Fire Safety Strategies for Safer, Compliant Buildings

A:The amendments introduced new duty holders—client, principal designer, principal contractor, designer, and contractor—with competency requirements. Fire engineers are now explicitly recognized as designers who must cooperate with other designers and contractors and take “all reasonable steps” to ensure compliance with all relevant requirements. Their involvement extends beyond RIBA Stage 4 into detailed design and construction phases, including coordination and review of fire safety elements across disciplines.

A: Principal designers must provide compliance statements confirming that designs meet all relevant requirements. Since they cannot be experts in every discipline, they rely on competent specialists—particularly fire engineers—to review drawings, specifications, and design documents for fire safety compliance. Fire engineers provide supporting statements and ensure that fire safety design intent is correctly implemented across all coordinated elements.

A: In HRBs, Gateway 1 requires a fire statement; Gateway 2 is a hard stop until the BSR approves building control; Gateway 3 sign‑off is needed before occupation. KFS prepares strategy documentation to support these checkpoints.

A: Yes—an FRA assesses the operational, occupied building; the Fire Safety Strategy is the design master plan that justifies how the building will be safe and compliant. Both are complementary.

A: Fire Safety Strategy should ideally be initiated at RIBA Stage 2 (Concept Design) so that key fire safety principles - evacuation strategy, compartmentation, escape stairs, smoke control, and firefighting access - can be embedded before layouts become fixed.

It is then refined at Stages 3 and 4, with updates made to reflect coordinated architectural, structural and MEP design. 

A finalised strategy is typically issued at the end of Stage 4 to support Building Regulations approval, Gateway submissions (for HRBs), and construction packages.

A: Yes. Many existing buildings or older design packs contain outdated strategies that no longer reflect current regulations, occupancy patterns, or risk profiles.

KFS can review, update, or fully replace existing fire strategies - particularly valuable for refurbishment, change‑of‑use projects, façade remediation, and buildings requiring compliance under newer standards such as BS 9991:2024, the Building Safety Act, or PAS 9980 considerations.

A: Typically, we request items such as:

1.    Architectural GA plans, sections, elevations
2.    The building’s intended use and occupancy profile
3.    Firefighting access details
4.    Structural strategy (where relevant)
5.    Proposed active fire systems (if known)
6.    Any previous fire strategies or FRAs
7.    Design constraints or planning conditions
8.    Providing information early enables a faster, more accurate strategy — reducing delays later with Building Control, insurers, or the BSR.

A: Absolutely. Many modern developments - especially complex layouts, mixed‑use schemes, tall buildings, or buildings with innovative materials - cannot achieve full compliance using prescriptive code routes.

KFS provides engineered, performance‑based solutions supported by CFD modelling, structural fire analysis, evacuation modelling, or risk‑based justification. This often avoids unnecessary redesign, while still giving Building Control and the BSR the confidence they need.

A: Timescales depend on:

1.    Building size and complexity
2.    Availability/quality of design information
3.    Whether engineered analysis (e.g., CFD) is required
4.    Whether the project is an HRB requiring Gateway 1 or Gateway 2 documentation:
a.    For a typical residential or commercial building, a strategy may take 2–6 weeks.
b.    For more complex schemes, phased delivery with early-stage outputs is common, allowing design teams to progress without delay.

A: A robust Fire Safety Strategy forms the core evidence pack for demonstrating compliance with Building Regulations (Part B). For Higher‑Risk Buildings (HRBs), the strategy directly contributes to:

1.    Gateway 1 – fire statement inputs
2.    Gateway 2 – design compliance evidence for the BSR’s multi‑disciplinary team
3.    Gateway 3 – final as‑built fire safety information
- A complete, clear strategy reduces the likelihood of rejections, redesigns, or delays - particularly given the BSR’s strict requirements for clarity, competence, and completeness.

A: Use Approved Document B or BS 9991:2024 for residential, with BS 7974 methods where prescriptive routes are impractical. For mixed/complex non‑residential, the non-residential parts should follow BS 9999:2017.