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At »Ê¼Ò»ªÈË, the safety of our students and staff is a top priority. We appreciate your support in ensuring that »Ê¼Ò»ªÈË halls are a safe and secure environment to live in.

This page was updated on 14 August 2024

If you are a student living in one of our nominated Unite or urbanest HallsÌýthere is further information regarding their regulations located on their fire safety page.Ìý

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All UCL halls have extensive and robust fire safety arrangements in place. These measures have been developed in consultation with the UCL Fire Safety team and include:Ìý

• Comprehensive fire risk assessments every threeÌýyears. The findings of the fire risk assessments for your building are available from the UCL Fire Team.Ìý
• A fire safety handbook which details the fire and emergency arrangements and management arrangements to deal with incidents.
• Liason and engagement with the local fire authority.
• Preventative and protective measures to mitigate the impact of fire in the building.

Protective measures

• Fire compartmentation and fire doors to provide barriers to fire spread and protect escape routes.Ìý
• Comprehensive fire detection and alarm systems provide building occupants with early warning of fire to assist with building evacuation.ÌýÌý
• Firefighting equipment – Multipurpose water mist extinguishers are provided throughout the escape routes suitable for classes of fire relevant to your building. Fire blankets are also provided in kitchens.ÌýÌý

Preventative measures

• Provision of information, instruction, and training, including student induction programmes.Ìý
• Student regulations which prohibit hazardous equipment and activities - you can find more information in your General Regulations for your hall via the Fees, guidance and payment webpage.
• Termly room checks to confirm compliance with the student regulations.
• Building inspections and management arrangements - with a fire risk assessment review taking place annually, alongside local management weekly inspections.
• Inspection and maintenance of equipment installed within the halls. Ìý
• Routine functional testing of fire precautions.Ìý
• Termly fire evacuation drills.Ìý
• Clearly marked evacuation routes and smoke ventilation systems.

Students with Additional Requirements

Students with hearing, vision and/or mobility differences will be asked to complete a Fire Evacuation Plan shortly after arriving in the Halls.

All UCL Accommodation is equipped with hearing impaired fire alarms (DMS/HFAS/VAD). Specific information about UCL Halls is available on the individual hall webpages in the building accessibility table.

If any students require fire safety information in an alternative format, they can contact the Accommodation Office.

ÌýAll UCL Accommodation residents must complete the mandatory fire safety activities after their arrival.Ìý

• Complete the Fire Safety Familiarisation Induction on the
• Attend a fire safety walk in their building

These mandatory activities ensure that all residents are familiar with their building, what to do if there is a fire and how to evacuate inÌýan emergency. Failure to complete these activities will put the resident at risk of receiving a fine.

More information on UCL’s fire safety can be found on our Safety Services webpages.Ìý

Fire Safety guidance for students

• Smoking, including E-Cigarettes, is notÌýpermitted in you accommodation (or any UCL premises)Ìý
• The use of candles, incense, fireworks, hookah and shisha pipes, Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) are not permitted in your accommodationÌý
• Always, switch off all electric appliances and lights when you leave your room and at nightÌý
• Do not use paper light shades or paper masking on any light fittingÌý
• Do not use plastic or wicker waste paper bins and empty waste paper bins every dayÌý
• Never hang washing on or near heaters and do not obstruct in any way the airflow around all types of heatersÌý
• Never leave the kitchen when you are cooking food and be especially careful with hot fat and oilÌý
• Do not cook or use cooking equipment in your bedrooms and BBQ's are not permittedÌý
• The use of portable heating in your room is strictly forbiddenÌý
• Do not bring hazardous substances into your room even from laboratories or other UCL premisesÌý
• Do not store any items in escape route corridors and staircases
• Portable Light Electric Vehicles (PLEV’s) are prohibited from UCL space and accommodation, this includes; E-bikes, E-scooters, E-skateboards and E-unicycles, any found will be removed by security with immediate effect

Access your halls General Regulations via the Fees, guidance and payment webpage.

Fees, guidance and paymentÌý

Fire alarms

Fire Alarms are provided to give warning in case of fire, as smoke and fire can spread very quickly. Always leave the building on hearing the alarm (for more than a minute) in an orderly manner by the nearest available exit. Information to familiarise yourself withÌýyour escape routes and Fire Assembly Point can be found on the back of your bedroom and kitchen door.

To prevent accidental activation of smoke detectors:Ìý

• Do not cook (including toasters) in bedrooms and only use designated kitchens, keeping the fire doors closed at all timesÌý
• Do not use any spray under or near the smoke detectorÌý
• Do not use a hairdryer or hair straighteners under or near the smoke detectorÌý
• Please ensure that hair straighteners are unplugged when not in useÌý
• Be careful with the positioning of combustible materials near electric pointsÌý
• Smoking, including E-Cigarettes, is not permitted in your accommodationÌý
• Candles and aromatherapy burners are not permittedÌý
• Humidifiers are not permitted in your accommodationÌý

Any person found interfering in any way whatsoever with fire-fighting equipment or alarms, other than for proper use, will be fined and necessary action taken as appropriate. Frivolous discharge of fire extinguishers will be charged to the individual or to all residents of the hall if the individual responsible is not known.Ìý

Building Safety Act

The following UCL Accommodation buildings come under The Building Safety Act 2022, which sets safety requirements for buildings that are at least 18m or 7 storeys high:

• One Pool Street
• James Lighthill House
• New Hall
• Schafer House
• Goldsmid House
• John Dodgson HouseÌý
• Ian Baker House
• Astor College
• Frances Gardner House

»Ê¼Ò»ªÈËill be developing Building Safety Cases for these buildings to detailÌýhow the building is kept safe.Ìý

If you have concerns about your building safety in any of the Student Accommodation buildings please contact your hall managers in the first instance, by emailing your hall team.

