Why Early Fire Strategy Input Saves Time and Money

The Economics of Early Fire Engineering

Fire engineering is consistently one of the last specialisms to be appointed on building projects, yet the decisions made by fire engineers at early design stages have a disproportionately large impact on construction cost, programme, and design quality. The cost of resolving fire safety issues at planning or building control stage — let alone during construction — is a fraction of the cost of addressing them at concept design, but the reverse is rarely appreciated until the damage is done.

Where the Cost Savings Come From

Early fire engineering input generates cost savings in several ways:

• Avoiding redesign — fire safety problems identified at RIBA Stage 2 are resolved by adjusting the design concept. The same problems identified at Stage 4 require costly redesign of drawings already produced, coordination already completed, and sometimes procurement already commenced.
• Optimising sprinkler trade-offs — the presence of sprinklers allows significant relaxations in prescriptive fire safety requirements, including increased travel distances, reduced compartment sizes, and alternative means of escape configurations. A fire engineer who understands these trade-offs from the outset can design a more efficient building. One appointed late has no opportunity to incorporate these optimisations.
• Preventing Gateway 2 delays — for higher-risk buildings, inadequate fire safety documentation at Gateway 2 means the BSR will not pass the gateway and construction cannot commence. Each week of delay has a direct cost. Well-prepared Gateway 2 submissions, developed from a comprehensive fire strategy, are more likely to pass within the statutory 8-week assessment period.
• Avoiding cladding specification errors — external wall materials for buildings over 18 metres must comply with regulation 7(2). A fire engineer involved in the design from Stage 2 will flag non-compliant materials at specification stage. One appointed after the cladding has been procured or installed can only document the problem — and potentially specify costly remediation.

Case Examples of Late Fire Engineering Cost

Common examples of costs that arise from late fire engineering appointment:

• A residential tower designed with a single staircase, where a fire engineer appointed at Stage 4 concludes that two staircases are required. Cost of redesign: significant floor area loss, structural redesign, MEP redesign, revised planning and building control submissions.
• A mixed-use development where travel distance limits are exceeded in the commercial ground floor. Identified at Stage 2: solved by adjusting the core position. Identified at Stage 4: requires reconfiguration of the entire ground floor plan.
• A high-rise development where the external wall insulation system does not comply with regulation 7(2). Identified at specification stage: alternative product selected at no additional cost. Identified post-installation: cladding stripped and replaced.

The Gateway 2 Programme Risk

For developers of higher-risk buildings, Gateway 2 programme risk is now one of the most significant risks on any project. The BSR's 8-week statutory assessment period sounds manageable, but applications that are incomplete or contain inadequate fire safety documentation are returned, restarting the clock. Some applications have taken many months to pass Gateway 2 as a result of iterative rejections and resubmissions.

The most reliable way to reduce Gateway 2 programme risk is to commission a comprehensive, well-structured fire strategy from a chartered fire engineer at RIBA Stage 2 and to develop and refine it through the design process so that the Gateway 2 submission is a polished, complete document rather than a rushed one.

Choosing the Right Time to Appoint

For residential developments of any scale, fire engineering appointment should be included in the initial professional team alongside the architect, structural engineer, and MEP consultant. For commercial developments, the same principle applies. The question is not whether fire engineering input is needed — it always is — but whether to get it at a point when it can shape the design or only after the design is fixed.