The fire appliance access section of a fire statement
Fire service access is where the landscape strategy and the fire strategy collide. What the access section has to demonstrate on the layout actually being submitted.
The emergency vehicle access section of a planning stage fire statement is where a scheme's landscape strategy and its fire strategy usually collide. It has to show that a pumping appliance can reach the building, stand close enough to work, and connect to a water supply, on the layout actually being applied for. Not on a later revision, and not in principle.
Article 9A of the Development Management Procedure Order 2015 requires a fire statement with applications for development involving relevant buildings, in practice residential buildings meeting the height threshold, and the Health and Safety Executive is a statutory consultee at that stage. The access section is one the consultee reads against the site layout drawing rather than against the narrative, so the two have to agree.
What the section has to describe
The section answers four questions. Where does the appliance come from, what route does it take, where does it stop, and what does it connect to when it gets there.
Written out, that means the point of entry from the adopted highway, the route through the site including any gates or barriers, the carriageway widths and turning provision, the appliance standing position or positions, the distance from that position to the building entrances and to any fire main inlet, the hydrant locations and the available flow, and any control measures such as gate access arrangements or drop-down bollards.
It should also say which appliance the design accommodates. A layout designed for a pumping appliance alone is a different geometry from one that also accommodates a high reach appliance, and where the fire strategy assumes external rescue the difference is material.
Appliance dimensions and route geometry
Approved Document B sets out access requirements for fire service vehicles, and the planning stage layout has to work to the same numbers the building control route will use. For a pumping appliance the familiar figures are a minimum road width between kerbs of 3.7 metres, a minimum gateway width of 3.1 metres, a clearance height of 3.7 metres and a carrying capacity of 12.5 tonnes, with larger turning circles and a 17 tonne capacity where a high reach appliance is required. Check the current edition, because the document has been amended repeatedly since 2019.
Three points cause most of the trouble on drawings.
Carrying capacity is a structural requirement rather than a surfacing one. Where the access route crosses a podium, a basement car park, an attenuation tank or a soakaway, the structural design has to carry the appliance load, and that needs to be stated at planning stage because it affects the engineering and sometimes the levels.
Turning provision has to be demonstrated rather than asserted. Include swept path drawings for the design vehicle, and use them on the actual layout including the kerb radii and any street furniture. The same drawings usually serve the refuse vehicle question, and a scheme that has already worked through swept paths for waste collection is halfway there.
Gates and barriers need a stated means of operation. A gate that opens only with a fob held in an office defeats the access route, and the consultee will ask how it opens at three in the morning.
Hardstanding position and ground loading
The standing position is fixed by two distances working against each other. It has to be close enough to the building for hose laying, and where a fire main is present, close enough to the inlet.
The conventional planning-stage rules are that the appliance should be able to stand within 45 metres of all points within a dwellinghouse, and for blocks of flats within 45 metres of the entrance to the dwelling or the fire main inlet, with the inlet within 18 metres of the appliance position and within sight of it. Those distances are measured along the route a hose would actually take, including around corners and through gates, not as a straight line on a plan. Measuring them straight-line is the most common error in submitted layouts.
Ground loading applies to the hardstanding itself as well as the route. Where the standing position sits over structure, say so, and where it is within a landscaped area, specify a reinforced surface that carries the load while reading visually as landscape rather than as a road.
Water supplies and hydrant provision
The water supply question has two halves: where the hydrants are, and whether the mains can deliver.
Hydrant provision is normally secured through the water undertaker and, for adopted streets, through the highway authority. The usual planning stage position is that a hydrant should be available within a stated distance of the building entry point or the fire main inlet, commonly 90 metres, with additional hydrants where the layout is deep. New hydrants on a development are paid for by the developer and installed by the undertaker.
Flow and pressure matter as much as position. Ask the water undertaker for a flow test or a modelled figure at the proposed hydrant locations early, because a main that cannot deliver the required flow means either a mains reinforcement, which has cost and programme consequences, or an alternative supply such as a static tank. Discovering this after permission is the kind of problem that reopens the layout.
