The Principal Designer plays a critical role in building fire safety, particularly under the UK’s post-Grenfell regulatory framework. Their importance lies in managing fire safety risks at the design stage, where many of the most significant and long-lasting risks are created or controlled.
If not properly considered and addressed during design, fire safety concerns can be extremely difficult and costly to fix later. As Principal Designer, our specialists identify risks at an early stage and support the team in helping to manage, minimise or mitigate those risks. Through enhanced accountability, safety and compliance, we proactively manage risk from both a Building Regulations and Construction Design and Management (CDM) perspective.
Our surveyors are registered with the Association for Project Safety (APS) and RICS and bring a robust, structured approach to managing design-stage fire and building safety risks. This includes careful consideration of external wall systems, fire strategies and the coordination of designers, to ensure that foreseeable risks are identified and managed. Our team has extensive experience of higher risk buildings (HRB), such as complex, multi occupied residential buildings.
Construction design and management legislation continues to evolve in response to lessons learned across the built environment, particularly in relation to fire safety. The CDM Regulations 2015 apply to all construction projects, from early concept through to completion, and place clear duties on those involved in design to protect the health, safety, and welfare of everyone affected by the works.
In this context, clients can be reassured that our comprehensive Principal Designer service embeds fire safety into a building at the outset and throughout the process, helping to protect life, support compliance, and prevent avoidable fire safety failures.
