Fire Inspections

Nearly all blocks managed by the council are designed as a “Stay Put” block meaning that it is usually safer to stay in your flat if there is a fire elsewhere in the building. The London Fire Brigade’s guidance is to ‘Stay Put’ unless your flat is affected by fire and smoke. This is because:

• Blocks of flats are usually built to prevent the spread of fire – ‘compartmentalisation’ includes fire breaks between flats and between floors.
• By leaving your flat, you may walk into smoke or fire in common areas.
• Opening your fire door may allow smoke and fire into your home and help spread smoke and flames.
• Staying put will also help firefighters tackle the fire safely and quickly without being delayed by many residents evacuating down the stairways.

But you should know your escape route if you need to escape the building or be asked to by the emergency services. Some flats are designed to have a ‘secondary means of escape’ to provide additional safety. These can include a small walkway that you can get to through one of your windows, external metal staircases leading to other walkways, shared balconies and in maisonettes an internal staircase that leads to an exit on a different floor level to the one your front door is on.

These are the areas we need to inspect on a routine basis to make sure they are clear and there are no obstacles that may get in your way. We’re letting residents know that inspections will be more frequent (usually once a month to the small walkways) as some of these areas mean a member of staff will be walking directly past your windows. We will be inspecting the secondary means of escape in maisonettes yearly but as we will need to come into your homes, we will contact you beforehand. Our staff will always carry photo identification cards and when they are in communal areas they will be wearing high-visibility jackets.

If you have any questions you can call us on 0207 364 5015