Grenfell Tower: Remembering the 72 lives lost and the lessons that must not be forgotten
Updated: 3 days ago
On 14 June 2017, 72 people lost their lives in the fire at Grenfell Tower in West London.
Behind that number were individuals, families, friends and a community whose lives were changed forever. Any discussion about the fire safety lessons from Grenfell should begin by remembering that this was first and foremost a human tragedy.
The fire started in a fourth-floor flat before escaping through a window and spreading rapidly across the external wall of the building. The Grenfell Tower Inquiry found that the ACM rainscreen panels with polyethylene cores were the principal reason the flames spread so rapidly around the building, with other elements of the external wall system also contributing to the extent of the fire.
What followed exposed serious failures across building design, refurbishment, product testing, fire safety management, regulation and oversight.
Grenfell changed the way the UK thinks about fire safety in residential buildings. Many of the lessons, however, are not limited to high-rise blocks.
Fire safety cannot be considered in isolation
One of the clearest lessons from Grenfell is that individual fire precautions cannot simply be looked at separately.
A building may have fire doors, compartment walls, smoke control systems, alarms and evacuation procedures, but they have to work together as part of an effective fire safety strategy.
In a block of flats operating a stay-put strategy, for example, the principle relies heavily on fire and smoke being contained within the flat of origin for a sufficient period.
Grenfell demonstrated what can happen when those assumptions are undermined by rapid fire spread elsewhere in the building, particularly through the external wall.
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry has since made clear that a stay-put strategy cannot be appropriate where there is a risk of fire spreading over the external walls of a building.
The lesson is therefore not that every stay-put strategy is wrong. It is that the evacuation strategy must be appropriate for the actual building, its construction, its fire precautions and the people who live there.
Competent fire risk assessment matters
A fire risk assessment should never become an exercise in completing a form.
The assessor needs to understand the building in front of them: how it was constructed, how it is occupied, how fire and smoke could spread and whether the existing precautions remain suitable.
Evidence examined by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry identified serious concerns about the competence and quality of the fire risk assessments undertaken for Grenfell Tower. Concerns about the suitability and sufficiency of assessments had also been raised before the fire.
For building owners and Responsible Persons, this reinforces the importance of appointing someone with the appropriate knowledge, training and experience for the complexity of the premises.
It also means acting on the findings.
A good fire risk assessment has little value if significant defects are identified but remain unresolved.
Fire doors and compartmentation remain fundamental
Fire-resisting construction is intended to restrict the movement of fire and smoke and protect escape routes.
Fire doors form an important part of that protection. They need to be suitable for their location, correctly installed and maintained so that they continue to perform as intended.
Damage, excessive gaps, defective self-closing devices, missing seals or alterations carried out over the years can all reduce their effectiveness.
The same applies to walls, floors, service risers and penetrations created for cables, pipes and other services.
Buildings change over time. Fire precautions therefore need to be inspected and maintained throughout the life of the building rather than assumed to remain effective simply because they were once compliant.
Residents need to be part of fire safety
Grenfell also demonstrated the importance of listening to residents.
People living in a building often notice problems first: damaged fire doors, obstructed escape routes, defective systems or other changes that may affect fire safety.
Residents should understand the fire procedure for their building and know what they are expected to do if a fire occurs.
Those responsible for buildings also need to consider residents who may require additional assistance. The Grenfell Tower Inquiry placed particular emphasis on the needs of vulnerable residents and the importance of having reliable information available to assist their evacuation or rescue.
Fire safety management should therefore involve communication with the people who actually live in the building, rather than simply producing documents that remain in an office.
What changed after Grenfell?
A number of significant changes to fire and building safety legislation have followed.
The Fire Safety Act 2021 clarified that, for multi-occupied residential buildings within the scope of the Fire Safety Order, the structure and external walls — including cladding and balconies — and flat entrance doors fall within the scope of the fire risk assessment.
The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced a new regulatory regime for higher-risk residential buildings in England and established the Building Safety Regulator.
For occupied higher-risk residential buildings, generally those at least 18 metres in height or at least seven storeys and containing at least two residential units, the legislation introduced Accountable Persons and Principal Accountable Persons, together with requirements around building safety information, assessment and ongoing management of building safety risks.
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 introduced further requirements for multi-occupied residential buildings in England.
For buildings with a top storey more than 11 metres above ground level, Responsible Persons must use best endeavours to check flat entrance fire doors at least annually and check communal fire doors at least every three months.
Additional requirements apply to high-rise residential buildings, including building plans, external wall information, secure information boxes, wayfinding signage and monthly checks of certain lifts and firefighting equipment. Residents in all relevant multi-occupied residential buildings must also be provided with fire safety and fire door information.
These requirements should not simply be viewed as another compliance exercise. Their purpose is to make sure that important information is available, safety systems are maintained and defects are identified before they contribute to an emergency.
What should building owners and Responsible Persons do?
The practical lessons from Grenfell remain relevant today.
Know your building. Make sure the fire risk assessment reflects its current condition and use. Understand the evacuation strategy and the assumptions that strategy relies upon. Maintain fire doors, compartmentation, alarms, smoke control and other fire safety systems. Keep reliable records and ensure significant findings are followed through to completion.
Where the construction of the external wall is uncertain, or there are concerns regarding compartmentation or another specialist element of the building, obtain appropriate specialist advice rather than making assumptions.
Most importantly, fire safety should be approached as an ongoing responsibility rather than something reviewed only when an assessment becomes due.
Remembering Grenfell
Grenfell should never be reduced to a case study or simply used as an example of regulatory failure.
Seventy-two people died.
The lasting responsibility for everyone working in fire safety, property management, construction and building control is to learn from what happened and to make sure those lessons influence the decisions we make about buildings today.
At 20A Limited, our approach to fire risk assessment is based on practical, proportionate advice with life safety at its centre.
If you are responsible for a residential or commercial building and are unsure whether your current fire risk assessment remains suitable, or whether changes to the building may have introduced new risks, it is worth having that position reviewed rather than assuming previous arrangements remain adequate.
Legislation differs across the UK. References above to the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and the higher-risk building regime under the Building Safety Act relate specifically to England. Appropriate legislation and guidance should always be considered for the location of the premises.
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