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Floor Plans and Building Plans: The Facts

What does the law say?

From the 23rd of January next year (2023) the person accountable for managing each high-rise building will be legally required to draw up and share electronically up-to-date floor plans identifying the location of key fire-fighting equipment with their local Fire and Rescue Services (FRS).

Why is the law changing?

On the night of the Grenfell Tower fire, there were no internal layout floor plans available for the London Fire Brigade. Phase 1 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry found that in other circumstances “lack of floor plans might easily have had far more serious consequences”, therefore the Inquiry recommended that the Accountable Person for each high-rise building would be required by law to provide the fire and rescue service with up-to-date plans of every floor of the building identifying the location of key fire safety systems.

Floor Plan Requirements

Where there are multiple floors in a building, but the layout of 2 or more floors are the same, you will only need to devise one floor plan relating to those floors and specify which of the floors the plan relates to. Another key requirement for the floor plans is to identify the location of the lifts and specify whether the FRS can use the lift in the event of a fire, or whether it is an evacuation lift. They will also need to identify the location of all the key fire-fighting equipment in the building which includes:
 
  1. Inlets for dry-rising mains;
  2. Inlets for wet-rising mains;
  3. Outlets for dry-rising mains;
  4. Outlets for wet-rising mains;
  5. Smoke control systems;
  6. Suppression systems;

 

Building your plan requirements

Hard copies of the floor and building plans must be placed in the Premises Information Box which must be in a suitable position so that the FRS have easy access. For more on Premises Information Boxes, visit our blog.
 
The Accountable Person is then in charge of updating the floor and building plans as soon as reasonably practicable when the layout of the building has changed, when the location of key fire-fighting equipment has changed or when the PIB contents have been removed for use by the FRS.
 
Proper management of floor and building plans can save the lives of residents, there is a lot of responsibility on the Accountable Person as laid out in this blog to ensure that the plans are maintained constantly so that they are accurate at all times. We understand the pressures of this which is why we have a team of certified experts to assist with composing and updating accurate plans compliant with fire safety laws.
 
If you would like to find out more information on floor plans and building plans, please get in touch today to speak to a consultant on ways we can help you.

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