Do two flats with no communal areas still need a fire risk assessment?
A question we are asked surprisingly often, and one the Fire Protection Association, of which we are a member, recently addressed in its advice and guidance, concerns small residential buildings that contain just two flats and have no shared internal areas. The assumption many owners make is that, with no communal hallway or staircase to look after, there is nothing for a fire risk assessment to cover, and so none is needed. It is an understandable assumption, but as the FPA makes clear, it does not reflect what the law actually requires.
The specific case put to the FPA involved a council selling a property under the Right to Buy scheme. The building held two flats, one on the ground floor and one on the first, with no communal areas inside it. The buyer's solicitors asked the council to provide a fire risk assessment, and the council's leaseholder team took the view that none was required, precisely because there were no communal areas to assess.
The short answer
The FPA's response was unambiguous, and a fire risk assessment is required. The reason turns on a point that is easy to miss, which is that the shared parts of a building of this kind extend well beyond the spaces inside it. Even where two flats each have their own front door and never share a corridor, they still share a structure and a set of external walls, and those are firmly within the scope of fire safety law.
The key pointSince the Fire Safety Act 2021, the structure and external walls of any building containing two or more flats fall within the scope of fire safety law, whether or not there are communal areas inside.
Why the external structure counts
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, as amended by the Fire Safety Act 2021, where a building contains two or more sets of domestic premises the legislation reaches the building's structure, its external walls and any common parts, together with the flat entrance doors that sit between the individual dwellings and those shared parts. The external walls are defined to include the doors and windows within them, and anything attached to the outside of the building, which expressly brings cladding systems and balconies into consideration. A pair of flats with their own front doors and no shared hallway therefore still has a shared structure, shared external walls and, in many cases, balconies, all of which fall squarely within scope.
The same legislation makes plain that it applies to domestic premises other than a single private dwelling, so maisonettes and flats are covered, which removes any doubt about whether a two-flat building qualifies.
What this means in practice
For the responsible person, usually the freeholder, building owner or managing agent, this means a fire risk assessment must consider how the building as a whole would perform in a fire, rather than only the interiors of the two flats. In a building of this type, the assessment will typically look at:
- The construction and condition of the external walls, including the presence and make-up of any cladding.
- The fire performance of balconies and anything else attached to the outside of the building.
- The flat entrance doors, which play an important part in containing a fire and protecting the route out.
- The overall structure, and how a fire might spread between the two dwellings.
Where the building is being sold, as in the FPA's example, a buyer's solicitor is right to expect that assessment to exist, and its absence can hold up or complicate a sale.
A common misunderstanding worth correcting
We come across this misunderstanding regularly across the North West, North Wales and the West Midlands, particularly with houses that have been converted into two flats, and with small blocks held on long leases. The change brought in by the Fire Safety Act 2021 was intended to settle exactly this kind of doubt, by making explicit that the structure and external walls are within the scope of the Order. For owners and managing agents, the safe course is to treat any building containing two or more flats as needing a fire risk assessment, and to keep that assessment current.
Unsure whether your building needs a fire risk assessment?
We carry out fire risk assessments for flats, converted houses and small blocks across the North West, North Wales and the West Midlands, and we are glad to advise owners and managing agents on what the law requires. To discuss your building, please get in touch.
Get in touch Fire risk assessmentThis article is provided for general information and does not constitute legal advice or a fire risk assessment. The position summarised here is based on guidance published by the Fire Protection Association and on the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 as amended by the Fire Safety Act 2021. Specific advice should be sought for your own building.