Planning Gateway 1 came into force for planning applications made from 1 August 2021, introduced by the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure and Section 62A Applications) (England) (Amendment) Order 2021. It sits inside the planning system — not the Building Safety Act's building-control regime — and has two components:
Gateway 1 addresses fire safety as it relates to land-use planning: site layout, separation, access. It does not assess the building's detailed compliance with Part B of the Building Regulations, and it does not substitute for the Gateway 2 assessment that follows.
The trigger is development involving a relevant building: a building containing two or more dwellings or educational accommodation that is at least 18 metres in height (measured from ground level to the top floor surface, excluding rooftop plant) or has 7 or more storeys (excluding storeys below ground; mezzanines count where their internal floor area is at least 50% of the largest above-ground storey).
A fire statement must accompany a planning application for:
It must relate to the whole development site, not just the relevant building — including impact on surrounding buildings and access to and around the site.
No fire statement is required for outline planning applications, section 73 applications, or material changes of use where the building will cease to be a relevant building.
The statement must be completed on the form published by the Secretary of State (or a form to similar effect) with the required author and declaration information. The core planning-stage content covers:
| Requirement | In practice |
|---|---|
| Fire safety principles, concepts and approach | The design philosophy applied to each building in the development. |
| Site layout | Separation, orientation and arrangement of buildings on the site. |
| Emergency vehicle access | Fire service access routes around and to the site. |
| Water supplies for firefighting | Hydrants and firefighting water provision. |
| Consultation | What consultation on fire safety has been undertaken, and what account was taken of it. |
| Local policy | How fire-safety policies in relevant local development documents have been taken into account. |
Industry guidance notes that the prescribed form also draws out design particulars such as the schedule of uses and provisions relevant to evacuation — reflecting the statement's role as the scheme's first public fire-safety position.
Where an application involves, develops or sits within the curtilage of a relevant building, the local planning authority must consult the regulator before granting planning permission, and the regulator provides specialist fire safety advice to the authority. Check the regulator’s current pre-application advice arrangements before relying on that service or its charging terms.
The practical consequence: fire safety enters the project record at planning, with a regulator-consulted position, months before any Gateway 2 submission exists.
Nothing in law requires the Gateway 1 fire statement and the Gateway 2 fire and emergency file to match line for line — but the regime reads them as one story:
The continuity point is practice, drawn from how the gateways interlock — not a statutory cross-reference test. But teams that treat Gateway 1 as a planning formality routinely pay for it again at Gateway 2.
Use an author with suitable fire-safety expertise and complete the author and declaration sections of the published form. In practice, the author should work with the design team.
No. Gateway 1 is a planning-stage consultation on fire-safety matters relevant to land use; Gateway 2 is a full building-control assessment. But a statement aligned with the evolving design materially reduces later friction.
No — outline applications are exempt, as are section 73 applications and material changes of use that stop the building being a relevant building.
The Gateway 1 'relevant building' test: 18 metres or more (to the top floor surface, excluding rooftop plant) or 7+ storeys (excluding below ground), containing two or more dwellings or educational accommodation — close to, but framed differently from, the Gateway 2 HRB definition.
No. The gateway regime described here applies to England's planning system.
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Discuss a readiness review →This article is general guidance and not legal or building-control advice. Regulatory references reflect the position at 13 September 2026.