Why They Matter More Now
Fire strategies have moved from "good practice for complex buildings" to a central, non-negotiable document across most of the built environment. The informal safety net is gone, competence is now defined, and the standards are tightening.
What a Fire Strategy Is
A design-stage document demonstrating how a building meets Part B of the Building Regulations 2010 - means of escape, internal fire spread, external fire spread, and fire service access. It covers compartmentation, detection, smoke control, structural protection, and active systems.
It is not a fire risk assessment. One is forward-looking design evidence; the other is a live management document for an occupied building. Both are required. Neither replaces the other.
What's Changed
The law hasn't changed. Part B has been in force since 2010. What's changed is everything around it:
Building control - could informally steer or sketch solutions. Now: checks compliance only. Rejects, doesn't fix.
Competence - "competent" was undefined. Now: BS 8674:2025 defines three tiers.
Higher-risk buildings - fire strategy was good practice. Now: mandatory at Gateway 2 and 3.
Fire risk assessments - written FRA only for 5+ employees. Now: all FRAs must be written (s156, October 2023).
Approved Document B - relatively flexible. Now: under revision, becoming more prescriptive across staged amendments in 2025, 2026, and 2029.
The person who authors the fire strategy is the person who answers for it. Building control sign-off doesn't shift that liability.
BS 9999: The Fire Engineering Framework
For buildings where AD B's prescriptive tables don't fit cleanly - extended travel distances, phased evacuation, sprinkler-compensated design, mixed-use, complex layouts - BS 9999:2017 provides the structured, risk-based methodology.
It allows trade-offs between measures, provided overall risk is demonstrably managed. A fire strategy structured around BS 9999 is the strongest evidence of a considered design for non-residential and complex buildings.
A major revision is in development. Consultation expected Q2–Q3 2027, publication 2028. The 2017 edition remains in force until then.
Competence: BS 8674:2025
In force since 31 August 2025. Three tiers, each matched to building risk:
Foundation - simple, low risk. Small offices, single-let retail, basic warehouses.
Intermediate - moderate complexity. Hotels, HMOs, public venues, mixed-occupancy buildings.
Advanced - high risk, complex. Care homes, hospitals, large multi-occupancy residential.
Each tier requires evidenced Skills, Knowledge, Experience, and Behaviours — not just a qualification. Recognised registers: BAFE SP205, IFE, IFSM NFRAR.
The Responsible Person's duty to appoint a "competent" person now has a benchmark. Article 9A (explicit competence duty) is on the statute book but not yet commenced.
What This Means by Risk Tier
Higher-risk buildings (18 m+ / 7+ storeys, 2+ residential units): Fire strategy is a mandatory Gateway 2 submission. CEng + IFE/IMechE expected. Part of the Golden Thread of information.
Medium-risk (the largest volume): Not a separate statutory submission, but building control requires design-stage evidence of Part B compliance. Where AD B doesn't fit, BS 9999 is the framework. The Intermediate competence tier applies. This is where most gaps are being caught - and where enforcement is landing.
Low-risk: Simple single-occupancy commercial may not need a separate strategy document. But written FRA is now mandatory, and the Foundation tier sets the competence floor.
The Bottom Line
The standard of care is moving in one direction only. A properly authored fire strategy, produced by a person whose competence matches the building's risk profile, is no longer optional for anything beyond the simplest premises. And the cost of having that conversation at design stage is a fraction of the cost of the one after the steel's up or after an enforcement notice.