In England and Wales – The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, came into effect and replaced over 70 pieces of fire safety law. In Scotland – The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the associated Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006. In Northern Ireland – The Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 and The Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010.
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
Since the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower fire safety legislation has been reviewed and following the Grenfell Tower Inquiry changes have been made. These are:
On 16th May 2022, the Fire Safety Act 2021 commenced and extends to England and Wales. Section 1 of the Fire Safety Act clarifies that where a building contains two or more sets of domestic premises the ‘Responsible Person' (RP) must take account of the buildings structure, external walls (including doors or windows within those walls and anything attached to the exterior of those walls e.g., balconies) and flat entrance doors (e.g., entrance doors to individual flats which open on to common parts) in a fire risk assessment.
The Fire Safety Act amends article 6 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order Act 2005 in this regard.
Section 3 of the Fire Safety Act makes clear that if a RP has followed the article 50 commencement guidance, which can also include use of the Fire Risk Assessment Prioritisation Tool, then they may then be able to use evidence of this compliance to demonstrate that they have met with their obligations under the Fire Safety Order (specifically the elements clarified by the Fire Safety Act).
If the RP has not complied with the guidance or the prioritisation tool, they may need to provide alternative evidence of how they have complied with this aspect of their Fire Safety Order obligations.
Find further guidance on the Fire Safety Act 2021 is provided below:
On 23rd January 2023 the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 came into force. The regulations are introduced under article 24 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 to implement the majority of those recommendations made to government in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 report which require a change in the law.
These Regulations apply to all buildings in England that comprise two or more domestic premises (including the residential parts of mixed-use buildings) although there are more requirements depending on the height as explained in this guidance document detailed below:
From 1 October 2023, new fire safety legislation came into effect which imposed new duties on businesses and buildings owners. The changes in legislation are also known as Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022, and they are in addition to the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and the Fire Safety Act 2021.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order will apply to virtually all premises and covers nearly every type of building, structure, and open space.
The broad scope of the Fire Safety Order means that very few premises in which people are employed to work fall outside the scope of the Order. These include offshore installations, mines, borehole sites, fields and woods away from main buildings, vehicles used for transport and ships under the control of a master and crew.
The Fire Safety Order does not apply within individual domestic premises.
Responsibility for complying with the Fire Safety Order rests with the ‘Responsible Person'.
For all premises that fall within the scope of the Fire Safety Order, there will be an identifiable Responsible Person, but the identity of the Responsible Person will depend on whether or not the premises are a workplace.
If the premises is a workplace, and the premises (i.e. the workplace) is, to any extent, under the control of the employer, they will be the Responsible Person. In some cases, the Responsible Person may be the Building Owner (landlord) or depending on the lease agreement there may be joint responsibility between the employer and the landlord.
If the premises are not in use as a workplace (e.g. the common parts of an HMO, or a community hall), there will still be a Responsible Person.
In addition to the Responsible Persons described above, there are duty holders who, nevertheless, have the same duties as Responsible Persons. However, their duties are limited to the extent of their control over the premises, or fire safety measures within the premises. In this case, the duties arise if, for example, under a contract or tenancy agreement (e.g. a lease), the duty holder has a responsibility for any of the following:
Maintenance or repair of the premises
Maintenance or repair of anything in or on the premises (e.g. the fire alarm system in the premises)
The safety of the premises
This information can be confusing, so the government have provided a short guide which is intended to assist ‘persons' with duties under fire safety legislation in England to comply with the legislation. Its purpose is to explain the duties in simple, nonlegal language. Click here to view the guide.
The government has produced numerous guidance documents for fire safety. Further information can be found here.
There are three new fire safety guides that have been published by the government on small non-domestic premises, small blocks of flats and for small sleeping accommodation.
Small Non-Domestic Premises Small Blocks of Flats Small Guest Accommodation
The previous requirement to have a written fire risk assessment only applied in certain circumstances (e.g. where the responsible person employees five or more persons). This will no longer be the case, and if you are a responsible person, then you will need to record both your fire risk assessment and fire safety arrangement in full, regardless of the size or purpose of the business or premises.
Where the responsible person appoints a person to make or review the fire risk assessment, they must be competent. However, this legal requirement will be brought into force at a date yet to be agreed. Until such time, it is recommended that the responsible person ensure that any person completing or reviewing a fire risk assessment has sufficient training, experience, knowledge and other qualities to do so.
It must be remembered that the duty to make sure that a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment is completed remains the duty of the responsible person.
It is the responsibility of employers to ensure that their staff are adequately trained on what to do in the event of fire. Training should be given upon induction of employment. Refresher training should be given at least once a year.
Training should be undertaken by a competent person and a record kept in some form of logbook Fire Safety Training can be carried out in house, or by a reputable company.
A Fire Marshal/ Fire Warden is a person who holds specific responsibilities within a business that help in the management of fire safety and the evacuation a of building's occupants in the event of an emergency. A Fire Warden's duties and responsibilities vary from business to business, depending on the risks outlined in their Fire Risk Assessment.
The responsibilities of a Fire Marshal's/ Fire Warden can generally be split into two categories: day to day management of Fire Safety and the management of an emergency situation.
To arrange fire risk assessments, training or consultancy services, call us today on 01268 858231 or email info@jgsfiresafety.co.uk.
