Fire Stopping Surveys for Housing Providers

Why is compartmentation so important in blocks of flats?

Many blocks of flats are designed so that a fire in one flat is contained there, and residents elsewhere can usually stay where they are while the fire service deals with it. That only works if every flat is separated from its neighbours and from the common parts by fire-resisting walls and floors, and if every service passing through them is properly sealed.

Shared risers carrying water, heating, gas, electrics and data pass through every floor. A single unsealed penetration in a riser can let smoke travel between floors, or into the corridor residents use to escape.

Where do problems usually appear in housing?

• Service risers and cupboards in common parts, where new services have been added over the years
• Flat entrance areas, where meters, data and door entry cables pass from the corridor into each flat
• Roof spaces above top-floor flats, where compartment walls should continue to the roof
• Bin stores, plant rooms and car parks below residential floors
• Converted houses, where compartment lines were added through timber floors and partitions

Many of these are caused by later work: a new broadband installation, a replaced boiler flue or a rewire, carried out without the fire stopping being reinstated.

Which legislation applies to housing providers?

The Fire Safety Act 2021 confirmed that, in buildings containing two or more sets of domestic premises, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (as amended) applies to the structure, external walls and flat entrance doors, as well as the common parts. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 place further duties on Responsible Persons for multi-occupied residential buildings in England, including information for residents. In higher-risk buildings, the Building Safety Act 2022 also applies. See higher-risk buildings.

Different legislation applies in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and our surveys work to it.

How do we arrange access to residents' flats?

Communal areas are usually straightforward to survey. Flats take more planning. We work with your housing officers or managing agents to agree which flats are included, how residents are told about the visit, and what happens when a resident is not in. We carry identification, explain why we are there, keep visits short and leave every flat as we found it.

Many providers start with a communal-areas-only survey and then extend to a sample of flats. See compartmentation survey types.

What about vulnerable residents and supported housing?

Sheltered and supported housing often includes residents who would need help to evacuate. We plan visits with scheme managers, keep disruption low, avoid busy times of day, and follow any arrangements the scheme has for visitors.

What do you receive for each block?

A digital report in which every observation is photographed, located and described, with a recommended remedy, marked on floor plans where you provide them. Across a stock of blocks, every report follows the same format so findings can be compared.

We report what we find; your Responsible Person decides priorities, with their Fire Risk Assessor. Keeping the results in a fire stopping register makes later checks quicker. For large stock, see portfolio survey programmes.