We are consulted on all plans for non-domestic buildings. This is to ensure that fire safety standards are met.
Find out the building regulations which cover fire safety matters on GOV.uk.
The lead authority for enforcing building regulations is your local district council. You can also use an approved building inspector.
To discuss a fire safety matter in relation to building regulations, email Fire.Safety@lincolnshire.gov.uk.
You can also report a fire safety concern of premises to us.
We utilise the National Enforcement Register which is operated by National Fire Chiefs Council. The Enforcement Register has moved to a new location.
At present historic records have not yet been moved to the new Register so can be viewed in their original setting. It is not currently possible to update the historic records and therefore if you have an enquiry about enforcement action taken by Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue please contact us on Fire.Safety@lincolnshire.gov.uk.
Fire Safety Act 2021
The Fire Safety Act 2021 (the Act) received Royal Assent on 29 April 2021 and commenced on 16 May 2022. The Act amends the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the Fire Safety Order).
The Act clarifies that responsible persons (RPs) for multi-occupied residential buildings must manage and reduce the risk of fire for the structure and external walls of the building, including cladding, balconies and windows, and entrance doors to individual flats that open into common parts.
A new Fire Risk Assessment Prioritisation Tool (FRAPT) has been developed. The FRAPT is an online tool designed to assist responsible persons to develop a strategy to prioritise their buildings to review their fire risk assessments, to ensure they take into account the clarifications outlined in the Act.
Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 introduce new duties under the Fire Safety Order for building owners or managers (responsible persons). Read more information on the Regulations on the gov.uk website.
The NFC have also developed a list of frequently asked questions.
You can find further information on your responsibilities here. There are also a number of guidance documents available here and specific guidance on fire doors here.
From January 2023, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 make it a requirement in law for responsible persons of high-rise residential buildings to provide information to fire and rescue services to assist them in planning for and responding to a fire in their building.
A high-rise residential building is defined as a building containing two or more sets of domestic premises, that is at least 18 metres tall or has at least seven storeys.
You can fill in the forms available on these pages.
The NFCC's policy position statement on modern methods of construction can be found here.
Completing the report
The forms should only be completed by persons acting in an authorised capacity on behalf of the Responsible Person of high-rise residential buildings.
If you are a resident and/or leaseholder who has identified concerns with your building, in the first instance you should contact the Responsible Person for your building. If you want to report a fire safety complaint, do not use the above form – instead, please contact us via Fire.Safety@lincolnshire.gov.uk.
Floor plans and building plan
Regulation 6 of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require Responsible Persons of high-rise residential buildings in England to share up-to-date plans of the building with their local fire and rescue service.
The plans will be used by operational firefighters during an incident and need to be clear, simple and easy to read. Model floor plan examples can be found here.
Floor plans
Floor plans must show the location of specific equipment as defined by the Regulations. The plans must clearly identify and distinguish between the following:
- passenger lifts
- lift for use by firefighters
- evacuation lifts
- inlets/outlets for dry-rising mains
- inlets/outlets for wet-rising mains
- smoke control systems
- suppression systems
- Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue specific – individual dwelling/flat numbers
- Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue specific – identification and annotation of maisonette/split leave flats
Additional information to this list should not be included on submitted floor plans to ensure the plans are kept to a consistent standard across our Service area.
Each floor must have a separate plan, regardless of layout, so that the individual flat numbers can be easily identified on each floor. A plan will need to be prepared and sent for each floor.
Building plan
A separate single page plan must be provided that shows the building and its immediate surroundings. This building plan will enable firefighters to orientate themselves upon arrival at the scene, and must provide information on access and key firefighting, both inside and outside the building.
The full list of information to be provided on the building plan is defined in the Regulations and includes all of the following:
- the environs of the building
- details of the use of the building (for example, commercial or residential purposes)
- access for fire and rescue appliances
- the dimensions of the building
- information on the number of storeys of the building and the number of basement levels (if any)
- information regarding the presence of maisonettes or scissor section flats
- inlets for dry-rising mains
- inlets for wet-rising mains
- the location of shut-off controls for any sprinklers
- access points for the building
- the location of the secure information box
- the location of the controls for any smoke control system
- the location of any firefighting shaft
- the location of main stairways in the building
- the location of the controls for any evacuation alert system
- storage of hard copies
The Responsible Person is also required to provide a copy of the plans inside a premises’ secure information box. The plans should be sized to fit on A3 paper and, where necessary, printed in colour to assist in easy identification of the plan symbols. Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue recommends hard copy plans to be laminated to best protect the plans during their use.
To ensure a copy of the plans can remain with the incident commander at all times, as well as be used by firefighters inside the building, at least two copies of each plan should be provided inside the secure information box. Recognising how the plans will be used and the conditions they may be exposed to, plans should be laminated to ensure they remain usable throughout the course of an incident.
Sharing plans with Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue
The Responsible Person should send electronic copies of the plans to Risk.Management@lincoln.fire-uk.org, including:
- The building name
- the address of the building to which the plan relates, clearly identified
- the Responsible Person’s name, and contact details for the related building
Plans must be sent as a PDF, with an individual file size no larger than 20mb.
Reporting faults and repairs
Regulation 7 of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 requires Responsible Persons of high-rise residential buildings to undertake monthly routine checks of specific fire safety equipment, namely:
- lifts for use by firefighters or evacuation lifts
- automatic door release mechanisms
- evacuation alert systems
- fire detection and alarm systems
- rising mains
- smoke control systems
- suppression systems
Where faults with any of this equipment are identified, the Responsible Person must take steps to rectify the fault. The fault must be reported to their local fire and rescue service. The fire and rescue service must also be informed once the fault has been rectified.
Highlighting faults with equipment, which both residents and firefighters may rely on for their safety, will allow Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue to factor the information into any operational response.
Faults with the above equipment that cannot be immediately rectified should be reported using the online fault form. Upon completion, a fault reference number will be provided – you should keep a record of this for when the equipment has been repaired.
Faults that have been rectified can be reported using the online repair form. Providing the fault reference number given at the time it was originally reported will allow the repair to be easily aligned with the fault, and reduce the amount of information that must be provided.
Report a building defect rectification
Design and materials of external walls
Regulation 5 of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require Responsible Persons of high-rise residential buildings to prepare a record of the design of the external walls and share it with their local fire and rescue service.
The purpose of providing this information is to assist with operational pre-planning and to provide information that will be of value to responding crews at the time of a fire.
As well as providing details of the materials used in the wall construction, Responsible Persons will also be required to provide information on the level of risk of fire spread that the external wall structure poses, and any steps that have been taken to mitigate these risks.
Responsible Persons should complete the notification of external wall construction form to provide the fire and rescue service with the necessary information required by the regulations.