The Deputy Mayor for Fire and Resilience, Fiona Twycross, and the London Fire Commissioner, Dany Cotton, are calling on the Government to tighten up building regulations to prioritise the need for sprinklers and address the shortage of skilled fire engineers.

As fire is dangerous, it’s important that more buildings look into fire safety to ensure their workers remain safe in the event of a fire. Fire safety measures are designed to reduce the spread of fire, whilst also limiting the damage. When designing a building these days, it’s important that fire engineering specialists are involved in the building process to keep members of staff safe. Fire is so dangerous, it’s vital that fire safety is prioritized when building or renovating a building. For example, during the construction phase of a building project, fire door inspectors must be satisfied that health and safety have been put first and that it is possible for people to escape from a building quickly and efficiently if a fire ever breaks out.

This has become particularly prevalent due to the recent Grenfell Tower fire. After an investigation into the tragedy, it was revealed that the fire had spread through the building unusually quickly because the cladding used on the brick exterior was not fire retardant. As a result, many tower blocks across the country are having to replace their cladding with one which is safer in a fire. Even people’s homes can be at risk and they might need composite cladding installation to make their houses safer in case of a fire.

Although Dame Judith Hackitt’s review into building regulations was published almost a year ago, there has been no clarity from the Government on the next steps for the review of regulations. Now, the Deputy Mayor and the head of the London Fire Brigade are jointly calling on ministers to implement fundamental changes to fire safety to prevent a tragedy like the Grenfell Tower fire happening again.

In a letter to the Communities Secretary, James Brokenshire, the Deputy Mayor and Commissioner call on the Government to:

• Ensure new fire safety regulations cover a wider range of buildings than what is currently proposed.

• Make installation of sprinklers mandatory in new residential buildings and any building where vulnerable people may be at risk.

• Address the shortage of skilled fire engineers, which is currently limiting essential preventative work.

The letter emphasises the importance of fire engineers, who are vital in providing the expertise required to ensure buildings are safe from fire. The current shortage of skilled engineers means it is challenging to make the changes needed in building safety without urgent and targeted investment from the Government.

This will also require there to be enough fire inspection businesses who are able to carry out inspections to confirm that regulations have been met to ensure everyone is safe. If you are considering starting a fire inspection business at a time when they are so in-demand, you might want to visit inspectpoint.com to learn about which software is best to use.

Today, the Deputy Mayor convened a meeting of the London Fire Brigade, MPs, councillors, charities and industry experts to promote fire safety through highlighting good practice.

Deputy Mayor for Fire and Resilience, Fiona Twycross, said: “London’s firefighters work tirelessly to keep us safe and we rightly praise them for their immense bravery, but we should also recognise the invaluable work they do every day to prevent fires.

“Many of the issues faced by firefighters reflect decades of failure to put fire safety – and therefore residents’ safety – at the heart of how all buildings are constructed and refurbished. This matters for all of us, but in particular for some of the most vulnerable members of our society.

“Where City Hall has the power take action, the Mayor is leading the way in ensuring new buildings are safe via the London Plan, which requires that all new developments achieve the highest standards of fire safety at the earliest planning stages.

“Now, the Government must act with the same level of urgency and implement changes in regulation as well as provide the necessary resources to deliver preventative work.”

London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton said: “Following Dame Judith Hackitt’s review, we now need the Government to act without further delay to ensure we have robust legislation and regulation in place to make buildings safer.

“For too long our fire safety advice on sprinklers has been ignored. Developers must be required to include sprinklers in building design and especially in purpose built residential blocks and homes where vulnerable people live.”