Fire Safety – National or Local requirements???

In his draft guidance on fire safety, the Mayor of London is seeking to ensure the highest standards of fire safety from the earliest design stages. Ron Alalouff investigates the details of the proposals.

The guidance sets out how developers should demonstrate compliance with the Mayor’s detailed London Plan policies to achieve “the highest standards in fire safety and safe and dignified evacuations”. This is in addition to the Government’s fire safety considerations that apply only to a limited number of buildings at the planning application stage.

The guidance says that fire safety needs to be considered from the outset to ensure best outcomes for occupants and users. The evolution of a fire safety strategy and evacuation strategy is iterative, progressing alongside the detailed design of the development and understanding of how it will be used and occupied.

The guidance sets out how applicants demonstrate compliance with London Plan policies D12 and D5 (B5). As planning officers are not experts in fire safety, it says, the onus is on the applicant to ensure that they use the necessary fire safety expertise to demonstrate compliance with these policies.  Read more…

Mayor’s fire safety plan for London aims to exceed national building regulations