Dwelling
risk review report
Business Sector Risk Review Reports are created for each
and every occupancy category held within the FPA/
RISCAuthority Large Loss Fire database where sufficient
records exist for meaningful analysis and are updated
annually. They are designed to highlight the loss history in
each business sector to help inform insurance and risk control
choices, and provide brief bespoke best-practice guidance.
This data is best appreciated in association with local
information on F&RS response, AFA policy, and firefighting
water availability data which is available to RISCAuthority
members via the website (www.RISCAuthority.co.uk). The
data presented here spans the two years January 2012 to
December 2013; the complete database and analytical tools
may be accessed by members via the RISCAuthority website.
Bungalows
Sub category
Dwelling fires account for 18.4% of all large loss fires.
Fires involving Bungalows account for 1.3% of all large loss fires and 7.2% of all Dwelling fires.
Accidental
61%
59%
Causation
Dwelling
Bungalows
Dwelling
Bungalows
Time of fire
Deliberate
17%
14%
Unknown
22%
27%
Midnight - 6am 6am - midday Midday - 6pm 6pm - midnight
17%
26%
29%
28%
21%
21%
32%
25%
Impedances
Access
Acetylene
73%
75%
1%
Dwelling
Bungalows
Inadequate
water supply
16%
Resources
10%
25%
67 Dwelling fires of 514 had impedances, 3 of these had more than one impedance.
4 Bungalows fires of 37 had impedances, 0 of these had more than one impedance.
Cost of fire
Dwelling fires account for 9% of all large loss financial loss, with a mean average cost of £370,459 per fire.
Bungalows fires account for 3% of all Dwelling loss, with a mean average cost of £138,148 per fire.
Insurance component
Dwelling
Bungalows
Material
damage
84%
65%
Business
Contents
interruption
1%
5%
10%
Resources
7%
1%
Machine
and plant
0%
Stock
Other
0%
3%
24%
These statistics are based upon information supplied by loss adjusters to the FPA on a voluntary basis and not all insurers conducting
business in the UK contribute to this dataset. They represent only sums paid out where the total loss is in excess of £100K and are deficient
of losses under £100K, deductibles, under-insurance, uninsured, self-insured and captively insured components, which may be significant.
In a year, total losses captured typically account for 50% of the ABI declared annual fire loss figure - which is similarly deficient of the same
components (except the £100K threshold).
THE UK's NATIONAL FIRE SAFETY ORGANISATION
Protecting people, property, business and the environment
FPA BUSINESS SECTOR RISK REVIEW REPORT FOR DWELLING – BUNGALOWS
Fire safety legislation
Although bungalows and other single private dwellings are
not subject to fire safety legislation, a fire risk assessment
should be undertaken when the premises is used as a
business, for example as part of a care home or to
provide similar services, in compliance with the Regulatory
Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (or equivalent legislation
in Scotland and Northern Ireland).
Fire hazards
There are a number of significant fire hazards associated
with bungalows; these include:
• Accidents while cooking.
• Accidents while smoking.
• Electrical fire hazards from poorly maintained
installations and portable electrical appliances.
• Deliberate fire raising.
• Unprotected letter slots in front doors.
• Residents not testing smoke alarms or removing their
batteries.
• Excessive combustible materials accumulating as a
result of collecting or hoarding.
• Rubbish bins, waste materials and old furniture outside
in close proximity to the building.
• Poorly parked vehicles outside obstructing hydrants
and access for firefighters.
Risk control recommendations
The following risk mitigation measures should be
considered to eliminate or reduce the risk of fires in
bungalows:
• Give careful consideration to the likelihood of deliberate
fire raising at the time of the fire risk assessment.
Suitable security measures should be implemented that
are proportionate to the risk and based on the findings
of the fire risk assessment. Suitable measures may
include providing locks complying with BS 3621 and
installing security lighting.
• Review the fire risk assessment periodically, when
redecoration or alterations are planned or whenever
there are significant changes to the potential sources of
ignition, combustible materials present or abilities of the
residents (for example restricted mobility or impaired
hearing).
• Ensure that all escape routes to the outside of
the property are kept free from obstructions and
combustible materials.
• Ensure that doors to rooms are maintained in good
condition; they should be shut at night to minimise the
spread of smoke onto the escape route and give the
occupiers maximum time to escape.
• Provide emergency escape lighting that is installed and
maintained in accordance with BS 5266 where there is
insufficient borrowed light on escape routes.
• When designing new bungalows avoid the need to
introduce letter slots into fire doors; it is preferable to
have a post box outside the building. The latter provides
for greater security from fireworks and burning materials
being introduced into the home by this route.
• Where a letter slot is already provided in the front door,
it should be protected by a sheet metal container
designed to retain burning materials. (Proprietary boxes
are available which have a built-in fire extinguisher.)
• Avoid hot work wherever possible, including the use
of hot air guns for the stripping of paintwork during
redecoration. When hot work cannot be avoided,
engage competent contractors and specify that work
is controlled by use of a hot work permit system in
accordance with RISCAuthority Recommendation
RC7.
