The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, also known as the FSO, came into force in October 2006. It brought the common parts of apartment buildings within the scope of mainstream fire safety legislation for the first time. It built upon the Housing Act of 2004. The interpretation of the FSO is via a series of guidance documents issued by the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). Approved Document B provides practical guidance with respect to the Building Regulations 2010.  Approved Document B was last updated in 2019 in the wake of the Grenfell disaster. It is the updates to this document that have triggered much greater scrutiny of high rise buildings from a fire safety perspective.

The Fire Safety Bill (CBP-8782 below), which is likely to come into force in 2021, seeks to strengthen the FSO, and is currently under review by Parliament. A Fire Safety consultation  was initiated by Lord Greenhalgh, the Minister of State for Building Safety, Fire and Communities (MHCLG and Home Office). This consultation began on 20th July 2020 with input required by 12th October 2020. 

You can download relevant documents by clicking on the buttons below.

The Building Safety Fund for non-ACM cladding systems was announced early in 2020. The government published the Registration Prospectus for the fund on 26 May 2020. The prospectus includes guidance on the remediation of non-ACM buildings. The process required that expressions of interest were registered between 1st June and 31st July 2020, and that applications should be submitted from 31st July and completed by 31st December 2020. The document below "Building_Safety_Fund_Application_Guidance_.pdf" provides general advice for those applying to the fund (i.e. not leaseholders). The BSF requires that any "Undertaking" makes a statement about whether they have received State Aid in the previous 3 years. State Aid Guidance for Applicants describes what those applying for the fund should do in respect of leaseholders  who are Undertakings. State Aid Guidance for Leaseholders helps leaseholders identify whether they are Undertakings e.g. they are an Undertaking if they rent out their property.

Further information can be found here.

The Waking Watch Relief Fund is a £30 million fund to pay for the costs of installing a common fire alarm system in eligible residential buildings with unsafe cladding systems. Common fire alarm systems will enable costly Waking Watch measures to be reduced or replaced in buildings waiting to have unsafe cladding removed.

Further information can be found here.

You can apply to the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber - Residential Property) if you’re a landlord, tenant, freeholder or leaseholder. The cases you can apply for include:

- Rent increases for ‘fair’ or ‘market’ rates
- Leasehold disputes, for example variable service charges, recognising a tenants’ association, management disputes
- Leasehold enfranchisement, for example buying the freehold for a group of flats, extending a lease

This is the application form to use if you want to challenge  the reasonableness of variable Service Charges. 

Further information can be found here.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has established the Building Safety Programme in an attempt to make sure that buildings are safe - and people feel safe - now, and in the future.

The government has banned combustible materials in the external walls of high rise residential buildings of 18 metres and over, and following a review into its effectiveness, is now consulting on extending the ban significantly further, including lowering the 18 metres height threshold to 11 metres.

With the support of local fire and rescue services and a panel of independent expert advisers, MHCLG is supporting building owners in taking immediate steps to ensure their residents’ safety and in making decisions on any remedial work that is necessary to do.

These documents provide a regular monthly update on progress of the Building Safety Programme

Further information can be found here.

In response to the tragedy of the fire at Grenfell Tower in June 2017, Sajid Javid and Amber Rudd commissioned an independent review of building regulations and fire safety. The review was led by Dame Judith Hackitt. Building a Safer Future, Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety: Final Report was published on 16 May 2018.

Further information can be found here.