PROVIDING PREMISES INFORMATION BOXES FOR HIGH RISE BUILDINGS

The Phase 1 report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry made a number of recommendations including the provision of information for fire services and premises information boxes for all high rise residential buildings.

Premises information boxes themselves are not new and have been used by a variety of premises to provide a secure, readily accessible storage facility for information for firefighters that, traditionally, included building plans showing relevant information e.g. shut-off controls, etc.

Following on from this recommendation the Fire Industry Association (FIA) and the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) have produced a Code of Practice for the Provision of Premises Information Boxes in Residential Buildings. This code of practice includes recommendations for the:

• location of the premises information box;
• security against unauthorised access;
• signage;
• what should be included in the premises information box in the form of an emergency response pack;
• maintenance of the premises information box and emergency response pack;
• exchange of information between stakeholders and definition of responsibility

The code of practice is free to download from the FIA’s website at: https://www.fia.uk.com/news/fia-and-nfcc-s-new-code-of-practise-on-the-provision-of-premises-information-boxes-pibs-in-residential-buildings.html

Or from the NFCC’s website at: https://www.fia.uk.com/news/fia-and-nfcc-s-new-code-of-practise-on-the-provision-of-premises-information-boxes-pibs-in-residential-buildings.html

While the code of practice is specifically designed for high rise residential buildings the principals in it can be applied to other premises where there is a need to provide emergency response plans.

Please speak to your normal PIB Risk Management contact or get in touch using [email protected]  if you have any questions about fire safety and managing fire risk or would like to arrange a fire risk assessment for your premises.