Fire Strategy PlansFrom £445
How much does a fire strategy cost in London?
A fire strategy plan for a London loft, flat conversion or HMO costs our fixed £445, with no VAT charged. It puts the escape routes, the fire-resisting walls and doors and the alarm positions on one drawing, set against Approved Document B, and we say when the building is complex enough to need a fire engineer as well.
The short answer: one fixed fee, and a drawing building control can read
Our fire strategy plan costs £445. It shows every floor with the escape route from each room to a place of safety, the fire-resisting walls, doors and floors marked and specified, the positions of smoke and heat alarms and the standard they are designed to, and the escape windows checked against the minimum opening sizes.
A short written strategy goes with it, so building control can read the narrative against the drawings. Where the building is complex, we note that a fire engineer is needed and coordinate one, and the engineer's fee is agreed with you before they are appointed.
- Escape routes
The route from each room to a place of safety is traced on every floor.
- Fire resistance
Fire-resisting walls, doors and floors are marked and specified.
- Warning
Alarm positions are shown, with the standard they are designed to.
- Escape windows
Windows are checked against the minimum opening sizes.
What Approved Document B asks of a loft
Adding a storey is where a fire strategy earns its place. Where a new storey is added through conversion to create a storey above 4.5 metres, Approved Document B Volume 1 (paragraph 2.21) says the full extent of the escape route should be addressed and that fire-resisting doors (minimum E 20) and partitions (minimum REI 30) should be provided, upgrading existing doors where necessary (Approved Document B).
In an open-plan house that can mean new partitions to enclose the stair, which is a layout decision, not a detail. The same document offers an alternative of sprinkler protection to the open-plan areas, and part of the job is telling you what each option costs your layout.
Escape windows and alarms
Where a window is the escape route, paragraph 2.10 asks for an unobstructed openable area of at least 0.33 square metres, a minimum height of 450 mm and a minimum width of 450 mm, with the bottom of the openable area a maximum of 1100 mm above the floor. A window that is large on the drawing can fail on its opening, which is why the plan states the sizes.
For alarms, Approved Document B recommends a fire detection and alarm system of at least Grade D2 Category LD3 in dwellings, and MHCLG's guidance says a Grade D2 Category LD3 system is considered to be adequate for the purposes of Part B. The plan shows where each detector sits.
When it is a different regime
The Development Management Procedure Order asks for a fire statement with a planning application where the building contains two or more dwellings or educational accommodation and is 18 metres or more in height or contains 7 or more storeys. That is far above the loft or house conversion most of our clients ask about, and we say if your project is anywhere near it.
For an ordinary house, a fire strategy plan is a drawing for building control, not a planning document. It sits with your building regulations drawings; see our post on what they cost, and our flat conversion post for where escape routes decide the layout.
Where it fits
A fire strategy plan is most useful before the layout is fixed. If the route down from the loft has to run through the kitchen, you want to know before the builder moves a wall. Our fire strategy plans page shows the service.
If you are converting to an HMO, the licence plans and the fire plans overlap; our post on HMO licence floor plans explains the other half.
Sources
Every figure in this article, where it comes from and a link to the original.
- 4.5 metres: Approved Document B Volume 1 (2019 edition, 2026 online version) para 2.21: (source wording: "Where a new storey is added through conversion to create a storey above 4.5m"). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
- minimum REI 30: Approved Document B Volume 1 para 2.21(b): (source wording: "Fire resisting doors (minimum E 20) and partitions (minimum REI 30) should be provided"). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
- 0.33 square metres: Approved Document B Volume 1 para 2.10: emergency escape windows (source wording: "A minimum area of 0.33m2", "A minimum height of 450mm and a minimum width of 450mm", "a maximum of 1100mm above the floor"). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
- a Grade D2 Category LD3 system is considered to be adequate: MHCLG, Approved Document B: Fire safety frequently asked questions: (source wording: "a Grade D2 Category LD3 system is considered to be adequate"). www.gov.uk
- 18 metres or more in height or contains 7 or more storeys: DMPO 2015 art 9A(2)-(3): a fire statement is needed for a building containing two or more dwellings or educational accommodation where (source wording: "the building is 18 metres or more in height; or the building contains 7 or more storeys"). www.legislation.gov.uk
Questions people ask
Do I need a fire engineer?
Do I pay VAT on your fee?
Does it replace the building regulations drawings?
Can you tell me how much the doors will cost?
Photographs: Rohan Gangopadhyay (Unsplash License); William Dmytrow (Unsplash License).
Fire Strategy Plans: a fixed fee from £445
Read more on the fire strategy plans service page, or send your address below and we reply within one working day.
Fire Strategy Plans
from £445
Every price is the full fixed fee you pay. No VAT is charged. Council application fees are paid to the council separately.
What you get
- A plan of every floor showing the escape route from each room to a place of safety
- Fire-resisting walls, doors and floors marked and specified
- Positions of smoke and heat alarms, with the standard they are designed to
- Escape windows checked against the minimum opening sizes
- A short written strategy that building control can read against the drawings