Fire Safety Act 2021 becomes law with implications for balconies, clarifying balconies as part of the external wall

The Fire Safety Bill has completed its long and arduous journey through Parliament and has become law, as the Fire Safety Act 2021.

The Fire Safety Act 2021 amends the Fire Safety Order 2005 and is part of the huge regulatory upheaval that has come in the wake of Grenfell. The Act clarifies in law that any building that “contains two or more sets of domestic premises” is within the scope of Fire Safety Order 2005, and that the building’s external wall includes “doors or windows in those walls” and “anything attached to the exterior of those walls (including balconies)”.

While this is all in-line with recent Advice Notes, the clarity of the language in the Act and its status as law is a significant step forwards. The implications for building owners and managers are large; responsibility for fire risk assessment of these areas is now indisputable, with Fire and Rescue Authorities able to apply their enforcement powers accordingly in regards to these aspects.

When it comes to balcony regulations, the only guaranteed way to achieve fire safety is to remove and replace all combustible materials. Timber or composite decking, for example, is already causing major problems in the leasehold housing market, with these combustible materials causing EWS1 fails due to the risk of costly remediation, causing the homeowners to be unable to sell their property.

As the legislation continues to be ironed out, the hope is that these issues will increasingly be resolved as we move to a fire safe future.