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  • ARMA Advice Note: Fire Safety Management in Flats

    ARMA, part of The Property Institute (TPI), has today published an updated version of its ‘Fire Safety Management in Flats’ Advice Note, a good practice guide for those involved in the management of fire safety in properties in the residential long leasehold sector, including RMCs, RTMs, managing agents, developers and landlords.

    This Guidance Note is for professional Fire Safety personnel involved in the residential long leasehold sector, including managing agents, developers and landlords. It represents the core of good practice for managing agents who manage fire safety in residential long leasehold properties and the clients/responsible persons who they act for. It has been written to apply to residential long leasehold properties (a lease of a term in excess of 21 years when originally granted) in England and Wales where a service charge, which varies according to expenditure, is payable.

    This guidance has been independently reviewed and endorsed by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, ARMA’s Primary Authority Partner.

    The Advice Note, first published in October 2019, has been substantially updated to reflect current statutory guidance and industry best practice and has been independently reviewed and endorsed by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, ARMA’s Primary Authority Partner.

    The Note represents the core of good practice for those who manage fire safety in residential long leasehold properties and the clients/responsible persons whom they act for and covers four main areas: Fire Safety Law; Fire Risk Assessments; Fire Safety Management; and Managing Fire Risks. It also includes an example of a fire action notice for blocks with a Stay Put policy, advice on the scope and types of fire risk assessments (FRAs), an overview of fire design standards, and a useful index of links to current legislation and regulations, as well as guidance from Government, the National Fire Chiefs Council and RICS.

    Download a copy of the Advice Note  HERE

    • Fire Safety
    • Fire Safety Management in Flats

  • BSI publishes new Built Environment Competence Standards (BSI Flex 8670)

    The review of building safety and regulations that followed the Grenfell Tower fire highlighted a fragmented approach to - and a lack of consistency in - the processes and standards for assuring the competence of those working on buildings as a major flaw in the regulatory system.To meet that challenge, the Competence Steering Group (CSG) published ‘Raising the Bar’ (later updated as ‘Setting the Bar’), which included creating a suite of national standards and supporting documents in its 67 recommendations.

    BSI, supported by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, is leading an industry-driven standards programme to raise the standards of competence across the built environment and improve the safety of residents and the workforce.

    The standards will make it easier for different parts of the built environment industry to work together by establishing agreed core principles, terminology, and requirements on competence, providing a shared understanding of roles along the delivery supply chain.They will also provide a bridge to wider competence requirements being developed for the professional, technical and artisanal skills of those working in the built environment, raising the quality of work, the behaviour and the culture of individuals working in the built environment.

    Read more here

    • Building Safety Regulator
    • BSI Flex 8670 & PAS 8673

  • BSI Publishes PAS 8673 competence standards for management of safety risks

    The British Standards Institution has published three new competence standards for roles responsible for safety management in the built environment. These include the PAS 8673, which sets out competence requirements for the management of safety in residential buildings.

    The PAS 8673 had originally been intended to set out competence requirements for the Building Safety Manager role in the higher-risk regime in the Building Safety Act. The standard now sets out competence requirements for safety management in the occupation phase of a higher-risk building, against which dutyholders can assess all people performing necessary tasks in higher-risk buildings.

    It can also be used to guide and assess how well dutyholders and those delegating functions to others have carried out due diligence to verify the competence of those they employ or contract. The Building Safety Act sets out requirements relating to ensuring competence, for those commissioning building work that requires regulatory sign off on any building, and not just those that are defined as higher-risk. 

    You can read more information and request a copy of the PAS 8673 Standards here.

    • Building Safety Regulator
    • BSI Flex 8670 & PAS 8673
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