Filling in the fire statement form section by section

The fire statement form asks a short set of questions and expects specific answers about this site. Most of the trouble with a fire statement form comes from treating it as a declaration rather than as evidence, so the answers arrive generic, uncross-referenced and unsigned, and the statutory consultee sends back the same questions with the application clock already running.

What follows is how to fill each part so that it survives that consultation. It assumes the building is caught by the requirement in the first place, and that the height and storey count have been settled on a drawing.

The principles the form is built around

Before writing anything, be clear about what the form is for. It is a planning document. It exists so that the decision maker can see whether the scheme as drawn creates fire safety problems that cannot be solved once the footprint, the access, the massing and the external envelope have been fixed by a permission.

That is why the questions are about siting, access, water, escape and external walls, and why none of them ask for calculations. Answer at the level the question is pitched at.

The second principle is traceability. Every answer should be checkable against something in the submission. A statement with no drawing references is an assertion, and the consultee has no way to test it.

A third principle is worth adding, and it is the one that saves the most time later. Write the form as though it will be read in two years by someone who was not involved in the design, because it will be. The later gateways turn on whether the assumptions recorded now still hold, and an answer that only makes sense to the person who wrote it is no use for that.

Site layout and access sections

Describe the route an appliance takes from the adopted highway to the building, in order, and then show it.

• The access point from the highway, with the carriageway width and any width restriction on the way.
• Gradients on the route, and any barrier, gate or bollard, with how it is operated in an emergency.
• Turning provision, with the swept path drawing referenced by number.
• Hardstanding positions relative to the entrances they serve, with the distance stated.
• Load capacity where the route crosses a podium, basement or structural deck.

The load point is the one most often omitted, and on any scheme with parking under a courtyard it is the one that generates a consultation response. Give the design loading and say which structural drawing carries it.

Where the site is shared with other buildings or phases, say how access is maintained during construction of the later phases. A route that only works once the whole scheme is complete is not a route.

Water supplies for firefighting

Four things: the source, the expected flow, the hydrant positions, and whether any of it depends on new infrastructure.

If the water undertaker has confirmed the available flow in writing, say so and give the date of the response. If they have not, say that too, and state the figure the design is currently assuming. That distinction is what turns a vulnerable answer into a defensible one.

Where the scheme relies on a tank and pump arrangement rather than the main, describe it in outline and say where it sits on the drawings. Space for that equipment is a planning matter, because it takes floor area.

Do not write that provision will be in accordance with the relevant standards. It is a statement that carries no information and every consultee has read it a hundred times.

Means of escape and evacuation strategy

State the strategy in a sentence, then give the features that support it.

Stay put or simultaneous evacuation. The number of stairs and where they are. Whether the design relies on a firefighting shaft, an evacuation lift, a smoke control system or a sprinkler installation. Whether any part of the building has a different strategy from the rest, which is common in mixed use blocks where the commercial floors evacuate differently.

Then add the part people forget: the provision for residents who cannot use stairs. Planning cannot resolve personal emergency plans, but the building layout decides whether an evacuation lift is possible, and that decision is taken at this stage.

The strategy stated here constrains everything afterwards. Going from one stair to two after permission is a major design change, and it is the kind that gets discovered during the later gateway when it is most expensive to fix.

External wall construction

Describe the intended build-up for each wall type: substrate, insulation, cavity arrangement, cladding, and the approach to cavity barriers.

Then deal with the attachments. Balconies and their construction. Solar panels. Screens and privacy panels to terraces. Enclosures to roof plant. Signage. Anything fixed to the outside of the building belongs in this answer, because each of those is a route a fire can take.

Where a product has not been selected, say so and state the performance the design assumes. Naming a specific system you have not verified is worse than saying the selection is outstanding, because the form then records a commitment nobody checked.

Refurbishment and extension schemes need an extra sentence about the existing fabric. Say what the existing wall construction is, how that was established, and whether any intrusive survey has been done. On an older block, that answer is often the most useful thing on the form.

Fire service facilities

Cover the facilities the scheme provides for the fire and rescue service: dry or wet rising mains and the inlet positions, firefighting lobbies, fire service access to plant and to the roof, the location of the premises information box, and how the service reaches any basement or undercroft.

Each of these takes space, and space is what planning grants. Show them on a plan rather than listing them, and reference the plan.

Inlet positions are worth a second look on schemes with a landscaped frontage. A rising main inlet behind a raised planter, or a premises information box on the wrong side of a secure gate, is a small detail that produces a large comment.

Where the local fire and rescue service has been consulted informally, record the date and the outcome. It carries weight, and it shows the design has been tested against someone who will have to use it.

Assumptions, limitations and who signed it

Finish the form honestly. List the assumptions the answers depend on, the information that was not available when it was written, and the drawings and revisions the answers relate to.

Name the author, give their fire engineering qualifications, and say what they were engaged to do. A form completed by the architect because the fire engineer had not been appointed is a risk the client should be told about in writing.

PlanScope can produce an AI-assisted draft Fire Statement that structures the answers to the form and marks every missing site fact as to be confirmed rather than filling it with a plausible number. Fire engineering competence is legally required here, so that draft is a starting point for the engineer who signs it. If you do not have one on the team, a reviewer with fire engineering competence can take it on.

Keep the form consistent with the Design and Access Statement, since both describe the same access and layout, and keep the height and storey figures consistent with the measured drawing described in counting storeys and measuring height. Contradictions between documents are the first thing a consultee finds.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which reports your site needs.

PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.