Building and Fire Safety
We have fire safety controls in place as to provide safe homes is our priority
Gateway has a fire safety policy to ensure compliance with legislation and good practice guidance. Your home has regular independent Fire Risk Assessments, and actions identified are promptly actioned. We work with the Fire Service to ensure we have implemented procedures so our residents can safely evacuate our properties if required. To learn more about fire and building safety and what to do to protect yourself and your family, please see our fire safety pages in the drop-down menu. Please also ensure you are familiar with the Fire Safety Notice for your building, located in your lobbies and communal areas.
There are currenty six main pieces of legislation applicable to fire and building fire safety in residential buildings, detailed below. Building regulations help to ensure that new buildings, conversions, renovations and extensions (domestic or commercial) will be safe, healthy and high-performing. Detailed regulations cover specific topics, including structural integrity, fire protection, accessibility, energy performance, acoustic performance, protection against falls, and electrical and gas safety. They also lay standards for drains, ventilation, protection against the ingress of water and protection against contamination, including methane and radon gas.
See further information on building regulations from Local Authority Building Control here.
External Wall Surveys (EWS)
Buildings are affected by legislation covering external walls through an External Wall Survey (EWS) as reflected in the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2021. Gateway are now planning on carrying out building assessments and progress on matters being resolved.
For further information on the EWS inspection process please see the below:
- Why do you need to inspect my building?
- Is My Building Included?
- What is a EWS Assessment?
- What type of Building needs to have EWS1 forms?
- What is the EWS process?
- Will I receive a copy of the survey?
- Who can I speak to about any queries?
- Who will carry out the RAGS Assessment?
- Do I need to provide access to my flat?
- How does this affect selling/ staircasing/remortgage my flat?
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What is the EWS process?
The first stage is a RAG assessment which categorises our buildings using the RICS RAG assessment tool
We will not need to enter into the flats to undertake this. Costs will be covered by Gateway Housing for this stage.
Once we have concluded the RAG assessment, we will then conduct a full visual survey of the buildings that have been highlighted as a potential risk to our residents. This process includes.
- Examine all property information
- Undertake a visual inspection and full drone survey
- Identify on plan areas for potential inspection to satisfy EWS1 assessor (Fire Engineer).
- Prepare a report together with recommendations to undertake necessary invasive surveys to secure the EWS1 form.
The next stage is a fully intrusive survey of the building. This will enable our expert consultants to ascertain the construction build-up of the external wall and issue a report setting out what remedial works will be necessary if any.
However, to ensure that we are compliant with all government safety guidelines Gateway are beginning carry out inspections / RAG assessments to all buildings which have two or more sets of domestic premises.
- Building Safety