In June 2017, the Grenfell Tower fire resulted in 72 deaths and more than 70 injuries. Fed by dangerous combustible cladding, the fire was one of the deadliest UK disasters of the past 30 years and resulted in significant changes to building regulations and legislation.

Understanding the Fire Safety Act

Following the Grenfell fire, the government passed several pieces of legislation to improve safety in multi-occupancy residential buildings. One of the most recent of these was the Fire Safety Act 2021. Passed in April 2021 and coming into effect in May 2022, the act amended the Fire Safety Order based on recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

It did so in several ways:

• It defines a multi-occupancy residential building as any building with two or more domestic premises, regardless of height.

• It extended the scope of the Fire Safety Order to encompass the structure, external walls, cladding, balconies, and individual entrance doors within multi-occupancy residential buildings.

• It charges the building's Responsible Person with assessing, managing, and reducing the fire risks associated with these structures.

• It mandates updated fire risk assessment processes to account for such risks.

Breaking down the impact

One of the principal effects of the Fire Safety Act 2021 was to eradicate any confusion as to what type of structures the Fire Safety Order applied to. Before the act's introduction, there was considerable confusion about whether the Fire Safety Order's vague wording meant it applied to external structures, most notably balconies. Following the passing of the FSA 2021, we now have absolute clarity.

The act has the most significant impact on a building's Responsible Person. These are typically the owners, landlords or managing agents of properties. Now, these individuals are legally liable for identifying non-compliant features, taking steps to complete remedial works, and implementing interim safety processes.

Controversially, the Fire Safety Act did not tackle the issue of remediation funding. However, the government later took steps to ensure leaseholders did not have to foot the bill and announced an agreement had been reached with developers. These companies would contribute £2 billion to replace unsafe cladding, and a further £3 billion would be raised via a new Building Safety Levy.

Complying with the Fire Safety Act

The Fire Safety Act 2021 emphasizes the need for developers and construction industry professionals to specify the use of compliant materials in their projects. By working with suppliers that guarantee product compliance, construction companies eliminate the safety risks associated with combustible materials, resulting in safer homes for residents.

At the same time, guaranteed compliance also protects against expensive remediation works in the future and costly, possibly irreparable, reputational damage should a project be found to be non-compliant.

Purpose-built non-combustible materials

In the wake of the 2018 ban on combustible materials, industry-leading specialists sought to make it easier for construction professionals to identify non-combustible materials that are compliant with post-Grenfell regulations. The idea was to make compliance as easy as possible and offer complete clarity on whether materials meet the specifications set out in modern building regulations.

To achieve this, suppliers launched ranges that advertised their non-combustible nature with easily identifiable "marks of assurance." To ensure projects are safe, compliant and future-proof, we highly recommend looking out for products bearing these accreditation certificates.

In some instances, non-combustible construction products go beyond compliance and exceed the minimum performance required by the regulations. They are non-combustible and feature built-in protection, making construction projects even safer and more robust. With this in mind, it always pays to dig deeper into the product specifications, compare products and request additional product information from suppliers.

RYNO's in-depth remediation experience

RYNO® leverages the experience it has gained from hundreds of remediation projects and site visits to create safe and compliant balcony and terrace solutions for every type of construction. RYNO's IGNO® range is a result of the company's concerted effort to develop a diverse array of non-combustible products that deliver complete assurance by complying and exceeding building and fire-safety regulations.

To learn more about RYNO's non-combustible innovation, check out the company's dedicated IGNO page. Alternatively, if you would like to speak to a specialist about how the Fire Safety Act affects your project and whether RYNO can make your building safer and guarantee compliance, get in touch or request a call-back.