety related works. We have created an overview document in order to:

enable residents to learn about and influence our approach to fire safety
inform staff of our approach to fire safety, so that they can discuss with any concerned parties; and
encourage joint learning.

You can read more about our approach in the booklet below.

Our approach to Fire Safety

Security Grilles on front doors

We are committed to providing safe homes for residents. All blocks and homes managed by the council receive regular safety inspections and we undertake all necessary fire safety work as a priority. There are fire risk assessments in place for all residential blocks, you can access these online through an interactive map here.

We work closely with London Fire Brigade to ensure our residents can be evacuated as quickly as possible should there be an emergency. Recently this work includes measures to ensure we comply with the Fire Safety Act 2021. This is a new law that covers the use and installation of fire doors, including front doors. To comply with the new law, we are committed to a programme of replacing tenants’ front doors with ‘Secured by Design’ doors.* ‘Secured by Design’ doors fulfil both Building Control regulatory guidance and Police security guidance. You can find detailed information about these doors online hereexternal link.

We know and understand why some residents fit extra security measures such as door grilles to their homes. This isn’t necessary where a ‘Secure by Design’ front door has been installed because door grilles will not provide any additional security. London Fire Brigade consider door grilles to be a substantial safety risk. It is sometimes necessary for firefighters to gain access to homes in an emergency and a security door, grille or other security measures can significantly increase how long this takes, resulting in unacceptable danger to both life and property.

Gates and grilles pose a risk to life if a fire breaks out because they can trap people in their homes. If left open, they can cause an obstruction and slow evacuation of a block. If you have a grille or gate over your front door London Fire Brigade recommends that it is always unlocked when people are home and everyone in the household (including guests) knows where a spare key is kept in case there is an emergency and they need to evacuate.

You can find London Fire Brigade’s Safety Guidance online here.external link

*Leaseholders living in blocks managed by the council can buy into this programme and get a new ‘Secured by Design’ door fitted by our contractors.

Obstructions in corridors and on open walkways above ground floor

Items placed in the corridor and on window sills must be made of materials that would not readily burn, e.g. metal, ceramic, porcelain and must not cause an obstruction or hazard of any type;
Plant pots, planters and the like should take up no more than one fifth of the width of a walkway or ground floor access path;
Permanent or heavy furniture and constructions are not allowed;
Portable chairs, clothes dryers and the like are allowed but must not obstruct the walkway and should not be left out after use;
Window boxes are allowed subject to being of a suitable width;
Hanging baskets would be allowed fixed to the inside wall only;
Washing lines will only be allowed where they are attached to back walls and do not cause and obstruction. Washing lines will not be allowed where they are fixed across a walkway, cause an obstruction or where they are attached to any pipes;
Bicycles and the like are not be allowed;
Hazardous items including plastic storage sheds are not be allowed.

This advice will help to protect you and your family from the risk of fire

External wall insulation

A number of residents have asked for information about the external wall insulation installed as part of the recent Decent Homes (Better Neighbourhoods) work. The system installed consists of mineral fibre rockwool from a company called PermaRock and it has the highest fire proof rating of ‘A1’. More details can be found on the attached certificate.

Fire safe doors

All flats in blocks which have a front door opening onto a fire escape route need to have a fire compliant front door and door frame which is resistant to smoke and fire for 30 minutes to keep residents safe. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 covers the common areas of blocks of flats (lobbies/stairs/landings) and is designed to protect occupants of flats against the risk of fire.

We have been providing fire safe front doors and door frames to tenants and leaseholders will be aware from their lease that their front door and door frame is their responsibility. We have provided some information on how to check if your front door is fire safe.

Read a letter from Fire Brigade Borough Commander Steve Dudeney to leaseholders detailing the importance of fire safe doors and frames.