Many housing and care providers will seek to mitigate the risk of falls from windows by installing window restrictors. However, the legal requirements for selecting, installing, inspecting and maintaining them are far from clear, requiring providers to balance their obligations across several different pieces of legislation. 

The adequacy of the current legal and regulatory framework for general needs housing and care homes, has been the subject of two recent Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) reports. 

General needs housing 

On 23 August 2023, Mr William Erskine suffered fatal injuries after falling from his flat on the 16th floor. Investigations found that his windows had locks and dual-position restrictors but that these could be disengaged, allowing the window to open fully. In the PFD report issued to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the coroner raised concerns that aside from certain buildings designed for educational or healthcare use, or provided for vulnerable adults, current building regulations do not require fixed window restrictors to be fitted to opening windows in high-rise residential buildings and that there was no requirement to retro-fit window restrictors to the type of windows in Mr Erskine’s building. 

In its response, the MHCLG commented that no new regulatory action would be taken and that the current legislation and guidance in place (including the Housing Act 2004, the Decent Homes Standard and the implementation of Awaab’s law) were sufficient to keep residents safe in general needs properties. The MHCLG added there are competing interests at play when minimising risks to residents, e.g. ensuring adequate ventilation to mitigate overheating, which limits the extent that further changes could be made.

Care homes 

Terrence Taylor, an 82-year-old gentleman, had been able to bypass a window restrictor in his care home, climb out of a first-floor window and fall to the ground, sustaining injuries from which he died. The Coroner questioned in their PFD report how Mr Taylor was able to apply sufficient force to detach the fixing, which secured the window restrictor to the window frame, without the use of tools. 

In its response, the Care Quality Commission confirmed that it is limited to enforcing the present regulations and standards for care settings, which primarily addressed accidental falls from windows as opposed to deliberate attempts to bypass window restrictors. The British Standards Institution confirmed that the British Standards, whilst demonstrating good industry practice, do not have the status of legislation or regulation. Whilst the British Standard relevant to restrictors in care homes is due to change, unless specifically referred to in statute or in regulatory instruments, this and any other Standard are not a legal requirement and technically cannot be strictly enforced. 

With the legal framework unlikely to change, housing and care providers will need to ensure they have conducted a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks relating to falls from windows, and taken appropriate action to mitigate the risk identified – which is very likely to involve window restrictors being installed. In doing this, and planning a process for the restrictors inspection, maintenance, repair and replacement, providers will have to balance the need to minimise the risk of falls from height, with its other obligations (such as those relating to ventilation and fire safety) and the practical constraints of what can be achieved (e.g., challenges in gaining access to flats to check restrictors). 

For more information

If you require further advice on this topic or on other health and safety matters, please contact Elizabeth Massey or Lorna Kenyon-Pain.