Fire safety in Reading
Reading is the Thames Valley's largest town and a major office and university centre. Its skyline has changed quickly, with new residential towers and mixed-use schemes around the station and town centre, alongside purpose-built student accommodation, office buildings and the council's own high-rise blocks – for which Reading Borough Council has published fire safety strategies.
That mix means a wide range of fire safety duties. Owners of taller residential buildings may have Building Safety Act responsibilities as accountable persons, while employers and landlords across the town have duties under the Fire Safety Order, enforced by Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service.
What Reading clients ask us for
- Fire strategy reports for new developments and refurbishments, including fire statements for planning (Gateway 1) and input to Gateway 2 applications for higher-risk buildings
- Retrospective fire strategies for existing towers where the design strategy is missing or out of date
- FRAEWs to PAS 9980:2026 and EWS1 forms for blocks with cladding or balconies
- Safety case report support for principal accountable persons
- Fire risk assessments and fire door inspections for residential, student and commercial buildings
Taller buildings and the Building Safety Act
If your building is at least 18 metres or 7 storeys with two or more homes, it is a higher-risk building. As well as registration and the golden thread, the principal accountable person must prepare a safety case report explaining how fire spread and structural risks are managed. A current fire strategy, a competent FRAEW and evidence that compartmentation and fire doors are maintained are central to that – see our safety case report service.
Student and commercial buildings
Purpose-built student accommodation and offices bring their own challenges – high occupancy, frequent turnover and complex alarm and evacuation arrangements. Our fire risk assessments focus on how the building is actually managed, not just its fixed provisions.
Services in Reading
Every service we offer is available for buildings in Reading:
- Fire strategy reports – for new builds, refurbishments and changes of use
- Retrospective fire strategies – for existing buildings with a missing or outdated strategy
- Gateway One fire statements – fire statements for planning applications
- FRAEW / PAS 9980 – external wall fire risk appraisals to PAS 9980:2026
- EWS1 forms – EWS1 assessments for sales and remortgages
- Cladding remediation support – funding, project management and oversight of remediation
- Safety case reports – for higher-risk residential buildings
- Building Safety Act support – gap analysis, golden thread and Gateway support
- Fire safety due diligence – for acquisitions, disposals and refinancing
- Peer review & expert witness – independent reviews of FRAEWs, strategies and safety cases
- Fire risk assessments – for flats, HMOs, offices and commercial premises
- Fire door inspections – quarterly and annual checks with remedial schedules
- Compartmentation surveys – fire stopping, cavity barriers and risers
- Premises information boxes – floor plans, building plans and PIB contents for 18m+ blocks
- EV, solar & battery fire risk – fire risk from EV charging, solar PV and batteries
Nearby areas
We also work across the rest of Berkshire and London: