Consultation on fire safety changes to the local Building Regulations

Overview

Fire safety measures in buildings established through the local Building Regulations contribute significantly to maintaining life safety standards for occupants/residents and firefighters alike, not to mention the contribution they make in terms of property protection.

The proposed consultation contains amendments to uplift fire safety protection measures in a range of buildings. They are mainly focused on residential buildings and in particular domestic multi-residential buildings, to provide assurance and additional safety measures to residents. Some amendments are aimed at assisting the Fire and Rescue Service to ensure they can provide an effective operational response. The intended effect of the proposals is to reduce the consequences of fire through saving lives and preventing injuries.

Why your views matter

The Grenfell tragedy and subsequent Phase 1 report to the Public Inquiry highlighted the potential benefits of some of the items proposed in this consultation - sprinkler usage, wayfinding signage, evacuation alert sounder systems, smoke ventilation systems and secure information boxes to improve resident safety. Sprinklers in particular have been proven to be very effective fire protective measures for saving lives in residential type buildings.

The Department is seeking your views on these matters and the other amendments as proposed to the local Building Regulations through this consultation. Your views will help to inform the development of final policy proposals.

It is not compulsory to answer all of the questions, so you can take part in the consultation even if you do not have views on all of the above issues. The answers you give will inform the development of final policy proposals and legislation, so we would encourage you to take this opportunity to have your say.

Privacy Notice 

The Data Protection Act 2018 states that, as a government department, DoF may process personal data as necessary for the effective performance of a task carried out in the public interest. i.e. a consultation. In addition to the statutory requirement in the Building Order to consult on building regulations matters there is an expectation of appropriate public consultation on substantive changes to the Building Regulations.

Your personal data is being collected as an essential part of the consultation process, so that we can contact you regarding your response and for statistical purposes. We may also use it to contact you about related matters.

Your data will be kept for two years, after which all data will be deleted. To find out how we handle your personal data, please see our privacy policy. When submitting this response you agree to our privacy policy.

All the information you provide will be treated in strict confidence and will not be used to identify you personally. The analysis will be carried out on an anonymous basis under the guidelines of the GDPR.

Where consent has been provided consultation responses will be published on the Department of Finance website, no personal data will be published.

Information will not be passed on to anyone else and will only be used for the purposes of this consultation/survey or if necessary to fulfil legal or regulatory requirements.