Fire Statements for Planning Applications (Planning Gateway One)

A fire statement is a standalone fire-safety document that must be submitted with a planning application in England for a development involving a building of 18 metres or more, or 7 or more storeys, containing two or more dwellings or educational accommodation. Required since 1 August 2021 under “planning gateway one”, it sets out the fire-safety design principles at planning stage. It is not the full fire strategy, that comes later. SustainPlan arranges fire statements across England and Wales through a network of chartered fire engineers.

Send your scheme drawings and planning timetable for a fixed-fee fire statement quote.

What is a fire statement?

A fire statement is a short, structured statutory document submitted to the local planning authority (LPA), the council department that decides planning applications, alongside the planning application itself. It is a requirement of planning gateway one, the first of three building-safety gateways. Gateway one is a planning-system requirement introduced in August 2021, ahead of the Building Safety Act 2022, which created gateways two and three. It was made by inserting article 9A into the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015, and it applies in England only.

The fire statement is deliberately concise and principles-based: government guidance expects it on the published form, focused on the fire-safety principles of the design rather than the full engineering detail. It should be prepared by someone competent in fire safety, in practice a fire engineer, because the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is a statutory consultee on the application and advises the council before permission is granted. Since 27 January 2026 the BSR has been a standalone non-departmental public body sponsored by MHCLG, and SI 2026/20 named it as the gateway-one statutory consultee.

Fire statement vs fire strategy, the distinction this page exists to make. A fire statement is a short planning-stage document: it tells the planning authority the fire-safety principles of the scheme (site access for fire appliances, water supplies, evacuation approach, materials principles) so fire safety is considered before permission is granted. A fire strategy is the full design-stage document: the detailed engineering demonstration, report and drawings, that the built design complies with the Building Regulations, submitted later to building control. For a higher-risk building in England it is the fire and emergency file that must be included in the building control approval application (Gateway 2) and granted before building work starts. The statement comes first and is brief; the strategy comes second and is the substance. One does not replace the other.

Who needs a fire statement: and when?

National rule (England only): any planning application for development that involves a building of 18 metres or more, or 7 or more storeys, containing two or more dwellings or educational accommodation (whether building it, or development within its curtilage) must include a fire statement. This has applied since 1 August 2021. Wales has no planning gateway one; Welsh schemes follow the Welsh planning and building-safety regime.

London, Policy D12: the London Plan goes further. Policy D12 requires all development proposals to address fire safety, and requires a fire statement (prepared by a suitably qualified person) for major schemes more widely than the national high-rise rule: so in London, expect to need one on schemes that would escape the national threshold. Check your borough’s validation list; we can confirm for your site.

When in the process: the fire statement is submitted with the planning application, on the relevant form, as one of the validation documents.

What happens if it is missing?

The fire statement is a validation requirement in England. If a relevant application is submitted without one, the LPA can, and routinely does, refuse to validate the application, so the clock never starts and the scheme sits in limbo until the statement is provided. A weak or generic statement can also draw an adverse response from the Building Safety Regulator as statutory consultee, which is far harder to unwind at committee than to avoid up front. It is cheap insurance on a high-rise scheme: get it written properly, once, before submission.

What must a fire statement contain?

Prepared on the published form and kept proportionate, a fire statement typically covers, as principles:

The building and its use: height, storeys, residential mix.

Construction principles, the approach to materials and external wall construction.

Means of escape and evacuation strategy, the intended evacuation approach and features that support it.

Access and facilities for firefighting: how fire appliances reach the site, and firefighting features.

Water supplies for firefighting.

Consultation and competence, who prepared the statement and their qualifications.

It does not need the full engineering analysis: that is the later fire strategy; referencing an emerging strategy is good practice, duplicating it is not.

How it works: our 5-step process

Enquiry and quote. Send the site plan, scheme drawings and the planning timetable. We confirm whether the England-wide gateway-one rule or the London Plan’s Policy D12 applies and give you a fixed-fee quote.

Scheme review. The fire engineer reviews the proposals and identifies the fire-safety principles the statement must establish.

Statement drafted on the required form: concise, principles-based, and consistent with the emerging design.

Statement issued ready to submit with the planning application.

Consultation support. If the Building Safety Regulator or the LPA raises comments, we respond and revise so the application keeps moving.

How much does a fire statement cost?

Fire statements are quoted on a fixed fee. Because they are concise, principles-based documents, a fire statement typically costs less than a full fire strategy: the drivers are scheme size, whether the design is settled, and whether the same engineer will later produce the fire and emergency file for the building control approval application.

Table: Fire statement fee drivers by engagement type (UK, 2026)

Fire statement vs fire strategy: at a glance

The short version: the fire statement is a brief planning-stage document of principles, and the fire strategy is the full design-stage engineering demonstration that follows it.

Table: Fire statement vs fire strategy (England, 2026)

Validity and turnaround

The statement reflects the scheme as submitted; if the proposals change materially before determination, it should be updated. Turnaround depends on scheme size and design maturity.

Our fire strategy services

Fire Strategy · Fire Strategy Report · Fire Strategy Plan · Fire Strategy Drawings · Fire Safety Strategy · Fire Strategy Consultant · Retrospective Fire Strategy · Fire Engineer.

Who we work with

Developers and housebuilders promoting high-rise residential schemes, architects and planning consultants assembling application packages, and London applicants caught by Policy D12.

Why choose us

Chartered fire engineers, every statement arranged through a network of chartered fire engineers.

One team, statement to strategy: the same network can carry the scheme from gateway one through the Gateway 2 fire strategy, keeping the two consistent.

Fixed fees and validation-ready documents.

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, London especially relevant here.)

Get a fixed-fee quote

Send your scheme drawings and planning timetable for a fixed-fee fire statement quote. Send everything through the enquiry form.