Fire safety in social housing
The Grenfell Tower disaster in 2017 was a devastating reminder of the critical importance of fire safety in social housing. It led to stricter fire safety regulations in social housing, such as the Building Safety Act, to protect lives and prevent similar tragedies.
FCS has over 30 years’ worth of experience delivering tailored fire protection solutions for social housing. Our expertise ensures that fire safety measures are effectively implemented – often from the design stage – helping to safeguard residents, protect property and extend building lifespans.
Our social housing fire safety and protection services:
We offer a cohesive range of services for social housing, including:
- Fire risk assessments – We conduct detailed risk assessments to identify fire safety issues and determine the necessary measures for developing a robust fire safety for social housing.
- Compartmentation surveys – Fire compartmentation plays a crucial role in preventing fire spread in buildings for all social housing. With so many occupants in one space, it can be easy for a fire to spread quicky. But our surveys ensure the prevention the spread of smoke, gases and flames.
- Fire door installation and surveys – Internal doors such as flat entrance doors, doors to stairways and lobbies prevent fire spread. Our data-driven approach ensures these doors are installed, regularly inspected and properly maintained to meet social housing fire safety standards.
- Fire damper testing surveys – Fire dampers are installed in heating, ventilation and air conditioning HVAC ducts to prevent fire from spreading through ventilation systems. Regular inspections are essential for limiting the amount of damage caused by a fire.
- Retrospective fire strategies – We help ensure existing social housing buildings meet modern fire safety standards by assessing their current fire safety provisions against today’s Building Regulation guidance
Fire safety regulations for social housing
Passive fire protection (PFP) is a crucial part of any fire strategy for social housing. With so many residents in one place, fire safety education can only go so far so having the right structural protections in place is essential.
If a building has weak PFP, fire and smoke can spread rapidly, putting lives at risk and compromising the structure. That’s why key elements like riser doors, fire doors, fire stopping, roof voids, firewalls, fire curtains and partitions must be properly installed and maintained.
When PFP is effective, it helps contain fires, protecting residents and buying valuable time for emergency response – a major step in safeguarding social housing communities.
With third-party accreditations, we guarantee our fire safety solutions meet the highest compliance and quality standards.
Fire safety challenges for social housing
One of the biggest challenges in social housing fire safety is that buildings are occupied year-round. FCS ensures fire protection without disrupting daily life.
We also navigate the complexities of social housing, balancing legal and building requirements to ensure seamless assessment, design and installation. If anything is overlooked, residents are the ones who suffer, so we make sure nothing is compromised.
With diverse communities in cities, we engage directly with residents, addressing language barriers, schedules and individual needs to ensure fire safety is inclusive and effective.
For ongoing support, our FCS Group Compliance+ service offers fixed-term contracts, providing scheduled fire door inspections and remediation at scaled costs – eliminating unexpected fees and compliance worries.
Frequently asked questions
Are doors in social housing fire doors?
Social housing must comply with fire door regulations that include fitting fire doors to flat entrances and all areas leading to a final escape. Regulations requiring regular checks on fire doors under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 come into place in 2023. To spot a fire door, look out for things like a blue ‘Fire Door’ or ‘Keep Closed’ sign, door closer or smoke seals around the edge of the door or the frame.
What is the Building Safety Act for social housing?
The Building Safety Bill passed into law on 28 April 2022, becoming the Building Safety Act. The Act sets out a series of reforms intended to make buildings across the country safer, as well as giving residents and homeowners more rights, powers and protections.
Why choose us for your social housing fire safety requirements?
FCS has extensive experience in fire safety for social housing, providing expert guidance from the design phase to ensure buildings remain compliant throughout development.
Our data-driven approach delivers detailed photographic reports, giving housing providers clear proof that their fire safety measures meet regulations. We also stay ahead of technological advancements to improve the efficiency and accuracy of fire door inspections.
We use PlanRadar, a specialist construction and real estate management platform, to map fire door locations, attach key details and photographs and generate comprehensive reports.
Clients can then share these reports with contractors for cost assessments. At FCS, we believe independent inspections – separate from installing contractors – are essential for fire safety in social housing.
Improved safety after the Grenfell Tower disaster of 2017
As previously stated, the Grenfell Tower disaster of 2017 dramatically added urgency to the way people looked at fires, reminding them of the tremendous devastation such a disastrous event can cause. Laws like the Building Safety Bill were introduced so that fires, even though inevitable, would not cause massive damage to property and loss of lives. All sectors, including those more vulnerable to damage such as social housing, have become more aware of measures like passive fire protection (PFP).
With large populations contained in social housing, there is a common need for everyone to feel safe, which highlights the need to have proper PFP solutions in place to prevent another disaster happening again.
Our accreditations
Affiliation Of Fire Door Inspectors:
Fire Consultancy Specialists is a proud member of the AFDI, a not-for-profit organisation promoting best practices among professional fire door inspectors. Constructionline Gold / CHAS & SafeContractor highlights FCS’s dedication to H&S.
BM Trada fire door maintenance and installations:
Fire Consultancy Specialists is approved under the BM Trada Q Mark scheme which is UKAS 3rd party accredited to complete fire door condition surveys under the BM Trada certification scheme. This involves an assessment of the company’s processes and procedures, as well as the skills and qualifications of its personnel. The assessment covers areas such as fire door inspections, repair and maintenance, installations and documentation and record-keeping.
Contact us today to discuss our social housing fire safety services:
We prioritise clear, ongoing communication with our clients. Get in touch with us today – we’d love to discuss how we can support your social housing.