Where a private road serves the development, confirm who will maintain the hydrants and record it, because an unmaintained private hydrant is worse than no hydrant at all.
Riser inlets relative to the standing position
Dry and wet fire mains are required by height, and the inlet position is a coordination issue between the architect, the fire engineer and the landscape architect. The inlet cabinet has to be visible from the appliance standing position, within the stated distance of it, and accessible without the crew crossing a level change or a planting bed.
On plan this looks trivial. On site it fails when the inlet ends up behind a bin store, under a stair, inside a gated courtyard or behind a hedge that was 600 millimetres high on the landscape drawing and is 1.8 metres high five years later. Fix the inlet position on the general arrangement drawing at planning stage, show it on the landscape plan, and note the maintenance requirement for any planting around it.
Landscape conflicts with access requirements
This is the tension the section exists to resolve. Good residential placemaking wants narrow streets, tree planting, level changes, gates, courtyards and a surface that does not read as tarmac. Fire service access wants width, turning space, load capacity, sight lines and no obstructions.
Three resolutions that hold up in practice:
- Reinforced grass or resin-bound gravel over a structural sub-base for standing positions in landscaped areas, specified at planning stage with the build-up shown.
- Tree positions offset from the access route with the mature canopy spread drawn, not the nursery stock spread, so that clearance height survives.
- Bollards or gates that drop or open by a fire service key or a break-glass arrangement, described in the statement rather than left to detail design.
Where the conflict cannot be resolved, the fire strategy has to change instead, and that is better identified before submission than in a consultee response. A fire statement is the planning document, but the underlying reasoning belongs in a fire safety strategy prepared by someone with fire engineering competence.
Coordinating with the site layout drawing
The version control failure is the one that costs weeks. The fire statement is written from one revision of the site plan, the layout changes for drainage or for daylight reasons, and the statement is submitted describing a geometry that no longer exists.
Before submission, put the site layout, the swept path drawings, the landscape general arrangement, the drainage layout and the fire statement side by side and check that the appliance route, the standing position, the inlet position and the hydrant locations appear identically on all of them. Then record the drawing numbers and revisions in the statement itself, so that the consultee is reading a defined package.
Fire statements for relevant buildings must be prepared by someone with the necessary fire engineering competence under the Building Safety Act 2022 framework, and Planning Gateway One consultation means the Health and Safety Executive will read it. A draft is a starting point for that professional rather than a substitute for them.
PlanScope drafts fire statements structured to UK planning policy, with site-specific facts flagged for confirmation and professional sign-off. Browse the report types and start a draft. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
What does the access section of a fire statement cover?
It covers the point of entry from the adopted highway, the route through the site with widths and turning provision, the appliance standing position, the distance from that position to building entrances and any fire main inlet, hydrant locations and available flow, and the operation of any gates or bollards on the route.
What width does a fire appliance route need?
Approved Document B gives a minimum road width between kerbs of 3.7 metres for a pumping appliance, a gateway width of 3.1 metres, a clearance height of 3.7 metres and a carrying capacity of 12.5 tonnes, with larger turning circles and higher capacity where a high reach appliance is required. Check the current edition, which has been amended repeatedly.
How are hose laying distances measured?
Along the route a hose would actually take, including around corners, through gateways and past obstructions, rather than as a straight line across the plan. Measuring straight-line distances is the most common error in submitted layouts and is easy for a consultee to spot by comparing the plan with the stated figure.
Who provides hydrants on a new development?
New hydrants are installed by the water undertaker and paid for by the developer, with adopted street arrangements involving the highway authority. Request a flow test or modelled flow at the proposed locations early, because a main that cannot deliver the required flow means reinforcement works or an alternative supply, both of which affect cost and programme.
Who can prepare a fire statement?
For relevant buildings under the Planning Gateway One arrangements, the statement should be prepared by someone with the necessary fire engineering competence, and the Health and Safety Executive is a statutory consultee on the application. An AI-assisted draft is a starting point for that professional rather than a substitute for their judgement.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.