The Fire Safety Order includes the common areas of flats and maisonettes, yet there is still a worrying degree of ignorance about this. Bob Williams sets out his concerns and asks whether the lettings industry is taking its responsibilities seriously enough.

A Court of Appeal decision to uphold a £400,000 fine imposed against retail giant New Look for breaches of fire safety obligations has no doubt left other industry players feeling a little hot under the collar, says Ron Reid of legal firm Shoosmiths.

In the light of this summer's tragedy at Lakanal House in London, the fire safety duties of social housing landlords have come under the spotlight. Susan Horridge and Gary Ekpenyoung examine the main legal requirements.

If you are responsible for specifying, inspecting or regulating fire resistant cabling for large or complex buildings, you should already be aware of BS 8519. But as Terry Journeaux says, there appears to be some confusion when it comes to interpreting exactly what the standard means

The recent publication of EN54-23, the new product standard for visual alarms, presents a challenge to the way in which these devices have been made and installed. Mark Thomson explains.

Nick Goddard examines the role of hold-open devices in providing convenience to building occupants while reducing wear and tear on fire doors

Urs A Ruferner describes the design, installation and maintenance of fire systems in six road tunnels housing new stretches of motorway in Switzerland.

Fire crews attending a large fire at a glass factory were faced 400 tonnes of molten glass on two floors, reaching temperatures of 1600 degrees C. Eion Doyle sets out the measures needed to effectively fight the fire while providing firefighter safety.

Fire engineered solutions need to embrace a building's use and management as well as its physical characteristics. Nick Troth and Andy Passingham examine this process using an innovative theatre design as a working example.

The Fire Safety Order includes the common areas of flats and maisonettes, yet there is still a worrying degree of ignorance about this. Bob Williams sets out his concerns and asks whether the lettings industry is taking its responsibilities seriously enough.

When considering life-safety systems such as smoke control, preventative maintenance is crucial and a legal requirement, says Will Perkins.

Are high rise residential blocks inherently less safe in a fire than their low-rise equivalents? Not if all design, construction, management and maintenance measures work as they should do, says Malcolm Kelly.

Smoke control systems may not be as high profile as other fire safety equipment but their proper design, installation and maintenance is essential, as Ian Doncaster explains.

The almost automatic response of many fire system designers when addressing the need for visual alarms is simply to complement sounders with flashing beacons. Often, however, this is an unsatisfactory or incomplete solution, says Don Scott.

Water mist systems are increasingly being considered and used for the fire protection of buildings in the UK, including commercial premises and as an alternative to sprinkler systems. However, the impact of design variables in the application of such systems is often not well understood...

With more than a thousand fires a year, prisons in England and Wales need very specific means to suppress fires and allow the safe but secure evacuation of cells. Kelvin Annable reports on some ground breaking research.

Guidance for fire safety in car parks is based on data on vehicles which are now decades old. Here we report on the findings of a three year government-sponsored project carried out by BRE to investigate the fire characteristics of modern vehicles and the potential fire spread hazard in car parks.