• Home
  • About Us
    About Ringley Meet Our Experts Awards Savings for Clients Case Studies Green Management Strategies Market Overview Leasehold Reform Campaign Money Back Guarantee
  • Our Services
    • Block Management
      • Overview
      • Right to Manage
      • Freehold Management
      • Resident Management
      • Estates of Houses
      • Ground Rent Investment
      • Ground Rent Collection
      • How to change agent?
      • Block Management Services
      • Can't afford an agent?
      • Anti Social Behaviour Policy
      • Legal & Tribunals
      • Section 20
      • Top 10 Tips
      • On-site Staff
      • Buying or Renting?
      • Reporting an incident
    • Asset Management
      • Overview
      • VirginLand
      • Project Monitoring
      • ESG Consultancy & Implementation
      • PropTech
      • Marketing Insights
      • Resident Journey
      • Stabilised Assets
      • UK Build to Rent
      • UK Later Living
      • UK Co-Living
      • UK Student Accommodation
      • UK Single Family Housing
      • Brands & URLs
    • Law
      • Overview
      • Meet The Team
      • Recommendations
      • Right to Manage
      • Lease Extensions
      • Freehold Purchase
      • Absentee Freeholder
      • Court Appointed Manager
      • Conveyancing
      • Service Charge/Rent Arrears Recovery
      • Company Secretary
    • Valuation
      • Overview
      • Loan Security
      • Company Accounts
      • Lease Extensions
      • Freehold Purchase
      • Rent Reviews
      • Development Valuations
      • Insurance Valuations
      • Expert Witness & Litigation
      • Tax, Trusts & Accounts Valuations
      • Trading Business
      • Compulsory Purchase
      • Residential Valuations
    • Engineering
      • Overview
      • EWS1 Consultancy
      • Asbestos
      • Contract Administration
      • Fire Assesment
      • Homebuyer Survey
      • Building Survey
      • Schedules
      • Party Wall Matters
      • Principle Designer
      • Disability Access Audits
      • Small Building Works
      • Fire Door Inspection
    • Finance
      • Overview
      • Accounting Expertise
      • Property Accounts
      • Industry Updates
      • Audits
    • Plant & Facilities Management
      • Plant & Facilities Management
      • Fire Door Inspection APP
      • Fire Safety Update
    • Site Staffing Solutions
      • Ringley Integrated Site Staff Solutions
    • Leasehold Guidance
      • Overview
      • Right to Manage
      • Purchasing The Freehold
      • Court Appointed Manager
      • Absentee Freeholder
  • Insights
    Asset Management Articles Block Management Blogs Publications BTR Rental Market Blogs Customer Insights FAQ - Ask Our Experts Insurance Calculator
  • ESG
  • E-books
  • Get In Touch
  •      
  • Portal Login
  • Clear Filter
  • Property Blog INDEX
  • PlanetRent Blog
Fire! Should you stay put or evacuate?


02/09/2020
Author : Mary-Anne Bowring

Responsive image


Is there an evacuation plan for your block? If you don't know - find out. Would you stay put if a fire broke out in your block? As the first phase report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry is published, the flawed stay put policy used on the night of the devastating fire is now under intense scrutiny.

Stay put is the standard advice given to residents in blocks of flats who are not directly affected when a fire breaks out. They are told to stay in their homes with the windows and doors shut. The expectation is that the construction of the building and fire doors leading onto communal areas will protect people from the spread of fire long enough for the fire service to attend if necessary and put out the fire. At Grenfell Tower, this policy proved utterly inadequate. It is now judged to have led to unnecessary loss of life. As a result, the government is working on a full and detailed examination of the stay put/evacuation strategy for fire in high-rise blocks.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick told the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee yesterday that, while expert consensus is that stay put is valid for most tall blocks, the government is now reviewing the advice.
As a layperson it is hard to understand the thinking behind stay put: surely it makes more sense to get out of the building as quickly as possible? So here's the explanation. The thinking behind it is twofold:

  • First, the fire service needs unfettered access to hallways and stairs to get up and down to evacuate the building in priority order. This would be hampered by everyone trying to evacuate at the same time ? particularly in buildings with only one stairway.
  • Second, opening and closing doors increases air circulation which not only accelerates combustion and the spread of smoke but panicking residents rarely stop to close their door behind them. This leaves other parts of the building exposed to the fire.

A stay put policy is intended to protect residents (who can be safely rescued some other way) from smoke inhalation, as smoke kills long before the heat from a fire.  But the Grenfell Inquiry judge is now calling for evacuation plans to be developed for all high-rise buildings. Ringley Group managing director Maryanne Bowring agrees. She does not believe stay put is the right policy for all high-rise blocks. Her view is this, If there is no misting system or sprinklers in your building and you are above the height of a ladder (normally assumed to be six storeys) or if the fire is below your home in a tower, or if the facade of a building is burning, or if the building was not constructed in the last 10 or so years, I would say you must get out.

