Fire risk assessment in Hammersmith & Fulham

Fulham and Parsons Green are dominated by mansion blocks and Victorian terraces converted into flats, typically four to six storeys with a single staircase, many above ground-floor shops, cafés and restaurants along the Fulham Road and New King's Road. Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush combine similar Victorian conversion stock with larger post-war and more recent mixed-use developments, including White City's substantial regeneration around the former BBC site, which has added tall new residential towers. West Kensington and Baron's Court retain a number of large HMOs in converted period houses close to the universities and hospitals. Older estate blocks are found around Wormholt and White City.

Hammersmith & Fulham has operated additional licensing for HMOs in parts of the borough, and given the volume of converted HMO stock near the universities and hospitals, it is worth checking the current scheme boundary and conditions with the council directly before an application, as these are periodically reviewed and renewed. Ground-floor commercial premises below residential flats can also affect licensing categorisation, which we flag where relevant.

Fulham, Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush all sit within ULEZ, and on-street parking is controlled throughout the day near the main high streets, so we generally allow for pay-and-display or a nearby car park. Ground-floor commercial tenants sometimes need coordinating separately from the residential managing agent to access shared risers or plant, which we arrange in advance where possible. White City's newer blocks are managed by professional on-site teams with detailed building information. Reports are delivered within 24 hours of the visit, and we regularly return to the same managing agents' Fulham and Hammersmith portfolios for annual reviews.

Fulham's residential streets around Parsons Green and Eel Brook Common are dominated by Victorian terraces converted into upper and lower maisonettes or two to three self-contained flats, a conversion pattern that predates any of today's fire safety guidance. The recurring issue is the lower ground-floor flat, which often relies on a single external door at the front and a small rear window or lightwell as its only alternative escape, and where a side-return kitchen extension has been added, that lightwell escape can end up boxed in entirely. We treat lower-ground flats as a distinct line item in these buildings rather than folding them into a generic communal-area assessment.

The regeneration around White City and Shepherd's Bush has introduced a run of new residential towers alongside the retained post-war estate blocks of the Old Oak and White City estates, giving assessors a genuine contrast between recently engineered fire strategies and older buildings that have been refurbished piecemeal over decades. Newer towers here tend to be sprinklered with a single protected core, so our focus is confirming lobby doors, smoke control dampers and communal signage match the design intent, while the older estate blocks need a closer look at whether fire doors replaced during past refurbishment programmes carry any certification at all.

Hammersmith's stretch along the river and the Broadway itself combine Victorian and Edwardian mansion blocks with mixed commercial-residential parades along King Street and the Fulham Palace Road, where flats sit above shops, restaurants and takeaways. Ground-floor kitchen extract ducting run through residential service risers is a common finding along these parades, as is fire separation between the commercial unit and the residential stairwell above that has been compromised by later shopfitting work. Riverside mansion blocks generally have a single grand staircase built for a different era, and confirming its current fire performance against modern expectations is usually the core of the assessment.

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, the freeholder, managing agent, landlord or employer must ensure a written fire risk assessment exists, is acted upon, and is reviewed at least annually. Buildings over 11 metres also require quarterly communal fire door checks, annual flat entrance door checks and wayfinding signage. We can deliver all of it in one visit.