Aipedia: Principal designers and building safety

AI review of fire strategies

Aipedia, by the Apex broking team · Last reviewed 2026-10-27

AI can compare a design against its fire strategy and flag conflicts, but it only checks what it can see. For principal designers, a missed fire safety conflict meets the most restricted part of PI cover and a long limitation period.

Part of: AI in principal design and building safety

In short

Principal designers use AI to summarise fire strategies and check drawings and models against them. Under Part 2A reg 11M the PD must coordinate design so it would comply, including Part B. AI comparison tends to miss subcontractor design outside the model, narrative conditions and late revisions. Fire safety cover may be restricted: ARB allows restricted cover in some cases and RICS cover on buildings of five storeys and above is negligence-only. Building Safety Act section 135 also lengthened limitation for Defective Premises Act claims.

How AI is used to review fire strategies

A fire strategy sets the assumptions the rest of the design must respect: evacuation approach, compartmentation, smoke control, fire service access and structural fire resistance. PDs are using AI tools to summarise long strategies, extract the design requirements into checklists and compare drawings or models against them, flagging where a door, wall or riser conflicts with the strategy.

Building services engineers use similar tools for fire and smoke systems. For the PD, the cross-check is a coordination task under Part 2A. See the AI for principal designers overview for other PD uses of AI.

The duties that apply

Part 2A reg 11M: the PD must coordinate design work so the design would comply if built, including Part B (fire safety).
Reg 11K: each designer, including the fire engineer, must ensure its design would comply and report concerns to the PD.
SI 2023/909 Schedule 1 para 5: on HRB applications, the fire and emergency file must cover the building safety risks considered, design measures, evacuation, fire service access and a compliance report.

The CROSS-UK Report 1554 panel said AI tools are not known to be capable of engineering judgement, a point that applies equally to fire engineering.

What can go wrong

Illustrative scenario. A PD uses AI to compare the architectural model with the fire strategy for a residential building. The tool checks compartment wall locations and fire door positions and reports no conflicts. It does not check cavity barrier locations in the external wall build-up, because these are shown only in a façade subcontractor's details outside the model. The omission is found during a later inspection, after the cladding is installed.

Other missed conflicts include:

a smoke ventilation shaft reduced in a later services revision;
a change of use on one floor that alters the evacuation assumptions;
structural fire resistance periods applied to the wrong elements;
strategy conditions buried in narrative text that a checklist does not capture.

Treat AI comparison as a first pass, then review the strategy assumptions with the fire engineer. See AI compliance checks for PDs.

Fire safety exclusions and the limitation tail

Fire safety is an area where PD cover may be limited. ARB's PII guidance allows aggregate or restricted fire safety and cladding cover only after reasonable efforts to find full cover. The RICS PII requirements make cover for fire safety on buildings of five storeys and above negligence-only, with a 1 July 2024 retroactive date. See fire safety and cladding exclusions in PI.

Building Safety Act section 135 set a 15-year limitation period for Defective Premises Act claims, and 30 years for section 1 claims that accrued before 28 June 2022. The 30-year period mainly affects historic work; AI-assisted work done now falls under the 15-year period for those claims, which is still long. PI is claims-made, so the policy in force when a claim is made usually responds, subject to its fire safety terms. Apex's note on the section 135 limitation period explains more.

Practical controls

Extract strategy requirements with the fire engineer, not from the AI summary alone.
List which elements the AI comparison covers and which sit outside the model.
Recheck after every design revision that touches fire safety.
Keep the fire and emergency file consistent with the strategy (see AI in Gateway 2 applications).
Record the reasoning behind each resolved conflict.
Keep source strategies, not summaries, in the golden thread (see AI and golden thread information).

How Apex helps

Apex arranges PI for principal designers. A broker can explain how your fire safety terms, retroactive date and aggregate limits would apply to a fire strategy coordination claim.

Sources

Frequently asked

Can AI confirm a design matches the fire strategy?

It can flag conflicts in what it can see, usually the model. It may miss subcontractor design, narrative conditions and late revisions. The PD should treat its output as a first pass and review the strategy assumptions with the fire engineer.

Why may fire safety PI be restricted?

Fire safety claims can be large and long-tailed. ARB permits aggregate or restricted fire safety cover after reasonable efforts to find full cover, and RICS cover on buildings of five storeys and above is negligence-only with a 1 July 2024 retroactive date.

Does the 30-year limitation period apply to current work?

Section 135 applies 30 years only to Defective Premises Act section 1 claims that accrued before 28 June 2022. For later work the period for those claims is 15 years, which is still a long exposure.

Check your PI covers how you use AI

Tell us about your firm and the work you do. A broker will review how your current PI treats AI-assisted work, or arrange new cover. No fee for a quote. Or call 0117 325 0027.

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Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. This page is general information about how AI is used in the profession and how insurance may respond. It is not legal, regulatory or insurance advice on your circumstances, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.