Residents Engagement Strategy

1.0ÌýÌý ÌýIntroduction & Purpose

Following the introduction of the Building Safety Act 2022, the Accountable Person is required to proactively engage and communicate with residents through a mandated residents’ engagement strategy, to ensure that residents are involved in decisions about their building.

The purpose of this strategy is to outline the arrangements that are in place to ensure UCL students living in our student accommodation buildings understand the Building & Fire Safety arrangements and are provided with the knowledge and information to support their own safety and the safety of others.

This strategy and any subsequent revisions will be shared with student representatives of the UCL hall community for their consultation and feedback for a period of 3 weeks. Any feedback received will be considered for inclusion in the document. Ìý

1.1ÌýÌý ÌýCore Messages & Audience.

The core messages of the strategy are;Ìý

• Fire safety training and knowledge saves lives. Providing fire safety training and information as part of our training and induction processes can stop fires happening in the first place.
• Fire safety is everyone’s responsibility, each of us must play a role in keeping our community safe.
• Ensuring everyone knows how to reduce the risk of fire occurring, how to raise an alarm in the event of a fire and what to do in the event of a fire alarm sounding.Ìý

As part of this UCL have considered the audience, the information required and the engagement channels to be used.

1.2 ÌýÌý ÌýUndergraduates and Taught Postgraduate Students

UCL Accommodation has thousands of students moving in each year.

Before students arrive at »Ê¼Ò»ªÈË, they are provided with an electronic copy of the UCL Accommodation General Regulations which include in Section 14 - Prohibited Items and Section 15 – Fire Safety Advice. Students agree to comply with the UCL Accommodation General Regulations when entering into their accommodation licence with UCL.Ìý

Students will also receive a pre-arrival briefing which includes an on-line induction including fire safety.Ìý

When a student arrives at their hall of residence, they are required to complete a fire safety induction process and attend a Fire Safety Walk around their hall. Students who have not completed their Fire Safety Walk or induction receive follow up emails from their Hall Team until the full process is complete. Students are instructed to attend the Hall Welcome Talk covering fire safety information. During settling in period an email newsletter centers on fire safety information.

Fire Action Notices are provided in each room as well as a Home Booklet that provides more details on fire safety. Ìý

1.3ÌýÌý ÌýHotel guests / summer schools

During the summer some of the UCL Accommodation buildings are used for hotel style accommodation for individual guests or summer schools.

Fire Safety Information for the building and fire action notices are provided in each room.Ìý

1.4ÌýÌý ÌýStudent with Additional Requirements

UCL Accommodation welcomes and supports applications from students with additional requirements, and will support them to ensure they are allocated rooms that meet their needs.Ìý

Our communications will take into account students with diverse needs.Ìý

For those students whose first language is not English, fire safety notices are available in other languages and available via the .

During pre-application the accommodation office speaks to students to make sure their needs can be supported. This can include a tour of the site and suitability of accommodation for requirements. Information gathered feeds into the application process and is uploaded on the student record in StarRez, UCL’s resident and property management platform to oversee all resident bookings and securely store sensitive data.

After allocation of rooms students with additional requirements are contacted by the hall team, to explain to students the support available to them, they will work together to complete an Accommodation Risk Assessment to ensure that needs are recorded and met. Ìý

1.5 ÌýÌý ÌýComplaints or FeedbackÌý

The best way for UCL to make improvements is to hear what you have to say. If you wish to make a complaint about your experience within UCL Accommodation, you should take the following steps:

• Try to resolve the matter informally in consultation with the person who has caused the complaint.Ìý
• If you are unable to resolve the matter you should put your complaint in writing to the Accommodation Manager via .
• Any complaints or feedback will follow the complaints procedure.
• The full process is contained within the UCL Accommodation General Regulations found on the Fees, Guidance and Payment webpage.

1.6 ÌýÌý ÌýConsultation on building safety decisions

UCL plan for compliance with their duties of the Building Safety Act 2022 by ensuring pre-engagement with students ahead of arrival and taking up residence. This enables UCL to suitably consult incoming residents on resident engagement and the making of building safety decisions. Where building safety decisions will impact on residents during their time (other than urgent action works) then residents will have the opportunity to be consulted in advance. This pro-active contact will afford the residents the foresight of potential challenges and enable them to make comments during consultations and/or informed decisions on their specific residency at the building.

»Ê¼Ò»ªÈËill where practical complete significant building works outside of the term time, when a student accommodation building is unoccupied. Should building work be required during term time, students will be notified of the works in advance and their potential impact. If there is urgent action that is required to make a building safe i.e. due to fire damage or structural damage the affected students will be informed of the arrangements that will be put in place for them.Ìý

»Ê¼Ò»ªÈËill communicate with students via email, notice boards or digital screens, facebook and direct communications with UCL Accommodation Team.Ìý

Updates on construction works impacting UCL Accommodation will be published on the construction works webpageÌýas and when they become available to the UCL Accommodation Team.

Consideration will be given by the UCL Accommodation Team to the responses from students to ensure their concerns are addressed.Ìý

1.7ÌýÌý ÌýReview

»Ê¼Ò»ªÈËill review the Residents Engagement Strategy in accordance with legislative direction set out in Regulation 10 of The Higher-Risk Buildings (Management of Safety Risks) (England) Regulations 2023.

This strategy will be reviewed annually by Accommodation Leadership Team, feedback from students during the year will be considered when reviewing this strategy, as well as considering if the methods of engagement are suitable.Ìý

1.8ÌýÌý ÌýRecords

A record of the review undertaken will be kept.Ìý

Any feedback received during the year from students will be held in accordance with the UCL Accommodation Privacy Policies.
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