Stay put or evacuate: what your building's fire strategy actually means

Ask the residents of a block of flats what they should do if there is a fire, and you often get three different answers in the same building. That is a problem, because the answer is not a matter of opinion. It is set by the building's fire strategy, and it is one of the most consequential things about how a building is designed and managed. It deserves to be understood rather than guessed at.

The two basic approaches 

Broadly, residential buildings follow one of two evacuation strategies. The first is "stay put," sometimes called defend in place. In a building designed for stay put, a fire in one flat should be contained within that flat for long enough for the fire service to deal with it, so residents elsewhere are safest staying where they are unless the fire or smoke directly affects them. The second is simultaneous evacuation, where everyone leaves when the alarm sounds, usually because the building is not, or is no longer, able to rely on containment.

Neither is inherently better. They are answers to a question about how the building is built and what condition it is in.

Why stay put exists

Stay put is not a relic and it is not negligence, despite how it is sometimes portrayed. It is built on compartmentation, the idea that walls, floors and doors are designed to hold a fire in the compartment where it starts. In a building where that compartmentation is sound, a full evacuation can actually create risk, sending elderly or less mobile residents down smoke-free stairs unnecessarily while firefighters are trying to come up them. Where the building performs as designed, stay put is a considered, evidence-based strategy, not a shortcut. 

When a building changes strategy

The difficulty comes when a building can no longer be sure its compartmentation holds. That might be because of the external wall construction, because of works that breached fire-resisting elements, or because a fire risk assessment has raised doubts. In those cases a building may move, often temporarily, to simultaneous evacuation. That shift usually brings interim measures, such as a common fire alarm where there was none, and sometimes a waking watch, until the underlying issue is resolved. This is a significant change in how the building operates, and it is not one to make, or reverse, casually.

The mistake to avoid 

The most dangerous position is a mismatch between the strategy on paper and what residents actually believe. A building on a stay put strategy where half the residents think they should evacuate, or an evacuate building where people assume they are safest indoors, is more dangerous than either strategy applied consistently. The strategy only works if it is communicated, understood and supported by the right systems and signage. Under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, giving residents clear fire safety instructions based on the building's strategy is a legal duty in every building with two or more flats, precisely because this confusion is so common and so dangerous.

What this means for whoever runs the building 

If you are responsible for a block, three questions matter. Do you know what your building's fire strategy is, and is that documented rather than assumed. Is the building actually capable of supporting that strategy, or has something changed that undermines it. And do your residents know what they are meant to do, in plain terms, in a way that matches the strategy the building is built for. If you cannot answer all three cleanly, that is worth addressing before it is tested.

How to approach it 

Changing or confirming a fire strategy is not a decision to take alone or lightly, and it is not one where you want advice from someone with remedial works to sell on the back of the answer. It should follow from a proper understanding of the building, its construction and its fire risk assessment. An independent adviser can help you understand what strategy your building is designed for, whether it still holds, and what to tell residents, without that judgement being coloured by what the follow-on contract is worth.

If you are unsure what your building's strategy is or whether it still stands, that is exactly the kind of question worth asking early. Feel free to reach out if you would like to talk this through: s.coogan@omnifire.co.uk