Process fire risks

What you need to do

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 sets out the law on construction site general fire safety, including means of escape.

The CDM Regulations 2015 also impose duties including the requirement to prevent risk from fire. The fire risk from site activities must be assessed and precautions taken to control:

Construction of timber frame buildings will require significant additional measures to those outlined here. You should refer to the specific guidance listed in Resources, below.

What you need to know

Each year there are a number of serious fires on construction sites and buildings undergoing refurbishment. Many could be avoided by careful planning and control of work activities.

Any outbreak of fire threatens the safety of those on site and will be costly in damage and delay. It can also be a hazard to people in surrounding properties.

Fire can be a particular hazard in refurbishment work when there is a lot of dry timber and at the later stages of building jobs where flammable materials such as adhesives, insulating materials and soft furnishings are present

Combustible material

Many solids, liquids and gases can catch fire and burn. It only takes a source of ignition, which may be a small flame or an electrical spark, together with air. Preventive actions that can be taken include:

Ignition sources

It is important that you take action to control ignition sources including:

2022-03-09