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Rank: Forum user
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Hi, With the introduction of the Building Safety Act , does the landlord of a commercial premises need to complete a Fire Risk Assessment and ensure that the significant findings are shared with the new tenant ? The company I work for have just (2nd October) rented a small office block in central London and the landlord has no FRAs , Fire safety management strategy documentation or any from the previous tenants . They are relying on the FRA from the new tenant (us) to cover the building/ workplace.
Thanks Edited by user 06 October 2023 09:55:34(UTC)
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Rank: Super forum user
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Does your building fall under The Building Safety Act? Meaning of “higher-risk building” etc (1) In this Part “higher-risk building” means a building in England that— (a) is at least 18 metres in height or has at least 7 storeys, and
(b) contains at least 2 residential units. Meaning of “relevant building” (1) This section applies for the purposes of sections 119 to 125 and Schedule 8. (2) “Relevant building” means a self-contained building, or self-contained part of a building, in England that contains at least two dwellings and— (a) is at least 11 metres high, or
(b) has at least 5 storeys.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Does your building fall under The Building Safety Act? Meaning of “higher-risk building” etc (1) In this Part “higher-risk building” means a building in England that— (a) is at least 18 metres in height or has at least 7 storeys, and
(b) contains at least 2 residential units. Meaning of “relevant building” (1) This section applies for the purposes of sections 119 to 125 and Schedule 8. (2) “Relevant building” means a self-contained building, or self-contained part of a building, in England that contains at least two dwellings and— (a) is at least 11 metres high, or
(b) has at least 5 storeys.
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Rank: Forum user
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Not deemed a 'high risk' , the building is a converted end of terrace house which has 5 floors (including groundfloor), with a single staircase.
The requirements apply to all non-domestic premises, such as where people work, visit or stay, including workplaces and non-domestic parts of multi occupied residential buildings. The act did away with the 5 employee rule and Im sure there is a requirement for all offices, shops etc (no matter how small) to conduct an FRA and record the findings in full (not just significant).
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Rank: Forum user
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Perhaps Im getting confused and should have stated the changes to the Fire Safety Order which came into effect on the 1st October ?
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Rank: Super forum user
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I knew what you meant - those changes to the Fire Safety Order which have just been brought into effect by the Building Safety Act.
These changes so far are about communication of information such as sharing of risk assessments. They don't change who is responsible for the risk assessment (if I remember correctly). If the landlord does need to do one, they should have done it anyway under the existing version of the Order.
In a commercial rented premises, if the occupier occupies the whole of the building rented as a single unit, they would usually have the responsibility for the fire risk assesment. However if there is shared occupancy or there are common parts of the building such as areas from which different tenant units can be accessed (such as lobbies and stairways), those common parts would need a fire risk assessment by the landlord.
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Rank: Forum user
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Thanks Kate,
We are renting the whole of the premises , therefore we have carried out our own FRA, but was just a bit surprised that the landord has no formal documentation in place or copies from previous tenants (sharing info.) and relies only on our assessment and company fire safety management strategy for the workplace/ premise.
We identified a number of issues with the building and have passed these to the landlord in the form of an action plan within our FRA, however we have no control on the maintenance etc. I would have thought if they had completed their own assessment or had one from the previous tenant that these issues would have already been identified and actioned. Our FRA would then identify issues with our undertakings in relation to the workplace and not the actual building iteslf.
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Rank: Super forum user
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To answer the OP’s question, yes, the landlord needs to do an FRA for commercial premises and share the findings with relevant people, i.e., the tenant. However, the extent of the Assessment may depend. In my experience, the lease agreement is important and key. The contract should detail the fire safety responsibilities of the client/landlord/tenant. For example, who supplied and maintains the Fire Extinguishers? Who is responsible for the Fire Alarm maintenance and testing? Who pays for the fixed wiring examination? Etc. Once the responsibilities are agreed upon, this will be helpful, and each requirement should be detailed in each party’s respective Fire Risk Assessments. Generally, the fabric of the building would be the responsibility of the landlord and possibly the fixed wiring EICR inspections. The tenant may be responsible for firefighting equipment, safe emergency evacuation, portable appliance testing, training of their staff, etc. Michael999, I believe you have done the right thing in considering building issues in your FRA and passed these onto the landlord. To get them to comply with your recommendation will revert to the lease agreement.
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Rank: Forum user
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Thank you to those who replied and offered advice. A positive end to this post is that the Landlord has now scheduled their own FRA to be carried out next week.
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1 user thanked Michael999 for this useful post.
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