What are you doing to keep my home and building safe?

All of our buildings regularly receive fire risk assessments (FRAs) by an accredited Fire Risk Assessor.

These risk assessments look at:

• If there is a risk of fire   starting i and where this risk area would be

• What the consequences would be if a fire did start

• What needs to be done in the building to minimise the risk of a fire starting or spreading

The most common type of FRA, is a type 1 Fire risk assessment, this covers the communal areas of a building such as stairwells, landings and entrance halls that form your means of escape, as well as the fire precautions in place to protect people in the building.

Precautions are designed to:

• Reduce the risk of a fire starting, such as no smoking in communal areas of the building and regular checks of electrical fixtures and fittings

• Reducing the risk of a fire spreading, by installing and maintaining fire doors whilst maintaining a sterile communal area

• Alerting people/customers to a fire in the building, such as providing fire and smoke alarms in your home and elsewhere as appropriate

• Ensure people can escape from the building easily

• Advising residents know what to do if a fire starts

You can fire evacuation strategy for your building on a Fire Action Notice, which is typically displayed throughout the communal areas and near entrance lobby doors or notice board.

This notice explains whether your building follows a Stay Put or Evacuation strategy and provides clear instructions on what to do in the event of a fire.

All of our high-rise buildings, which are 18 metres or over or with at least seven storeys, have a tailored resident engagement strategy.

The strategy sets out what you can expect from us and how you can get involved. It explains our responsibilities as your landlord, your responsibilities as a resident, how you can take part in building safety conversations and offers helpful tips on staying safe in your home.

Our fire safety experts carry out quarterly communal fire door checks and flat entrance door checks at least once a year in all buildings

This work is part of our ongoing fire door programme. Over the past year alone, we’ve inspected more than 9,000 fire doors and invested £3.8 million to ensure they meet the highest safety standards.

In June 2022, protections within the Building Safety Act 2022 came into force. This ruled that leaseholders and shared owners in buildings over 11m (five storeys) don’t have to pay for essential cladding remediation works. This is usually covered by government funding, the original developer or A2Dominion.

A2Dominion also made the decision to continue to cover the costs of interim safety measures. This includes things like installing temporary alarms and waking watch services. 

If your building is over 11 metres and has cladding, most lenders will ask for an EWS1 form, which is completed by a qualified fire engineer to indicate whether or not there are combustible materials in the external wall system and if essential cladding fire safety remediation work is required to the building. Some lenders may still lend if a remediation plan is in place and leaseholders aren’t expected to pay.

The Government has also introduced the Landlord’s Certificate and Leaseholder Deed of Certificate to support this process. Because lender requirements can vary, it’s best to speak to your lender early, before spending money on valuations or legal advice.

The protections provided by the legislation will automatically transfer to any future buyers of the property. This means that all new owners of a property that was eligible for the protections on 14 February 2022 will be covered, even if they bought it after that date. 

Under the Building Safety Act 2022, we have additional legal duties to help keep residents in tall buildings over 11metres, safe.

The cost of meeting these new legal requirements is covered through service charges. If you're a homeowner in a tall building, these will appear under a heading called ‘Building Safety’ in your service charge estimates.

We are required to register each of our tallest buildings over 18metres, with the Building Safety Regulator and a submit a tailored Safety Case Report. This report outlines safety risks and how they’re managed, including fire escape routes, inspection records, and construction materials.

Under the new building safety government guidelines, PAS9980, checks of external walls on all buildings, irrespective of height, are included as part of the regular fire risk assessment.

If there are any potential cladding issues, these will be identified as part of that process and managed on an individual basis.   

However, buildings under 11m present a significantly lower risk. This means it’s likely that adding fire alarms and sprinklers will be more appropriate than replacing the cladding.  

If you have a disability or need help to evacuate safely during a fire, we’re here to support you. Please let us know by filling out a short form.

We’ll then work with you to complete a Person-Centred Fire Risk Assessment (PCFRA). This helps us understand your needs and put the right measures in place to keep you safe.