Fire safety in flats

Purpose-built blocks of flats are designed so that a fire stays in the flat where it starts. That is why many buildings have a ‘stay put’ policy. It only works if fire doors, walls and escape routes are left as they were built, so residents have a part to play alongside the people responsible for the building.

How a block protects you

Each flat is built as its own fire-resisting box, with walls, floors and a front door designed to hold back fire and smoke. This is called compartmentation. It keeps the corridors and stairs clear so that people can get out and firefighters can get in.

• Stay put. If the fire is in your flat, get everyone out, close the door behind you and call 999. If the fire is somewhere else in the building, you are normally safer staying in your flat with the doors and windows closed, unless heat or smoke is affecting you or the fire service tells you to leave.
• Simultaneous evacuation. In some buildings everyone leaves when the alarm sounds. These buildings have a shared alarm system to alert every flat.

The fire action notice in your building says which applies. You are never prevented from leaving if you feel unsafe.

Why some blocks have no shared alarm

In a stay put building, a shared alarm is usually unnecessary and can do harm, because repeated false alarms teach people to ignore it. The alarms inside your flat are a different matter. Fit at least one smoke alarm on every level of your home and test them every month.

Your front door

A flat’s front door is a fire door and part of the protection for everyone else’s escape route. It should close fully by itself from any position, with its seals and hinges in good order.

• Do not remove or disconnect the self-closer.
• Do not fit a new letter box, cat flap or lock without checking first that the fitting is fire rated.
• Replacing the door is building work under the Building Regulations. The new door set normally has to give at least 30 minutes of fire and smoke resistance (FD30S), be fitted by a competent installer and come with a certificate. You will also need the landlord’s consent under your lease.
• Give the person responsible for the building access to check the door when asked. The law requires you to cooperate.

Our article on flat front door inspections explains what we look at and why.

Alterations inside your flat

Work inside a flat can break the fire protection without anyone noticing. Common examples are:

• New pipes or cables passed through walls or floors without the holes being sealed with fire-stopping material.
• Removing kitchen or living room walls and doors to make an open-plan layout.
• Downlights in a ceiling that are not fire rated.
• A tumble dryer vent cut through a fire-resisting wall.

Speak to your managing agent before any work of this kind. You will probably need the landlord’s consent and Building Regulations approval. Work done without them can be expensive to put right and can hold up a sale.

Windows, grilles and shutters

On lower floors, and in flats reached from open walkways, some windows are designed as escape routes. They must stay easy to open and must not be covered by security grilles or shutters. Replacement windows have to meet the Building Regulations for size and opening.

Shared areas

Corridors, stairs and landings are escape routes. Some buildings allow nothing at all to be kept in them. Others allow a small number of low-risk items such as a doormat. Which approach applies is decided through the fire risk assessment. In either case, do not store belongings or rubbish in shared areas or meter cupboards, and do not charge e-bikes or e-scooters there.

The law in brief

• Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The ‘responsible person’, usually the freeholder or management company, must have a fire risk assessment for the shared parts and keep it under review.
• Fire Safety Act 2021. Confirmed that the Order covers the structure, the external walls and flat entrance doors.
• Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022. In every block with two or more flats, residents must be given fire safety instructions and information about fire doors. In buildings over 11 metres, shared fire doors are checked every three months and flat entrance doors once a year, as far as access allows. Buildings of 18 metres or seven storeys and above have further duties, including floor plans and an information box for the fire service, wayfinding signs and monthly checks of firefighting lifts and equipment.
• Residential evacuation plans. Since 6 April 2026, in buildings of 18 metres or seven storeys and above, and in buildings over 11 metres that have a simultaneous evacuation strategy, the responsible person must try to identify residents who would need help to get out, offer them an individual fire risk assessment and agree a plan with them.
• Building Regulations 2010 and Housing Act 2004. These cover alterations to flats and give councils powers over fire hazards in homes.

If you or someone in your household would struggle to leave the building without help, please tell your managing agent.

What our team does on site

At developments where Butlin Property Services provides the maintenance team, our staff carry out routine fire alarm and emergency lighting tests and inspect shared fire doors every three months. The results are recorded in the fire safety log book kept at each site, and faults are reported to our office. If you notice a damaged fire door, a door that will not close or anything blocking an escape route, report it through butlins.fixflo.com.

Further reading

• Fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats (GOV.UK technical guide, currently being revised)

This article is general guidance based on the law in England in October 2026. It is not legal advice. Your lease or transfer deed always comes first, so check it, and take professional advice on anything in dispute. You will find more answers in our FAQs.