London’s Burning: Why a great fire is anything but.

By Hannah Mansell, BWF-CERTIFIRE Manager, BWF-CERTIFIRE Scheme

The Great Fire of 1666 turned out to be a seminal moment in fire safety management, which ultimately led to today’s comprehensive building regulations requirements and more recently, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Despite this, the latest research findings from the Fire Door Inspection Scheme (FDIS) show a widespread complacency towards fire safety which highlights how responsibilities in this area are simply not being taken seriously enough.

When the Great Fire occurred, it swept through London, gutting at least a third of the medieval city, destroying parish churches, wiping out landmarks such as St Paul’s Cathedral and making an estimated 100,000 people homeless.

Thanks to Britain’s stringent fire safety regulations, we are now living in very different times. Those who fail to act responsibly may face major penalties in the form of a prison sentence, a hefty fine, or often both. So it’s somewhat shocking to learn that in 2015, over £1M of fines were issued for faulty fire doors.

This figure is based on every news report that FDIS could find on prosecutions under the Fire Safety Order since the start of 2015, including references made to faulty or missing fire doors. In total, 53 published prosecutions across the country and including various building types were accounted for.

More than £1M in fines and costs were imposed by the courts in these cases. These were handed to private landlords, business owners and care home managers after they failed to install or maintain adequate fire doors.

On top of the large number of fines given, many defendants also received suspended prison sentences of typically three to eight months, or longer. In some of the worst cases, prison was seen as the only suitable punishment for deterring other, future would-be offenders.

The majority of prosecutions seen by FDIS (57%) were issued to landlords of houses in multiple occupancy (HMOs), such as bedsits, flat-lets and shared houses. Letting agents were often included in these fines as well.

A number of cases in the hospitality and leisure sectors were also found, with just over 22% of cases reviewed involving pubs, hotels, bed and breakfast accommodation, restaurants, nightclubs and takeaways.

This was followed closely by 19% of prosecutions involving nurseries or care homes – buildings that tend to house the most vulnerable. In most of these cases, either special measures were put in place or buildings were closed down altogether.

However, a million pound problem is likely to be an underestimate. What we’re looking at here are the cases that have been publicised in the press – cases representing only the very tip of the iceberg. As the figures show, continued and widespread ignorance surrounding fire door safety is a massive issue. And, it’s placing our lives, the lives of fire service personnel and the buildings in which we inhabit in great danger.

The level of fines may be significantly high but the real cost of fire is even greater when you take into account the knock-on effects. Take the consequential loss to business for example, this could also result in job or contract losses or even closure. Fire can also cause huge disruption in the local community, especially when healthcare or educational facilities are badly damaged or the short supply of housing is impacted further because of it.

Fire doors need to be correctly specified, fitted and maintained in order to help prevent the spread of fire. Every building owner or landlord should be regularly inspecting their fire doors, or using a qualified professional to ensure they are fit for purpose.

The city of London is preparing to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire this year – at a time when we’ve benefitted from Fire Safety Order legislation for just over a decade. As we reflect on what was possibly one of the biggest disasters to have ever hit the capital, we should also remember that the characteristics of fire remain the same today as they did then. In this day and age there really is no excuse for seeing prosecutions relating to faulty fire doors on such a high scale. So what’s it going to take for attitudes to change?

Developed by industry experts within the BWF-CERTIFIRE Scheme and the Guild of Architectural Ironmongers, FDIS is Europe’s first qualification and inspection scheme for fire door safety.

BWF-CERTIFIRE is the UK’s largest fire door certification scheme. Through it, around two million fire doors are tested and certified in the UK each year, which equates to approximately 70% of the market.

Together, our organisations campaign for improved fire safety in all the buildings we design, construct, manage, own and use. You can join us at http://ift.tt/1Uc1Bki.

 

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