Government publishes response to Fire Safety Order consultation
The Home Office has published its response to the public consultation on fire safety that ran from July to October 2020.
The document provides a summary of the responses received and sets out the next steps that the government will take to strengthen fire safety for all regulated buildings. The consultation is part of the government’s plan to continue to learn the lessons from the Grenfell Tower fire, and reform building and fire safety to ensure that such a tragedy can never happen again.
The fire safety consultation contains proposals to:
- Strengthen the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and improve compliance.
- Implement the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 Report recommendations that require a change in law to place new requirements on building owners or managers of multi-occupied residential buildings, mostly high-rise buildings.
- Strengthen the regulatory framework for how building control bodies consult with Fire and Rescue Authorities and the handover of fire safety information.
The fire safety consultation, published alongside the draft Building Safety Bill, is a key part of the government’s package of reform to improve building and fire safety in all regulated premises where people live, stay or work and to deliver key Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations.
Together, measures in the draft Building Safety Bill, Fire Safety Bill and Fire Safety Order consultation will improve safety standards for residents of all blocks of flats of all heights, with even more stringent approaches and oversight for buildings in scope.
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