Can new fire regulations be forced upon an old building?

[TonyRPH]

A friend owns & occupies a flat in a block that was built in the 60's.

They recently had a fire inspection and were told that all (front) doors of each flat need to be replaced to modern regulations, and it's compulsory that the doors now have to be changed, needless to say at great cost. This includes all doors leading to the main entrance as well.

Does this sound correct? I was under the impression that new regulations can't be applied to older buildings?

It it matters, the building is three stories and I believe is lower than the minimum requirement for the claddding rules (the building is not clad anyway).

[smokey mow]

TonyRPH said:

Does this sound correct? I was under the impression that new regulations can't be applied to older buildings?

Some building regulations can be applied retrospectively but only when works are carried out.

In relation to the common areas of buildings containing flats, there’s a lot more regulations to consider than simply the building regulations and many of these such as the The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order apply equally to all buildings regardless of when they were built.

Building owners have a duty of care to ensure that their buildings are safe and sometimes that means them needing to bring existing buildings up to current standards.

[Mont Blanc]

The Fire Safety Act 2021.

Yes, regs apply to "any multi-occupancy residences in England, regardless of their height".

The regulations become increasingly more onerous and complex for buildings over 11m, and then again for buildings over 18m, but ALL multi-residence buildings are now included in some way.

[Blue Oval84]

Yes they can and indeed are. I manage my building and have just invoiced myself and all of my neighbours about £3.5k each for new doors

[Mont Blanc]

Blue Oval84 said:

Yes they can and indeed are. I manage my building and have just invoiced myself and all of my neighbours about £3.5k each for new doors

Could be worse. One of our departments is busy invoicing residents for £38k each for fire upgrade works, along with the replacement of substantial building components.

[Cow Corner]

As Smokey said, the Regulatory Reform Order applies here and the Fire Safety Act 2021 specifically brought flat entrance doors (and external walls) into the scope of the Fire Risk Assessment that the Responsible Person must carry out.

[Blue Oval84]

Mont Blanc said:

Could be worse. One of our departments is busy invoicing residents for £38k each for fire upgrade works, along with the replacement of substantial building components.

Ouch - do the leasholder protections not kick in at that stage for any qualifying leaseholders?

Prior to this we had £100k each of cladding replacement carried out under the building safety fund, if we'd been a floor shorter we'd have not qualified for that...

[TonyRPH]

Apologies I forgot to reply.

My mate says thanks for all the advice (I sent him a link to the thread).

[Pot Bellied Fool]

TonyRPH said:

A friend owns & occupies a flat in a block that was built in the 60's.

They recently had a fire inspection and were told that all (front) doors of each flat need to be replaced to modern regulations, and it's compulsory that the doors now have to be changed, needless to say at great cost. This includes all doors leading to the main entrance as well.

Does this sound correct? I was under the impression that new regulations can't be applied to older buildings?

It it matters, the building is three stories and I believe is lower than the minimum requirement for the claddding rules (the building is not clad anyway).

As others have mentioned, the newest Fire Regs have tightened up a lot in the wake of Grenfell and the responsible person is on the hook to make sure it happens. Lots of small blocks of flats where the residents run their own management co (like the flat I'm trying to sell at the moment!) are blithely ignoring this and it could bite them severely on the bum!

FWIW, these are the people I've used for fire risk assessments in the past and found them very 'real world' & knowledgeable. https://www.nwfiresolutions.co.uk/blog/fire-door-r...

[bennno]

Pot Bellied Fool said:

As others have mentioned, the newest Fire Regs have tightened up a lot in the wake of Grenfell and the responsible person is on the hook to make sure it happens. Lots of small blocks of flats where the residents run their own management co (like the flat I'm trying to sell at the moment!) are blithely ignoring this and it could bite them severely on the bum!

FWIW, these are the people I've used for fire risk assessments in the past and found them very 'real world' & knowledgeable. https://www.nwfiresolutions.co.uk/blog/fire-door-r...

100%, but be aware once the assessment takes place the responsible persons and directors will be legally bound to get remedial works completed.

Where the freehold is owned by the residents and any decisions is taken to self manage then it'd be utter madness to become a director without everybody in the block also being nominated as a director. Directors and the responsible person are effectively criminally liable for failures to remedy any known defects, especially if there were to be an issue. Leaseholders, rarely understand or appreciate costs involved.

Regulations have changed, major sensitivity to car parking near or under a building in addition to the internal fire regulations, to door closers and gaps, exterior doors to car parks, ventilation above stairwells, lighting, lighting test, compartmentalisation, emergency exit strategy stay put vs simultaneous, weekly testing and records, how hard of hearing or residents with disabilities are supported - list just goes on.