Our Regional Design Lead for London, Josephine Neill, was selected by Construction Management as one of a small group of experts to speak in a webinar on fire safety compliance for Gateway 2. Here, she shares the key themes from her session.

Get it right first time

Gateway 2 requires a higher level of design certainty before construction begins. For high-risk buildings (HRBs), teams must be clear on responsibilities, coordinate designs early and resolve assumptions before they become risks on site.

To significantly reduce risk within design on a HRB project, we prioritise:

• • Clear design responsibilities agreed by all parties before work begins
  • Competent designers and subcontractors with skills and experience related to buildings with similar typology, scale and constraints
  • A robust, compliant fire strategy with no unresolved assumptions
  • A coordinated, constructable MEP design, with clear lines of responsibility for all interfaces
  • A change-control process that reflects the true programme impact of Stage 4 changes
  • A clear process for demonstrating design compliance with Building Regulations.

De-risk MEP coordination

Projects are frequently presented as fully coordinated by clients and their design teams. However, detailed reviews can reveal important gaps, particularly around firestopping, builders work and service interfaces.

To address this, McLaughlin & Harvey has developed “21 steps to builders work coordination,” a process used to assess tender information and establish the true extent of outstanding coordination work.

Clear, practical information is essential to ensure design intent can be delivered effectively. This includes input from site teams and supply-chain partners to ensure design information translates into construction.

De-risk responsibility gaps

Complex projects sometimes include non-standard fire details that product information alone cannot resolve. Identify these details early and assign clear ownership for resolving them.

Design teams should maintain visibility of unresolved details, potential fire engineering judgements and any third-party testing requirements. Early review and collaboration help prevent these issues from becoming programme or compliance risks later in the project.

Challenging assumptions about existing buildings

Unverified assumptions about existing buildings can significantly affect fire strategy, programme, and cost. Any assumptions affecting compliance should be tracked, tested and resolved as early as possible, not carried into Stage 4 as an unresolved contractor risk.

To summarise, Gateway 2 demands greater certainty before construction starts. Achieving this requires earlier coordination, clearer responsibilities and a shared commitment to resolving ambiguity before it becomes a safety, programme or cost issue.

Read Construction Management’s webinar coverage here: “Early engagement key to Gateway 2 applications, say experts.”