A fire enforcement notice has been served to a civil engineering firm after “significant fire safety shortfalls” were identified at the Hinkley Point C nuclear construction site in Somerset
The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) issued the notice to Bylor JV, a joint venture of Laing O'Rourke and Bouygues Travaux Publics, under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
In a statement from 1 December 2025, the regulator said that following a “focused fire safety intervention” at Bylor’s buildings, which were at an advanced stage of construction, inspectors found that the company had “failed to implement appropriate arrangements for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring, and review of preventive and protective measures”.
The ONR added that these shortfalls had resulted in “inadequate general fire precautions”, including a lack of an adequate emergency lighting system. Whilst there were no consequences for employees, the public, or the environment, the regulator said there was the “potential for harm and risk of serious injury”.
Bylor will need to make the improvements by 30 June 2026, with the firm expected to manage the risk profile in the meantime.
Fire Safety Inspector for ONR, Ray Cassar, said: “Fire safety is fundamental to protecting workers and the public at nuclear construction sites.
“Our inspectors found that fire safety arrangements at the Hinkley Point C site did not meet the standards we require, particularly given the scale and complexity of the ongoing construction work. We also took into account several similar findings from previous inspections.
“We will work with Bylor JV to ensure they put proper systems in place to manage fire risks effectively and prevent similar issues arising in future."
As previously reported by the FPA, in January 2024, ONR issued four enforcement notices following pre-planning inspections at Unit 1 HR Building of the nuclear power site in November 2023.
Commenting on this latest enforcement action, a spokesperson for Hinkley Point C said: “We are working closely with our main civil contractors, Bylor, to ensure that the appropriate enhancements are made to address the matters identified by the regulator.
"Safety is our overriding priority, and we are already acting to oversee improvements."