High-rise building details remain scarce for Fire and Rescue Services

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, which were enforced as of 23 January last year, make it a legal requirement for ‘Responsible Persons’ of high-rise residential buildings of seven stories or more to provide the local Fire and Rescue Service with appropriate safety information, including up-to-date building and external wall system plans.

The research sheds light on the percentage of building plans and external wall system plans submitted by qualifying high-rise buildings across England since the introduction of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, using data from a series of Freedom of Information (FoI) requests made to 18 Fire and Rescue Services compared against data for the number of high-rise structures present within each Fire and Rescue Service domain.

It emerges that Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service has the highest percentage of submissions received for both, with 88% of up-to-date building plans submitted and 88%% of up-to-date external wall system plans submitted.

Only Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service has received more for building plans. However, no external wall plans have been submitted as yet.

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service has received only 6% of building plans and just 4% of external wall plans for high-rises located in its domain.

Response to Grenfell

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 were brought forward in response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy in June 2017, where on-site emergency response teams reported that navigating such a complex residential building without clear directional signage prevented them from carrying out their duties safely.

Consequently, a recommendation was made that signage in addition to building and external wall system plans for multi-occupied high-rise residential buildings must be a legal requirement.

Using the information provided, Fire and Rescue Services are then able to plan an effective response should an emergency arise in the future, while also enabling residents to exit as they can follow clear and signposted instructions.

The breakdown of county-specific FoI request findings is as follows:

Minimising the risk

John Davies, managing director of FASTSIGNS UK, commented: “No matter the industry under consideration, Health and Safety signage is fundamental in terms of minimising risks and supporting people’s well-being. It’s also crucial in the event of an emergency.”

Davies added: “With certified safety and directional signage, both residents and response teams will be able to clearly navigate high-rise buildings when an incident occurs.”

Study methodology

FASTSIGNS UK contacted 18 Fire and Rescue Services in England, asking them for the latest information on building and external wall plans submitted in relation to high-rise buildings in their jurisdiction.

The data included in the research was supplied by each corresponding Fire and Rescue Service. This makes up almost 50% of all Fire and Rescue Services in England, while omitting any that don’t have buildings with seven-plus storeys covered by the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022.

The data includes the number of building plans and external wall plans received since January 2023 and up to the end of last October.

FASTSIGNS UK then carried out a separate Freedom of Information request to determine how many high-rise buildings are served by each Fire and Rescue Service, which provided the opportunity to calculate the percentage of responses against the number of high-rise buildings.