When the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 came into force, they signalled more than just a tick-box compliance exercise. They marked a turning point for managing agents – placing fire safety at the heart of residential asset management and raising expectations around transparency, accountability, and resident communication.
At Catella APAM, we’ve embraced the challenge. These changes haven’t just altered the way we manage buildings – they’ve raised the bar for what “good” looks like in the property management of multi-occupied residential assets.
A New Era of Resident-Centred Safety
A key principle underpinning the regulations is transparency. Managing agents are now required to provide residents with clear, accessible fire safety instructions – not buried in a handbook, but visible, digestible, and regularly updated. We’ve implemented this across all relevant assets, ensuring residents know what to do, where to go, and who to contact in the event of a fire.
Smarter Buildings, Safer Outcomes
The scope of the regulations is significant – covering all multi-occupied residential buildings, with specific requirements for those over 11 metres and high-rise properties over 18 metres. We’ve responded by embedding robust processes into our property and facilities management workflows, including:
- Fire door checks every quarter in communal areas and annually for flat entrance doors
- Monthly inspections of lifts and fire-fighting equipment, with transparent reporting to residents and local fire services
- Installation and maintenance of wayfinding signage to aid evacuation and emergency response
- Up-to-date floor plans and building information submitted to fire and rescue services, and stored in secure information boxes onsite for immediate access
Readiness Backed by Rigour
Our teams now oversee the provision of critical building information to fire authorities – including details on the design and materials of external walls and plans showing the location of firefighting infrastructure. This ensures emergency services can make faster, more informed decisions when it counts.
We’ve also embedded rigorous data and document control practices, laying the foundation for the industry’s “Golden Thread of Information” – a requirement that ensures vital building safety information is preserved and accessible throughout the building’s lifecycle.
Raising the Compliance Ceiling – Again
From October 2023 and into 2024, the bar was raised even higher. New layers of regulation have introduced:
- Dutyholder responsibilities for those involved in design and construction
- Oversight by the Building Safety Regulator for all high-rise buildings
- A Mandatory Occurrence Reporting System to identify and assess emerging risks
- Updates to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, enhancing collaboration between Responsible Persons
- A new registration regime and professional conduct standards for Building Control Bodies and Inspectors
These aren’t just box-ticking exercises. They demand joined-up thinking across property, facilities and asset management – and a shift in mindset across the industry.
Setting a Higher Standard – And Holding It
At Catella APAM, we’ve taken these reforms as an opportunity to lead. By integrating fire safety into the fabric of our service delivery, we’re not just ensuring compliance – we’re building trust, resilience, and long-term value into every asset we manage.
In a landscape where the expectations on managing agents continue to evolve, we believe one thing is clear: compliance is the floor. Setting a new standard for safety, communication, and accountability – that’s the ceiling.