Practical fire safety for existing specialised housing and similar premises: BRIA

8. Consumer Assessment

The nature of the implementation of the recommendation is unlikely to impact on consumers within the UK or elsewhere in Europe. The following consumer assessment questions have been considered and it is felt unlikely that any new Guidance will have a significant impact on consumers:

• Does the Guidance affect the quality, availability or price of any goods or services in a market?
• Does the Guidance affect the essential services market, such as energy or water?
• Does the Guidance involve storage or increased use of consumer data?
• Does the Guidance increase opportunities for unscrupulous suppliers to target consumers?
• Does the Guidance impact the information available to consumers on either goods or services, or their rights in relation to these?
• Does the Guidance affect routes for consumers to seek advice or raise complaints on consumer issues?

Our view is that strengthening fire safety in specialised housing is service improvement for consumers (point 1). Given the Guidance is based on existing fire safety law and practice, for the remainder of the tests the answer is no.