Premises consisting of a dwelling house occupied as a single dwelling are exempted from the fire safety duties, and inspection and enforcement provisions, in Part III of the Fire Services Acts, 1981 and 2003. The Acts do not define a single dwelling and, while single dwellings are self-evident in most cases, consideration of a range of factors may be required on a case by case basis and may ultimately require interpretation by the Courts.
A single dwelling is generally either a dwelling house, a flat (separate and self-contained premises constructed or adapted for residential use and forming part of a building from some other part of which it is divided horizontally) or a maisonette (a dwelling forming part of a larger building, which has its rooms divided between two or more levels which are more than half a storey height apart).
Notwithstanding the exclusion of single dwellings from the provision of the Fire Services Acts, very considerable progress has been made on enhancing the safety of occupants of dwellings through community fire safety programmes and fire safety promotion over the years. This has focussed on the domestic smoke alarm campaign and, while each fire death is one too many, the fire death rate per million has been halved over the past decade.
The construction standards for dwellings are covered by regulation. Part B (Fire safety) of the Building Regulations sets down the statutory minimum standards of fire safety provision which must be achieved when a new building, including a dwelling, is designed and constructed or when an existing building is subject to works involving an extension, a material alteration or a material change of use. This includes a requirement for adequate resistance to the spread of fire to and from neighbouring buildings.
Technical Guidance Document B – Fire Safety (2006) provides specific guidance on construction methods to comply with this requirement. Where works are carried out in accordance with this document this will, prima facie, indicate compliance with the fire safety requirements of the Building Regulations. Compliance with the Building Regulations is first and foremost the responsibility of the owners, designers and builders of the buildings or dwellings concerned.
In broad terms, local authorities have extensive powers of inspection and enforcement under the Building Control Act 1990, the Fire Services Act 1981 and the Planning and Development Acts, all of which may be relevant in relation to fire safety arrangements in residential buildings.
