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?
Back to the list
What type of Building needs to have EWS1 forms?
For buildings over six storeys where:
- There is cladding or curtain wall glazing on the building or
- there are balconies which stack vertically above each other and either both the balustrades and decking are constructed with combustible materials (e.g. timber) or the decking is constructed with combustible materials and the balconies are directly linked by combustible material.
For buildings of five or six storeys where:
- There is a significant amount of cladding on the building (for the purpose of this guidance, approximately one quarter of the whole elevation estimated from what is visible standing at ground level is a significant amount) or
- there are ACM, MCM or HPL panels on the building** or
- there are balconies which stack vertically above each other and either both the balustrades and decking are constructed with combustible materials (e.g. timber), or the decking is constructed with combustible materials and the balconies are directly linked by combustible materials.
For buildings of four storeys or where:
- There are ACM, MCM or HPL panels on the building**.
- Building Safety