When a fire statement is required with a planning application
The fire statement requirement turns on two things: what the building contains and how tall it is. Both are narrower than people assume, and both decide whether your application validates.
A fire statement is required with a planning application where the development involves a relevant building. That is the whole of the fire statement planning requirement, and it comes from Article 9A of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015. Two limbs have to be satisfied together: the building contains two or more dwellings or educational accommodation, and it is 18 metres or more in height or has seven or more storeys.
Miss it on a building that is caught and the application does not validate. Supply it on a building that is not caught and you have spent money on a form nobody needed.
The trigger in Article 9A
Article 9A was inserted into the 2015 Order in 2021 and sits alongside the national information requirements. It does two things. It requires the fire statement to accompany the application, and it requires that statement to be on a form published by the Secretary of State, which means a narrative document of your own drafting does not discharge it.
The requirement runs with the application rather than with the applicant, so it applies equally to a developer, a housing association and a local authority applying to itself.
The form is short by the standards of planning documents, which misleads people into treating it as administrative. It is not. The answers given on it become the fire safety assumptions the permission is granted on, and changing them later is a design change like any other.
It is also a planning requirement rather than a building control one. Nothing in Article 9A affects the separate regime for higher-risk buildings during design and construction, and satisfying one does not satisfy the other.
What counts as a relevant building
The use limb is narrow. It catches buildings containing two or more dwellings and buildings containing educational accommodation. Student accommodation and other forms of institutional residential use need care, because the characterisation of the units decides the answer.
Mixed use buildings are caught where the residential content is present. A block with retail at ground floor and flats above is a building containing two or more dwellings, and the commercial element does not take it out of scope.
Where a site contains several buildings under one application, the test applies building by building. One block at 19 metres among four at 12 metres brings the requirement with it, and the form should then address that block specifically rather than describing the site in general terms.
How the height test is applied
Height is taken from ground level to the floor surface of the top storey. Roof-level plant areas and storeys consisting only of plant rooms are excluded from the storey count, which is why a building can look like it has eight levels and count as seven.
Sloping sites are where arguments start, because the measurement depends on which ground level you take. Agree the point with the case officer and record it on a section drawing rather than asserting a figure in a covering letter. The detail of the conventions, including split levels and podiums, is set out in counting storeys and measuring height.
A practical habit worth adopting: on any scheme within a metre of the threshold, put the measurement on the proposed section with the datum stated, whichever side of the line it falls. It costs nothing and it removes the argument.
Applications the requirement does not reach
Article 9A does not catch everything that touches a tall residential building. Works that do not involve a relevant building, and applications that do not themselves grant permission for the building, are treated differently, and the guidance sets out where the requirement does not bite.
Rather than reasoning it out from first principles, check the current guidance and then confirm in writing with the authority. Validation teams apply local practice, and a five-line email saying the form is not required on this application is worth more than any amount of confidence.
One case comes up often enough to mention. Where a permission already exists and an application is made to vary a condition, the question of whether the form is needed again depends on what that application covers. Ask.
Prior approval applications raise the same question from a different direction. Where a change of use to residential is being brought forward under a permitted development right, the application is not an application for planning permission in the ordinary sense, and the treatment of fire information differs. Authorities vary in how they handle it, which is another reason to confirm in writing.
What happens at validation if it is missing
The application does not validate. The authority writes back, the submission sits in the queue, and the statutory determination period does not begin until the form arrives. On a major scheme that is usually three to six weeks of programme lost for a document that takes a fire engineer a fraction of that time.
There is a second cost that hurts more. Validation delays push the decision past a committee cycle, and committee cycles are monthly. A fortnight of administrative delay can become six weeks of real delay.
If the form has been omitted in error, send it immediately rather than arguing about whether it was required. The argument takes longer than the form.
And if the building sits just under the threshold, expect to be asked anyway. Some validation teams apply the test conservatively, and supplying a short note explaining the measurement is usually faster than a fortnight of correspondence about whether the measurement was needed.
Where the local list adds to the national requirement
Authorities maintain local validation lists alongside the national requirements, and several ask for fire safety information on buildings below the Article 9A threshold. That request has a different legal basis, and it has to be reasonable and related to the development.
Where a local list asks for a fire strategy on a five-storey block, the usual answer is a proportionate statement rather than a full engineering document. A Fire Safety Strategy to BS 9991 or BS 9999 is a fire engineering deliverable and it costs accordingly, so it is worth asking the authority what they actually need before commissioning one.
Fire engineering competence is legally required for both documents. PlanScope can produce an AI-assisted draft Fire Statement that structures the answers and marks every missing site fact as to be confirmed, but that draft is a starting point for the fire engineer who signs it, not a replacement.
Checking the position before you submit
Three things to do while the drawings are still moving.
- Put a measured height and storey count on a section drawing, with the datum stated, and keep it in the submission pack.
- Email the validation team with the application type, the building description and the height, and ask whether the form is required.
- If the answer is yes, brief the fire engineer early enough that the form reflects the design rather than describing it after the fact.
Doing this late is how schemes end up with a form that says one thing and a set of drawings that say another, which is the version a consultee notices. You can browse all 66 report types to see what else a scheme of this scale usually needs, or enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which reports your site needs.
This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.
PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
Does a single tall house need a fire statement?
No. The use test requires the building to contain two or more dwellings or educational accommodation. A single dwellinghouse, however tall, sits outside Article 9A. That does not stop a local planning authority asking design questions about access and water supplies on an unusual building, but it cannot refuse to validate the application for want of the prescribed form.
What about a building that is 17.9 metres tall?
It falls below the height limb of the test, so the form is not required on that basis. It may still meet the storey limb if it has seven or more storeys, since the two are alternatives rather than a combined test. Sites close to the threshold deserve a measured drawing and an agreed measurement point before the application is submitted.
Is the fire statement required for reserved matters?
The guidance sets out the situations where the requirement does not apply, and applications that do not themselves grant permission for the building are treated differently from full applications. Because the position depends on the application type, ask the authority in writing which stage they expect the form at and keep the reply with the submission.
Can the authority refuse to validate for a poor fire statement?
Validation is about whether the required document has been provided, not whether it is any good. A form that is present but thin will normally be validated and then attacked through consultation, which is worse, because the objection lands after the clock has started. Quality is not a validation issue but it is very much a determination issue.
Does the Health and Safety Executive have to be consulted?
For applications caught by the requirement, the regulator is a statutory consultee and the authority must consult it. Its response addresses whether fire safety matters have been considered properly at planning stage. The authority remains the decision maker, and it weighs that response with everything else, but a negative response is difficult to overcome without design change.
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.