Keeping Coventry and Warwickshire Safe
Do you have responsibility for the fire safety of a block of flats?
If you own a block of flats, or are part of the company that owns the freehold for a block of flats, you have a duty to ensure that a fire risk assessment is carried out regularly. The responsibility for carrying out a fire risk assessment resides with the Responsible Person (RP). In a block of flats, the RP is normally the freeholder/landlord, the residential management company, the managing agent, or the right to manage company.
Why do we need a fire risk assessment for our block of flats?
Fire risk assessments are vital for blocks of flats and can save lives. They are a legal requirement.
Most buildings housing flats, require a fire risk assessment of their communal areas to be carried out each year. This includes purpose built blocks of flats but also buildings which have been converted into a block of self-contained flats, such as old houses and industrial premises. We are finding, more and more, that leaseholders are owning a portion of the freehold and forming companies that own their block. This is leading to issues with fire risk assessments not being carried out frequently by competent, third party accredited fire risk assessments. This is partly due to a lack of awareness of what duties they have but also due to a lack of funds. Make sure your fire risk assessment is up to date, that means that it has been reviewed in the last 12 months. If not, it is time to get in touch with JCH Safety.
Buyer Beware:
A warning here, there are fire risk assessors out there who are not qualified, competent or suitably experienced to carry out fire risk assessments. We advise that you do not buy a fire risk assessment on cost alone. It is important to carry out appropriate due diligence. Check for accreditation,qualifications, memberships of professional bodies, insurance and third party accreditation. With safety, you often get what you pay for. We often see old fire risk assessments that are not suitable or sufficient and we are then told that ‘it was cheap.’ This would not be protection in court. The best way to ensure a quality fire risk assessment is undertaken is to only employ third party accredited fire risk assessors like us. JCH Safety are qualified, experienced and third party accredited. We are very happy to send our evidence of this over to you, just ask.
If you live in a flat, it is important that the building is safe. The purpose of the fire risk assessment is to ensure that the building’s in-built fire protection and the means of escape are sufficient to protect you from a possible fire.
Do only the common areas require a fire risk assessment?
The common areas definitely require a fire risk assessment. Sometimes, it is necessary to have what is known as a Type 3 Fire Risk Assessment. This involves a non-destructive assessment of the flats also, in addition to the common parts. A Type 3 Fire Risk Assessment would be carried out if the building has no automatic fire detection, concerns relating to the safety and structure of the fire protection (compartmentation), or if flats have been materially altered such as having walls removed or kitchens turned ‘open plan’ for example. JCH Safety carry out Type 3 Fire Risk Assessments where required.
JCH Safety carry out fire risk assessments for blocks of flats across the Midlands. Serving Coventry, Nuneaton, Rugby, Leamington, Birmingham along with Leicestershire in the East Midlands.
Get in touch for a free quote.