7.3 Higher-Risk Buildings, Holistic Fire Safety & Installer Competence

7.3 Higher-Risk Buildings, Holistic Fire Safety & Installer Competence

In May 2024 ECS added questions so that every cardholder meets the minimum fire safety in buildings awareness standard developed after the Grenfell Tower fire. Sections 7.1 and 7.2 cover compartmentation and fire-stopping. This section covers the rest of that standard: the building safety regime, higher-risk buildings, the holistic approach to fire safety, how materials behave in fire, evacuation strategies, and what competence means.

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The Building Safety Regime

Dame Judith Hackitt's review Building a Safer Future (2018) found that the system for building and managing higher-risk residential buildings was not fit for purpose. The Building Safety Act 2022 responded by creating a new regime in England, led by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).

• The BSR was set up within HSE. On 27 January 2026 it became a standalone body sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), a step towards the single construction regulator recommended by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
• It is the building control authority for higher-risk buildings in England, approving work at gateway stages before construction starts and before the building is occupied.
• It oversees the building control profession and promotes the competence of the industry and of the people working on buildings.
• Since October 2023, the Building Regulations in England have required everyone carrying out building work to be competent for that work, with specific duties on clients, principal designers and principal contractors.

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Higher-Risk Buildings (HRBs)

In England, a higher-risk building is one that is at least 18 metres in height or has at least seven storeys and contains at least two residential units. During design and construction the definition also covers hospitals and care homes that meet the height threshold. For HRBs, dutyholders must keep a golden thread of accurate, up-to-date building information, which includes the fire-stopping records described in section 7.2.

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A Holistic Approach to Fire Safety

Fire safety is not only the job of the fire alarm installer or the fire-stopping specialist. A holistic approach plans for every aspect of fire safety across the building's whole life: design, construction and maintenance. A well-designed compartment can be destroyed by one unsealed cable hole during construction, or by a later maintenance contractor who removes a fire-stopping pillow and never reinstates it. Every trade that works on a building shares responsibility for leaving its fire protection as good as, or better than, they found it.

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How Materials Behave in Fire

• Timber has a relatively low ignition temperature and burns, so of brick, concrete, steel and timber it gives the least effective fire resistance. Timber floors and stud walls often depend on linings such as plasterboard for their fire resistance, which is why holes in a plasterboard ceiling below timber joists matter.
• Steel does not burn but loses strength at high temperatures, so structural steel is protected with boards, sprays or intumescent paint.
• Brick and concrete are non-combustible and give good fire resistance.
• When man-made materials such as rubber and plastics burn, the smoke is typically black, because incomplete combustion releases soot. Black smoke usually means toxic gases and very poor visibility.

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Evacuation Strategies

• Simultaneous evacuation: everyone leaves when the alarm sounds. This is the normal strategy for offices, factories and construction sites.
• Stay put: used in many purpose-built blocks of flats with good compartmentation. Residents not affected by the fire stay in their flat unless told to leave, because each flat is designed to resist fire. A key benefit is that people reduce the risk of entering a smoky corridor and being overcome by smoke. Stay put only works if compartmentation, including the fire-stopping around services, is intact.

A protected escape route must lead to a place of safety and be protected from fire and smoke, and it needs emergency lighting so people can see their way out. Infra-red lights are not a requirement.

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Competence

Competence is broadly defined as the combination of skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours (SKEB). Resilience is a useful personal quality, but it is not one of the four elements of competence. A competent person also:

• Recognises the limits of their own competence and does not attempt tasks they have not been trained for.
• Asks for help or training when faced with an unfamiliar product or system.
• Follows the manufacturer's tested details and the specification rather than improvising.

Poor workmanship has real consequences: it increases hazards and the need for servicing and maintenance, and it can lead to failed compartments, structural problems and fires.

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Reporting Safety Concerns

CROSS-UK (Collaborative Reporting for Safer Structures UK) is a confidential reporting system that allows professionals working in the built environment to report fire or structural safety concerns. Reports are anonymised and the lessons are published so that others can learn from them. On site, you should still report concerns to your supervisor first.

The CITB has published free video training on fire safety in buildings to support the ECS update.

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ECS Exam Focus

• HRB in England: at least 18 metres or seven storeys.
• Holistic fire safety: design, construction and maintenance.
• Least effective fire resistance: timber. Burning rubber gives black smoke.
• Stay put benefit: less risk of being overcome in a smoky corridor.
• Competence: skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours, but not resilience.
• Poor workmanship leads to an increase in hazards and servicing.
• CROSS-UK: a confidential reporting system for fire and structural safety issues.