She adds: You can have as many fire risk assessments as you like, you can have as much fire detection equipment as you like, but there should now be an acceptance that any fire policy is made up of component parts, one of which can fail, even if serviced or checked yesterday - so visual and common sense judgements must be made. We all feel for those in the fire and call centres that night who were under orders to keep telling residents to stay put, when they could watch the fire at Grenfell Tower on mobile phones or in person and see that the building was engulfed by flames. Dame Judith Hackitt, who carried out a review of fire safety and building regulations for the government post-Grenfell, will now advise ministers on the format of a new building safety regulator. The aim is for a fundamental shift in the design, construction and management of tall buildings with the focus firmly on safety. This is badly needed for the long-term wellbeing of residents and we await the outcome with interest.

 


  513
  0

Most Popular

Solar panels on flats - what you need to know

What will a 2022-23 Recession Mean For UK Renters?

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Regulations for Landlords

Ground Rent: Fines for Landlords Who Charge Ground Rent

Leaseholders at St David's Square Emerge Victorious as FirstPort to Repay Insurance and Leasing of Antique Door Entry System

Most Recent

Leaseholders hit again by cost increases

How to manage Leaseholder requests for Lease Extensions in a Self-Managed Block of Flats

The Future of Affordable Blocks Property Management: Empowering Leaseholders in Small Blocks of Flats to Manage the Service Charges

Solar Panels:  how long will it take to get the money invested back, what is the breakeven timescale 

Understanding the Implications of Invalid Service Charge Demands under UK Leasehold Law


Mary-Anne Bowring FIRPM FRICS FARLA FCABE Founder/Head of Asset Management

Strategic partnerships, holistic delivery/ opportunities, growth, value engineering, thought leadership

Ian Barber MD BTR Mobilisation & Leasing

Runs HQ & site lease-up teams. Drives rent pricing, mobilisation, marketing, happy residents!

Jon Curtis MRICS Head of Building Engineering

Chartered Building Surveyor. Lectures on EWS1 & building safety. Runs CapEx programmes.

Kate Robinson MIRPM MD Blocks/FM Management (London Region)

Master plan setup, ops and staffing and resident engagement. ISO45001 champion.

Lee Harle Partner Ringley Law

Plot conveyancing. Debt litigation. Group Company Secretary.

Anthony Kingdon MIRPM AssocRICS MD Blocks/FM Management (North Region)

Stakeholder engagement. Mixed tenure specialist. Budget management. Plant audit, PPM compliance.

Chris Georgalis MRICS Head of Commercial Valuation

Chartered Valuer. Rental valuations: retail, leisure. IRR modelling and valuations for secured lending. Compulsory purchase & rent reviews

Nichola Pughe MRICS Head of Residential Valuation

Chartered Valuer. Rental development & mixed use valuations, IRR modelling. Leasehold enfranchisement specialist

Libby Chen MSc Compliance Manager

Operational Plant & Equipment strategy PPM Compliance lead, Asset tagging Client major projects

Dipesh Parekh Director PlanetRent

Customer centric, vertically integrated PropTech/fin-tech solutions.

Leana Aristodemou MIRPM MARLA AssocRICS Strategic lead: ESG & Asset Business Plan delivery

Financial modelling, valuation analyst to support underwriting & fund reporting.

Natalie Birmingham Helpdesk Support Manager

Trainer & Helpdesk Manager: people, systems,contractors. ISO45001 supply chain accreditation.

Steve Norman Planning Director

Land due diligence (opportunities & constraints) Has contributed to a number of award winning schemes.

Landlord blog
Read landlord blog

Property blogs
Read property blogs

Property articles
Read property articles

E-books
Read E-books

  • Ringley Group
  • About us
  • CSR / ESG
  • BusyLiving
  • PlanetRent
  • Talk to us
  • Careers
  • Ask a Question
  • Insights
  • Articles
  • Blogs
  • Subscribe
  • BTR & PRS Buildings
  • What we do
  • Asset Management
  • Block Management
  • Facilities Management
  • Property Law
  • Surveying / Valuation
  • Building Engineering
  • Financial Services
  • Managing Agents
  • Block Management Locations
  • Co-working
  • Renting & Letting
  • Right to Manage
  • Contractor Management
  • Space to Work
  • Fees
  • Offices
  • London
  • Ringley House
  • 1 Castle Road
  • London
  • NW1 8PR
  • T: 0207 267 2900
  • Manchester
  • 11 Swan Street
  • Northern Quarter
  • Manchester
  • M4 5JJ
  • T: 0330 174 7777
  • Cardiff
  • 122 West Bute Street
  • Cardiff Bay
  • Cardiff
  • CF10 5LJ
  • T: 0292 034 0178
  • Email: solutions@ringley.co.uk
  • Emergency line 1: 0207 428 2056
  • Emergency line 2: 0207 267 2900
  • Report an incident
Privacy Policy
Ringley Staff

All content © copyright 2023. Ringley Limited. All Rights reserved. Ringley Limited, incorporated and registered in England and wales. Registered office: Ringley House, 1 Castle Road, London, NW1 8PR. Company No. 03302438
Terms of use | Privacy Policy | Modern slavery act | COVID-19 risk assessment