Glossary
Fire strategy.
The integrated approach to fire safety in a specific building, covering compartmentation, means of escape, detection and alarm, suppression, evacuation strategy and fire service access. Documented in a fire strategy report at design or major refurbishment.
What a fire strategy report covers.
A fire strategy report typically covers: the design assumptions about occupancy and use, the compartmentation strategy and the resistance periods of compartment boundaries, the means of escape design (route layouts, capacities, protection levels), the fire detection and alarm system specification, any active suppression measures (sprinklers, watermist), the evacuation strategy (stay-put, simultaneous, progressive horizontal), and the fire and rescue service access provisions. It explains why each design choice was made.
Why FRAs reference the fire strategy.
The FRA is asking whether the existing building still performs to the strategy intended at design. The fire strategy report tells the assessor what that intended performance was. Without it, the assessor is reverse-engineering the strategy from what they see on site, which is harder and more error-prone. Where the original fire strategy report cannot be located, the FRA records the position so the dutyholder can take steps to commission a retrospective fire strategy where appropriate.