FRA FAQ
The 11 metre rule is not a single rule but a height threshold at which several duties change: quarterly communal fire door checks and annual flat entrance door checks under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, eligibility for cladding remediation support, and sprinkler provision in new residential buildings under Approved Document B.
Existing buildings
For occupied residential buildings over 11 metres in England, the 2022 Regulations require the responsible person to check fire doors in communal areas at least quarterly, and to use best endeavours to check every flat entrance door at least annually. The duties took effect in January 2023 as part of the post-Grenfell reforms, and evidence of the checks is exactly what an assessor now expects to see; a Type 1 assessment that finds no door-check records will say so as a significant finding.
The same threshold frames cladding remediation. Government schemes for buildings with unsafe cladding, and the leaseholder cost protections in the Building Safety Act 2022, are built around buildings over 11 metres or five storeys. Below that height, external wall risk is handled through the ordinary fire risk assessment route, on the principle that lower buildings give occupants more time and fire crews more reach.
New buildings and the 18 m line
For new residential buildings, the 2020 amendment to Approved Document B lowered the sprinkler provision trigger from 30 metres to 11, so new blocks of flats over 11 metres are expected to include sprinkler systems. That expectation is not retrospective: an existing 14 metre block does not need sprinklers retrofitted because of it, although an assessor can still recommend suppression where a specific risk profile justifies it.
What 11 metres does not do is make a building higher-risk in the statutory sense. That regime, with oversight by the Building Safety Regulator, safety case duties and accountable person roles, begins at 18 metres or seven storeys. For an 11 to 18 metre block the compliance picture is the Fire Safety Order, the 2022 Regulations and a competent, current fire risk assessment; how often that assessment should be revisited is covered under how often do you need a fire risk assessment UK.
FAQ
No. The higher-risk building regime under the Building Safety Act 2022 starts at 18 metres or seven storeys for occupied residential buildings. A block between 11 and 18 metres carries the fire door check duties and remediation scheme eligibility, but not safety cases or gateway approvals. The higher-risk building glossary entry draws the line precisely.
Not because of Approved Document B, which applies to new building work rather than existing stock. A fire risk assessment can still recommend suppression where the risk justifies it, for example in some sheltered housing, but there is no general retrofit duty at 11 metres. The Approved Document B page explains its scope.
The method is the same at any height, but above 11 metres the assessor will look for quarterly communal door check records, annual flat entrance door checks and progress on any external wall issues. Missing evidence becomes a significant finding with an action and an owner attached to it.
FRA Flow captures door check evidence and external wall findings on site, then drafts the report for reviewer sign-off. Built around UK housing duties.
