Fire Safety Strategy for Planning and Building Regulations
A fire safety strategy is the document that sets out how fire safety is designed into a building (escape, containment, detection and fire-service access) to support a planning application and demonstrate compliance with the Building Regulations. “Fire safety strategy” and “fire strategy” describe the same document; this page focuses on the strategy prepared to support planning submissions. SustainPlan arranges fire safety strategies across England and Wales through a network of chartered fire engineers.
Send your drawings for a fixed-fee fire safety strategy quote.
What is a fire safety strategy?
A fire safety strategy is a design document that explains how a building keeps people safe from fire. The terms fire safety strategy and fire strategy are used interchangeably in practice: both mean the fire-safety design of a new or altered building, written to gain approval. This page is for people whose planning application needs a fire safety strategy or a fire statement to accompany it.
A fire safety strategy covers the same core design elements as any fire strategy: means of escape (routes, travel distances, protected stairs), compartmentation (fire-resisting separation), detection and warning, passive and active fire protection, structural fire resistance, and fire-service access: measured against Approved Document B (2019 edition as amended in England; Wales has its own edition) and the relevant British Standard (BS 9991:2024 residential, BS 9999:2017 non-residential, or a BS 7974:2019 engineered approach, supported by the PD 7974 series).
Not a fire risk assessment. A fire safety strategy is a design document for planning and building control. It is not a fire risk assessment, which is the separate legal assessment of an existing occupied building under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Planning and building control need the design document; occupied-building safety is a different duty.
Fire safety strategy for planning
Increasingly, planning authorities ask for fire-safety information up front. In England, a fire statement must accompany a planning application for development involving a building of 18 metres or more, or 7 or more storeys, containing two or more dwellings or educational accommodation: a requirement introduced in August 2021 through planning gateway one. A fire safety strategy provides the substance behind that statement: it shows the local planning authority that fire safety has been designed in from the start, not left to building control later. Getting the strategy right at planning stage avoids expensive redesign after permission is granted. Planning gateway one is an England-only requirement; Welsh applications follow the Welsh planning and building-safety regime.
When do you need a fire safety strategy?
Your planning application requires a fire safety strategy or a fire statement.
You are developing a residential building where fire-safety design must be evidenced at planning stage.
Building control needs the fire-safety design demonstrated for approval.
Your building is a higher-risk building in England (18m+ or 7+ storeys with 2+ homes) and needs the strategy as the fire and emergency file in the building control approval application (Gateway 2) under the Building Safety Act 2022.
A planning condition specifically asks for a fire safety strategy report.
How it works: our 5-step process
Send drawings and details (building use, height, stage). We return a fixed-fee quote.
Design review against Approved Document B (2019 edition as amended in England; separate Welsh edition) and the relevant British Standard.
Strategy prepared to support your planning submission (and building control where needed).
Report and drawings issued: a submission-ready fire safety strategy, with fire strategy drawings where required.
Support through determination, we respond to planning or building control queries and revise if the design changes.
How much does a fire safety strategy cost?
Fire safety strategies are quoted per project on a fixed fee, driven by building size and height, use, and whether the strategy is needed for planning, building control, or both: height and unit count are the biggest single drivers on residential schemes.
Table: Fire safety strategy fee drivers by project type (UK, 2026)
The regulation behind it: why now
Fire safety moved earlier in the English process in two steps. Planning gateway one (a planning-system requirement introduced in August 2021, ahead of the Building Safety Act 2022) brings fire-safety considerations into planning for relevant high-rise residential developments and requires a fire statement with the application. The Building Safety Act 2022 then created gateways two and three: for a higher-risk building, the building control approval application (Gateway 2) must include a fire and emergency file, the fire strategy, granted before building work starts, and the same file is needed again at completion (Gateway 3). All three gateways are England-only; Wales operates its own regime under the Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (Wales) Regulations 2025 (in force 1 July 2026) and the Building Safety (Wales) Act 2026, which sets a lower 11-metre or 5-storey threshold with local authorities as the building safety authorities. A fire safety strategy prepared early is the document that keeps a scheme moving through all of it.
Fire safety strategy vs fire strategy: is there a difference?
In everyday use, no, both terms mean the same fire-safety design document. You will see “fire strategy,” “fire safety strategy” and “fire strategy report” used for the same thing. We produce all of them. This page simply leads on the planning angle; the homepage covers the building-control and general picture, and the fire strategy report page covers the written deliverable in detail.
Validity and turnaround
The strategy stays valid while the building is built as designed; a design change means a revision. Turnaround depends on building size and complexity.
Our fire strategy services
Fire Strategy · Fire Strategy Report · Fire Strategy Plan · Fire Strategy Drawings · Fire Strategy Consultant · Retrospective Fire Strategy · Fire Statement · Fire Engineer.
Who we work with
Architects and planning consultants, developers and housebuilders, self-builders, and building owners who need a fire safety strategy to support a planning application or building control submission.
Why choose us
Chartered fire engineers, every strategy arranged through a network of chartered fire engineers.
Fixed fees and strategies written to support planning and building control.
Areas we cover
Across England and Wales, with particular coverage across Gloucestershire, Bristol, Somerset, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Greater London and South Wales (Cardiff, Newport, Caerphilly, Swansea, Bridgend, Torfaen). (Links to ALL county hubs.)
Get a fixed-fee quote
Send your drawings for a fixed-fee fire safety strategy quote. Send everything through the enquiry form.
Frequently asked questions
What is a fire safety strategy?
A fire safety strategy is the design document that sets out how a building keeps people safe from fire (escape routes, compartmentation, detection and fire-service access) to support a planning application and show compliance with the Building Regulations. It means the same thing as a fire strategy.
Is a fire safety strategy the same as a fire strategy?
In practice, yes, the terms are used interchangeably for the same fire-safety design document. This page focuses on the strategy prepared to support planning applications.
Do I need a fire safety strategy for planning?
In England, a planning application for development involving a building of 18 metres or more, or 7 or more storeys, containing two or more dwellings or educational accommodation must include a fire statement, and a fire safety strategy provides the design substance behind it. Other applications may require one through a local validation list or condition. Tell us the project and we will confirm what your application needs.
How much does a fire safety strategy cost?
It is quoted per project on a fixed fee, driven by the building’s size, height and use and whether it is for planning, building control or both. Send your drawings for a fixed-fee quote.
Is a fire safety strategy a fire risk assessment?
No. A fire safety strategy is a design document for planning and building control. A fire risk assessment is a separate legal assessment of an existing occupied building under the Fire Safety Order.
What is a fire statement in planning?
A fire statement accompanies an English planning application for development involving a building of 18 metres or more, or 7 or more storeys, containing two or more dwellings or educational accommodation, and sets out the fire-safety design principles. A fire safety strategy provides the detailed design behind that statement.
Get in touch
Send your drawings, get a fixed fee
Tell us about the building and what stage it has reached. Enquiries arriving in working hours are normally acknowledged the same day, with the fee following once the drawings have been read properly.
- We will tell you plainly if your project does not need one
- Fixed fee confirmed before any work starts
- Building control queries handled as part of the instruction
Everything routes through this form, so your enquiry reaches the engineer rather than a general mailbox.