Safety case reports: Damage to structural fire protection
Help to prepare safety case reports
This information is for Accountable Persons (APs) of high-rise buildings to assist them in preparing safety case reports including damage to structural
fire protection for Building Assessment Certificates.
The safety case report must demonstrate that all reasonable steps have been taken to prevent building safety risks happening from such damage and reduce the seriousness if they do.
Scenario
Damage has been noticed or reported to what could be structural fire protection
Background and possible reasons
There could be a number of reasons for this:
- damaged through normal wear and tear
- a specific incident or deliberate damage
- damage during planned or unauthorised work
Remember, it may not be structural fire protection. It is not always easy to tell just by looking
Short term responses
Firstly you need to establish whether it is structural fire protection.
You may be able to do this yourself by referring to records. You may need to get a competent person to help you.
If it is not structural fire protection, consider whether it could affect the spread of fire/compartmentation:
- if not, deal with it as cosmetic damage
- if it is, assess the risk and decide what needs to be done
If it is structural fire protection, a competent person should assess the risk and decide what needs to be done.
You will then need to take any urgent or short-term actions identified.
An example of short-term action might be:
- issue: Damaged structural fire protection to a column in an underground car park
- action: Close off the nearby spaces to reduce the risk in case of a vehicle fire, or restrict use of the car park
Additional responses
You should arrange for any repairs needed and make sure they are carried out to the required standard by competent people.
Record details of what you have done.
Ongoing management
Make sure you have a system in place for reporting and investigating possible building safety issues such as damage to structural fire protection.
Other practical examples
- Internal
- bin chutes
- fire doors – not closing
- fire doors – not marked
- Resident engagement
- communicating using multiple languages
- updating outdated information about residents
- Structural
- balconies
- damage to structural fire protection
- new cracking
- prolonged or uncontrolled water ingress
- risk of vehicle damage
Other useful information
Download this information as a printable version.
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