News

New laws on building safety have been proposed to Parliament. A key element of these proposals is that certain buildings will require a safety case when they are occupied. If you manage or are responsible for a building covered by the proposed new laws, this Briefing Note will help you understand what a safety case is.

Measures to ensure fire safety matters are incorporated at the planning stage for schemes involving a relevant high-rise residential building (Planning Gateway 1 & Fire Statements) Measures to ensure the consideration of fire safety matters as they relate to land use planning are incorporated at the planning stage for schemes involving a relevant high-rise residential building.

Following the introduction of the Fire Safety Act 2021, the Fire Safety Order was amended to ensure the inspection of all doors between domestic premises and common parts was included within the scope of the fire risk assessment. However, we also know that we are awaiting further legislation to formally introduce this requirement.

Working in confined spaces without the appropriate risk mitigation measures can lead to multiple fatalities. The definition of a confined space is a space which is substantially (although not always entirely) enclosed and one or more of the specified risks must be present.

Legionella bacteria is typically dormant at temperatures below 20°C and for most of the year, throughout the UK, mains water temperatures fall well below this level. However, elevated mains and cold water temperatures are common during the warm summer months particularly in central London and other major UK cities with water suppliers permitted to provide a water supply up to 25°C.

As more and more technical considerations are required to manage and quantify the level of fire risk presented within buildings, there is an increasing demand for consultancies like ours to undertake fire strategies. Following client requests, we have produced our latest Briefing Note on the subject.

Employers have a duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees. It would be an offence for an employer to knowingly allow an employee to work whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs, particularly where it poses a threat to the health and safety of that employee or other people.

This Briefing Note covers the risks associated with the presence of radon gas in the workplace (also known as a naturally occurring radioactive material) and is in response to a number of recent requests from clients for further information and advice.

In this Briefing Note we have set out the main changes introduced by the new Fire Safety Act 2021 which received royal assent on the 29th April 2021 and is now an Act of Parliament. The Act amends the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO), to ensure that people feel safe in their homes, and a tragedy like the Grenfell Tower fire never happens again.

As lockdown restrictions ease in the UK over the coming weeks, many people will begin to return to the workplace, where buildings may have stood unoccupied or with significantly reduced occupancy for a number of months. Therefore, it is essential that the water quality of hot and cold water systems in these buildings is considered, as the water systems may have become stagnant during the lockdown period if not correctly maintained. Stagnation can result in the growth and colonisation of potentially harmful bacteria including Legionella.