Join us for the 3rd annual NHS Estates Fire Safety Forum.
Embedding competence-led fire safety in NHS estates.
The NHS Estates Fire Safety Forum returns on Wednesday 20 January 2027, hosted at the SDS Hub in London and streamed live via Teams. After two years of candid, sector-wide discussion, the 2027 forum arrives in the year that marks a decade since Grenfell — and turns to the question now facing every NHS Trust: not whether fire safety must be risk-based and competence-led, but how the sector proves it.
Building on a landmark year.
In January 2026, the forum brought over 100 fire safety professionals — NHS estates teams, fire officers, architects, contractors and industry leaders — to the SDS Hub, in person and online. The message was unambiguous: fire safety in healthcare must move beyond box-ticking compliance towards competence, collaboration and risk-based decision-making.
With speakers from NHS England, NAHFO, NHS Trusts and leading design practices, that forum set the direction for the sector. The 2027 forum picks up exactly where the conversation left off.
From principle to practice.
Agreeing the direction was the easier part. Proving it — day in, day out, across live hospital estates — is harder.
A decade on from Grenfell, concerns around professional competence remain: what actually constitutes a fire door, how certified products are installed and maintained, and an over-reliance on certification badges without the technical understanding behind them. A certified product, incorrectly installed, is not a compliant system. The 2027 forum turns to competence in practice across the full fire door lifecycle — from specification and installation through to risk-based maintenance and governance.
What we'll explore:
- Competence in practice — what demonstrable competence looks like on the ground, across specification, installation, maintenance and governance.
- The evolving HTM 05 suite — strengthened governance under the forthcoming HTM 05-01, fire safety in design under HTM 05-02, and risk-based maintenance with Primary and Secondary Fire Risk Assessments under HTM 05-03.
- The reality in NHS Trusts — candid case studies from acute and mental health environments, where impact damage is constant and pragmatic, documented risk decisions are part of everyday estate management.
- The NAHFO working group paper — an opportunity to contribute to and peer-review the paper strengthening the understanding, application and scrutiny of existing risk-based guidance across the sector.
Don’t miss this opportunity to share insights, collaborate, and help shape safer, more compliant NHS facilities.
Secure your place.
There will be limited in-person spaces available, or you can attend remotely via Teams.