• Ensure that electrical installations are designed, installed
and periodically tested by a competent electrician in
accordance with the current edition of BS 7671 (the IET
Wiring Regulations). Inspections should be carried out
on a fire risk assessed basis as recommended in the
Periodic Inspection Report.
• Portable electrical equipment (such as vacuum
cleaners) that is used by cleaners and other staff should
be inspected and tested at least in accordance with
HSG 107 and/or the IET Code of practice for in-service
inspection and testing of electrical equipment. The
period between tests should be determined by the fire
risk assessment.
• Ensure that electrical and gas installations (such as
meters and electrical consumer units) are separated
from the escape route by a form of construction that
provides at least 30 minutes’ fire resistance.
• Minimise the spread of fire by effective fire
compartmentation within the building, even though it is
of only a single storey. Maintain the compartmentation
by ensuring that contractors provide suitable fire
stopping, in accordance with the FPA Design guide,
around pipes and services that are introduced through
fire compartment walls, floors and ceilings. Maintain the
effectiveness of cavity barriers in ceilings and roof voids.
• Provide written information for the residents indicating
what they should do in the event of fire. They should
also be told in a short leaflet how they should call the
fire and rescue service if there are times when staff are
not present. Residents should be made aware of heat
or smoke detectors that are provided and how they
should be tested and maintained.
• Residents need to be warned with the minimum of
delay of a fire in the premises, especially if they have
reduced mobility; a suitable automatic fire detection
and alarm system should therefore be installed. The
system should have third party certification by a UKAS
accredited certification body and be to a recognised
category of installation in accordance with BS 5839-6.
• Give serious consideration at the design stage to the
installation of an automatic fire suppression system
into a new property. Sprinkler systems for residential
premises should be installed and maintained in
compliance with BS 9251 by an engineer with third
party certification by a UKAS accredited third party
certification body.
• Staff should have access to a suitable number of
appropriate fire extinguishers in areas such as the
kitchen and utility room. Extinguishers should be
approved and certificated by an independent, third
party certification body, installed in accordance
with BS 5306-8 and inspected and maintained in
compliance with BS 5306-3. Staff should be trained in
their use.
• Minimise the storage of combustible waste materials
(including unwanted furniture and recycling containers)
within 10m of the premises. Where appropriate, provide
bollards or kerbs to prevent wheeled bins being located
beneath windows.
• Liaise with the fire and rescue service where car parking
in the neighbourhood may prevent speedy access by
firefighting appliances.
• Have an effective emergency plan in place to ensure the
resilience of the premises and welfare of the residents
in the event of a fire. One way of approaching this is
to complete the ROBUST business continuity and
incident management planning software available free
from https://robust.riscauthority.co.uk/
Further information
1. Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, SI 2005
No 1541, TSO.
2. The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, asp 5, TSO.
3.Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006, Scottish
SI 2006 No 456, TSO.
4.Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order
2006, SI 2006 No 1254 (NI9), TSO.
5.Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010,
SI 2010 No 325 (NI), TSO.
6.BS 3621: 2007 + A2: 2012, Thief resistant lock
assembly. Key egress, BSI.
7.BS 5266-1:2011: Emergency lighting. Code of
practice for the emergency escape lighting of
premises, BSI.
8.BS 5306-3: 2009: Fire extinguishing installations
and equipment on premises. Commissioning and
maintenance of portable fire extinguishers. Code of
practice, BSI.
9. BS 5306-8: 2012: Fire extinguishing installations and
equipment on premises. Selection and positioning of
portable fire extinguishers. Code of practice, BSI.
10.
BS 5839-6: 2013: Fire detection and fire alarm
systems for buildings. Code of practice for the
design, installation, commissioning and maintenance
of fire detection and fire alarm systems in domestic
premises, BSI.
11.BS 7671: 2008 +A1: 2011 + A2: 2013: Requirements
for electrical installations (IET Wiring Regulations), BSI.
12.BS 9251: Sprinkler systems for residential and
domestic occupancies. Code of practice. BSI.
Case history
1.A woman has died in a fire at her sheltered
accommodation. Firefighters were called to the blaze
in the living room of the bungalow just before 18:45
on Tuesday. The woman, believed to be in her late
80s, was found by fire crews but they were unable to
save her. A spokesman for the fire and rescue service
said an investigation was under way with the police
to establish the cause of the fire. The incident was the
second fatality in a fire in the county in seven days;
less than a week earlier a woman died when a fire
broke out in the living room of her home.
13.RC7: Recommendations for hot work, 2012, FPA.
14.Business resilience: A guide to protecting your
business and its people, 2005, FPA.
15.ROBUST software (Resilient Business Software
Toolkit): https://robust.riscauthority.co.uk
16.FPA Design guide: The protection of buildings: Core
document: Protection of openings and service
penetrations from fire, 2005, FPA.
17.HSG 107: Maintaining portable and transportable
electrical equipment, 2013, HSE.
18.Code of practice for in-service inspection and testing
of electrical equipment, 2012, Institution of Engineering
and Technology (IET).
19.Fire safety risk assessment: Sleeping accommodation,
2006, DCLG.
20.Housing – Fire safety: Guidance on fire safety
provisions for certain types of existing housing,
LACoRS (Local Government Association).