When is a fire statement required with a planning application?
It is a legal requirement that a Fire Statement must be submitted with any application that proposes:
- one or more buildings over 18m in height or 7 or more storeys, and which contain two or more dwellings or is for the purposes of educational accommodation
- development of an existing building over 18m in height or 7 or more storeys, and which contains two or more dwellings or is for the purposes of educational accommodation
- development within the curtilage of an existing building over 18m in height or 7 or more storeys, and which contains two or more dwellings or is for the purposes of educational accommodation
- change of use of one or more buildings over 18m in height or 7 or more storeys, to use as two or more dwellings or for the purposes of educational accommodation
A Fire Statement must explain the fire safety design principles, concepts and standards that have been applied to the development.
A Fire Statement must:
- be on a form published by the Secretary of State (or a form substantially to the same effect); and
- include the particulars specified or referred to in the form
Additional notes:
- Height is measured from ground level to the top floor surface of the top storey of the building (ignoring any storey which is a roof-top machinery or plant area or consists exclusively of machinery or plant rooms).
- When determining the number of storeys, any storey which is below ground level is ignored, and any mezzanine floor is a storey if its internal floor area is at least 50% of the internal floor area of the largest storey in the building which is not below ground level.
