Fire risk assessments

Chesterfield Borough Council tenants and leaseholders can access the Riskhub Resident Hub online at residents.riskhub.co.uk.

You will be able to access the following documents via the Resident Hub:

Important Fire Safety Information for Residents – contains critical fire safety information for your property, including the fire evacuation strategy, the contact details of the Responsible Person, and any open actions following a fire risk assessment.

Fire Risk Assessment – this document contains information regarding the property’s active fire risk assessment.

To access the Resident Hub you will need:

• the name of your property management company - Chesterfield Borough Council
• your Unique Property Reference Number - from the letter we sent to you

We also request personal information such as your name, flat number and phone number to help maintain an accurate record of who interacts with the system.

You can find your unique property reference number on the letter we went to you. 

If you cannot access this or have lost that information, please email fire.safety@chesterfield.gov.uk.

Please contact fire.safety@chesterfield.gov.uk, our fire safety team will be able to answer any questions you may have.

This is the most common type of strategy in blocks of flats. The building is designed and built to keep occupants safe during fires in other parts of the building. Residents can stay in their flats unless there's a fire in their unit, or they're told to leave by the fire and rescue service. However, if you feel unsafe in your home, or start to notice smoke or heat, you should evacuate the building.

Below is a list of fire safety systems which may be present in your building.

Chesterfield Borough Council is responsible for the provision, testing and maintenance of fire safety equipment. Information on the systems in place in your building can be obtained by emailing fire.safety@chesterfield.gov.uk.

Emergency lighting

Emergency lighting is fitted in escape routes in some buildings and will operate if the main power supply fails to ensure enough light to enable people to escape safely.

Fire alarm system

A fire alarm system is fitted in common areas of buildings, where people are required to evacuate immediately in the event of a fire. It includes devices to detect smoke or heat and sounders or bells to raise the alarm. In smaller properties, these could be domestic-type smoke or heat alarms. In larger properties, the system will often have a control panel, and the fire detectors and sounders will be of a non-domestic type. Purpose-built blocks of flats generally do not require fire alarm systems in the common areas.

Fire mains

In some larger or taller buildings where the fire and rescue service would need excessive hose lengths to get water to fight a fire, an alternative fixed pipe system will be provided. This is known as a ‘fire main’. This allows a hose to be connected to a water supply much closer to the location of a fire.

Lightning protection

On taller buildings where there is a risk of a lightning strike starting a fire, a lightning protection system will be fitted to transfer the electricity from a strike down to the ground. This is typically a copper conductor which runs down the external wall from the highest part of the building to an earthing connection point.

Smoke control system

Most buildings require ventilation of escape routes and stairs to ensure that these do not get filled with smoke if a fire were to happen. Smoke ventilation systems can range from permanently open vents to those which are opened remotely by the fire and rescue service or controlled automatically by smoke detectors.

Suppression systems

Some buildings may have sprinkler or misting systems, which are designed to slow the growth of a fire, to address a specific risk or to allow more time for evacuation and for the fire and rescue services to attend. These systems may cover individual flats within a block, or just parts of a building, such as a refuse room or bin store.

Below are some terms and words that you may come across in the Resident Hub.

Compartmentation

Fire compartmentation is constructed to divide a building into separate fire-resisting areas to help prevent a fire from spreading. It keeps the fire contained in one area, preventing it from reaching other parts of the building or nearby buildings.

Fire door

Fire doors are installed in a building to prevent the spread of fire and smoke. Fire doors are only effective when kept closed, some are fitted with a self-closing device or are kept locked shut. We can advise you on which doors within your building are fire doors.

Fire Risk Assessment (FRA)

A fire risk assessment is an evaluation of a building’s potential fire hazards, the likelihood of fire occurrence and the effectiveness of existing fire safety measures. It aims to identify risks and recommend appropriate actions to ensure the safety of occupants and the property. It is a legal requirement to complete a fire risk assessment of buildings which contain multiple dwellings sharing a common area. This includes most blocks of flats.

Responsible Person

Fire safety legislation places fire safety duties on Responsible Persons for buildings requiring a fire risk assessment. The Responsible Person has legal responsibility for fire safety in a building or workplace. They must take all reasonable steps to reduce fire risk and ensure the safe escape of the property in case of a fire. The Responsible Person for your home is Chesterfield Borough Council.

Building fire risk rating

The fire risk assessment for a building provides an overall risk rating, which depends on the nature of the risks identified during the assessment. It is based on both how likely a fire is to occur and the potential consequences if it does:

• Tolerable - there are no significant risks identified which require resolution
• Moderate - there are some risks identified which require attention, this will be reduced to Tolerable when the issues have been resolved
• Substantial - serious risks are identified, this will require the Responsible Person to take action quickly to resolve the issues, after which the risk rating will be reduced to Moderate or Tolerable as appropriate