A fire strategy plan for your conversion, £399 fixed
When one house becomes two flats or a house of sharers, the question is not whether it is safe in a drawing but whether people can get out in a fire. We draw the escape routes, alarm layout and fire doors that building control and the licensing officer will check: £399.
- £399 fixed, no survey fee
- Escape, alarms and doors drawn
- Free redraws until approval
What does a fire strategy plan cost?
The fee is £399, with no survey fee and no VAT to add. It is a set of annotated plans for one building, with a short written strategy, drawn from the survey of your conversion. It is a design document for building control and licensing, not a fire risk assessment of a building in use, which is a different service.
What the £399 covers
- Plans of every floor marking the escape routes, the stair, the exits and the travel distances
- The position of every smoke and heat alarm, with the grade of system proposed
- Fire doors, door ratings and self-closers marked on the plan, with the walls and floors that need fire separation
- Emergency escape windows checked against the minimum sizes, with the ones that fail marked
- A written strategy of two or three pages in plain English for the surveyor and licensing officer
When is a fire strategy needed?
Whenever the use changes and the answer to “how do people get out?” changes with it. Turning a house into two flats, into an HMO or adding a third storey are the common London cases. Building control then looks at the work against Part B, and a licensing officer looks at an HMO against its own standards.
You can sometimes get through with notes on the building regulations drawings. For anything with sharers on three storeys, a separate strategy is the safer, quicker route, because it answers the questions in one place.
What we draw on the plan
The minimum Approved Document B asks for is an alarm system of at least Grade D2 Category LD3 in every dwelling, with mains-operated, battery-backed smoke alarms (paragraphs 1.1 to 1.4). A bigger house with a floor over 200 m² needs more. Upstairs bedrooms need a way out: an escape window at least 0.33 m² in clear opening, 450 mm in each direction and no more than 1100 mm above the floor (paragraph 2.10).
We mark each of these on the plan, with fire doors and the walls that must resist fire. Where something fails, such as a window that is too small, we mark it and say what to change.
- Alarm grade and positions in every room and the hall
- Fire doors and their self-closers
- Escape windows against the minimum sizes
- Protected stair, if the layout needs one
Fire strategy, licence and building regulations
A fire strategy sits with the conversion drawings: HMO conversion drawings or flat conversion drawings. If you need the HMO licence application itself, see the licence pack. For the construction detail behind it, see building regulations drawings. Building control decides a full-plans application in five weeks, or two months by agreement (gov.uk).
What Approved Document B asks for
- Grade D2 LD3
- All dwellings should have a fire detection and alarm system of at least Grade D2 Category LD3, to BS 5839-6. Approved Document B volume 1, paragraph 1.1
- Mains
- Smoke alarms should be mains operated, conform to BS EN 14604 and have a standby power supply. Approved Document B volume 1, paragraphs 1.2 to 1.4
- 200 m²
- A large dwellinghouse has more than one storey and at least one storey over 200 m², and needs a higher grade of alarm system. Approved Document B volume 1, paragraphs 1.5 to 1.7
- 0.33 m²
- An escape window needs an unobstructed openable area of at least 0.33 m², at least 450 mm high and 450 mm wide. Approved Document B volume 1, paragraph 2.10
- 1100 mm
- The bottom of an escape window’s openable area should be no more than 1100 mm above the floor. Approved Document B volume 1, paragraph 2.10
- 5 tenants
- A large HMO has at least 5 tenants forming more than one household and needs a licence from the council. gov.uk, Houses in multiple occupation
- Change of use
- Building work and material changes of use are subject to requirement B1, which covers warning and escape in a fire. Approved Document B volume 1, scope
Fire strategy questions
Is a fire strategy the same as a fire risk assessment?
No. A strategy is a design for a conversion, drawn before work starts. A risk assessment is done on a building in use. We provide the first.
Do I need one for two flats?
Often the building regulations drawings cover it. For a three-storey conversion or an HMO, a separate plan answers the surveyor in one place.
Source: Approved Document B volume 1
What alarm do I need?
At least Grade D2 Category LD3 in every dwelling, mains operated with a standby supply. Larger houses need a higher grade, and an HMO may need more.
How big must an escape window be?
At least 0.33 m² openable, 450 mm high and wide, with the bottom no more than 1100 mm above the floor.
Will the plan be accepted?
We draw it to the guidance. Building control and the licensing officer decide, and we cannot promise a result. We redraw free until approval.
Other services people book with this one
Converting to flats or sharers?
Send the address and how many people will live there. We reply with a fixed fee.