New build residential
Fire strategies for new houses and blocks of flats at planning and Building Control stage, including single stair justification and the second staircase provisions in force from 30 September 2026.
Fire strategies that clear Building Control and protect your programme.
Building Control and the Fire Authority will ask for a fire strategy. We produce it for you: a clear document that sets out means of escape, compartmentation, fire alarm provision, external fire spread and fire service access for your specific building.
- InsuredProfessional indemnity and public liability
- RegisteredNFRAR Advanced Level
- MemberInstitution of Fire Engineers, MIFireE
- FellowInstitute of Fire Safety Managers, FIFSM
- QualifiedBSc Hons (Fire-related disciplines)
If you are changing a building, you need to prove it is fire safe.
From new build to change of use, every scheme gets a strategy written for its specific building, not a template.
Commercial to residential
Change of use from offices, shops or banks to residential is where fire strategy matters most: the existing building was never designed for sleeping risk. We have delivered these from Victorian bank conversions to Class E to C3 schemes.
Mixed use and commercial
Flats above commercial units, extensions, and alterations to existing commercial buildings, with the separation and escape provisions Building Control will expect to see.
Flat conversions
Splitting a house or commercial building into flats brings compartmentation, alarm and escape requirements most builders underestimate. We resolve them at design stage, before they cost you money on site.
HMO conversions
Converting a house to an HMO? We set out the escape routes, fire doors, detection and protection your licence and Building Control approval depend on.
Retrospective strategies
Existing buildings with no fire strategy on record, buildings under enforcement, prohibition notices or Fire Authority scrutiny. We produce the retrospective strategy that regularises your position.
Discuss an existing buildingExperience also includes complex higher-risk residential buildings, heritage and listed properties, places of worship and mixed-use developments.
What our fire strategies cover.
Every instruction is led by a qualified, registered fire professional and reviewed at director level before it is issued.
Written for Building Control and the Fire Authority
Tailored fire strategies for new build projects at planning stage and retrospective strategies for existing buildings, written to the latest Approved Document B and, where the project calls for it, BS 9991:2024 and BS 9999:2017. Each strategy covers everything Building Control and the Fire Authority will scrutinise:
- Means of escape and evacuation strategy
- Compartmentation and internal fire spread
- Fire detection and alarm provision
- External fire spread and boundary conditions
- Fire service access and facilities
- Smoke control and ventilation
Now in force in England
Approved Document B changed on 30 September 2026.
The second staircase amendments now apply. If your scheme includes a block of flats with a storey 18 m or more above ground level, this is what changes and where your scheme stands.
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More than one common stair
New blocks of flats with a storey 18 m or more above ground level need more than one common stair. Height is measured from ground level to the floor of the top storey, excluding roof-top plant.
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Wider common stairs
Common stairs in these blocks need a clear width of at least 1,100 mm between walls or balustrades.
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Evacuation lift provisions
Where an evacuation lift is provided, the guidance now sets out its evacuation shaft, protected lobby, access and smoke protection.
Not sure which edition applies to your scheme? Send the drawings with your Building Control application type and date, and we will confirm where you stand before you commit to a design.
Check my scheme- ABCommon stairs, fire-resisting enclosure
- ELEvacuation lift
- 18 m above ground level
- Escape route to final exit
Until 29 September 2026. A single common stair could serve a block of flats of this height, subject to the travel distance, protection and smoke ventilation limits in Approved Document B.
From 30 September 2026. More than one common stair, each at least 1,100 mm clear. Where an evacuation lift is provided, it needs an evacuation shaft, a protected lobby and smoke protection to the new guidance.
Proposed. The Building Safety Regulator's review of Approved Document B proposes recommending evacuation lifts in residential buildings above 18 m. This is not yet in force: the consultation closed on 1 July 2026 and the outcome is awaited.
Schematic section, not to scale. Firefighting shaft and other provisions not shown.
Already submitted? The transitional test
The previous guidance can still apply to a scheme that passes both tests below.
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Application made before 30 September 2026
A building notice, initial notice or full plans application. Planning permission on its own does not count.
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Work sufficiently progressed within 18 months
For new build, concrete poured for permanent foundations or permanent piling started. For existing buildings, the work has started.
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Otherwise the 2026 guidance applies
On higher-risk buildings nothing can start on site until the Building Safety Regulator grants Gateway 2 approval, so the window is tighter than it looks.
What else is moving
- In force since 2 March 2025
Sprinklers in new care homes, European classifications for reaction to fire and roofs, and updated Regulation 38 fire safety information.
- Under review
The Building Safety Regulator's review proposes recommending evacuation lifts above 18 m, with changes for external walls, balconies and solar PV on roofs.
- From 2 September 2029
BS 476 national classes for fire resistance are withdrawn. Product specifications will need European classifications.
We work to Approved Document B, 2019 edition incorporating the 2020, 2022, 2025 and 2026 amendments, collated with the 2029 amendments, together with BS 9991:2024 and BS 9999:2017, and will tell you exactly where your scheme stands.
Read the guidance on GOV.UKSpecialist services.
For schemes that need more than a standard strategy, from performance-based design to Gulf codes.
Building Regulations and standards
Expert navigation of Approved Document B, BS 9991, BS 9999 and associated standards for Building Control and Fire Service submissions, including Building Safety Act advisory work on higher-risk buildings and consultation responses.
Fire engineering
Performance-based fire engineering solutions delivering innovative, cost-effective outcomes without compromising life safety standards, including evacuation analysis and smoke control appraisal.
Gulf projects
Advisory work to the UAE Fire and Life Safety Code of Practice and the Saudi Building Code, SBC 801, for developers and consultants delivering projects across the region.
How a fire strategy instruction runs.
A single point of contact from the first drawings to approval, with the right specialists on each scheme.
Send the drawings
Plans, sections and elevations, with the planning status and your Building Control route.
Fixed-fee proposal
A clear scope and a fixed fee before any work starts, with insurance certificates on request.
Design review
Escape, compartmentation and access issues resolved at design stage, before they reach site and cost you money.
Fire strategy report
A Building Control ready strategy written for your specific building, not a template.
Approval and handover
Responses to Building Control and fire service comments until the strategy is agreed. The strategy then forms part of the Regulation 38 fire safety information at completion.
Planning a project? Get the fire strategy right first.
Send the drawings with the planning status and your Building Control route, and we will come back with a clear, fixed-fee proposal.