Stay indoor fire policy in block of flats

[Guest SarahMcC]

Our Managing Agents to a New Build 2 storey block of 13 flats are removing Fire Alarms & smoke detectors from ALL the building as they say "We have a stay indoor fire policy in the building". This means, if there is a fire we have to stay in the flats as the front doors SHOULD withstand fire for half an hour. He says this is nothing to do with Health & Safety & is normal practice & within the Law - Does this sound ok?

[Tom Sutton]

The common areas of all blocks of flats have to have fire risk assessment, in accordance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 to ensure the residents of the building are safe if there is a fire.

If there is a 60 minutes separation between flats there is no need for a fire alarm in the common areas but smoke detectors, in accordance with BS 5839 part 6, are required, in each flat, by law.

Also if a 60 minute compartmentation exists the Responsible Person can elect to have, whats known as a stay put policy, which means if there is a fire, residents can stay in their flat providing they feel it is safe to do so. This is important, if anybody feels unsafe they should evacuate the premises and don't need anybody's approval.