Call for evidence outcome

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 call for evidence: Annexes (accessible version)

Updated 15 October 2021

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A. Glossary of terms used in this Call for Evidence

Table 1. Simple guide together with full definitions of terms used in the Fire Safety Order.

Domestic premises Private or residential dwellings, where people live, therefore excluding the parts used in common and other non-domestic parts of a building.

Article 2. Interpretation:
“domestic premises” means premises occupied as a private dwelling (including any garden, yard, garage, outhouse, or other appurtenance of such premises which is not used in common by the occupants of more than one such dwelling);
General fire precautions Fire safety prevention and protection measures to reduce risks of fire and mitigate risks to life in the event of a fire.

Article 4. Meaning of “general fire precautions”:
(1) In this Order “general fire precautions” in relation to premises means, subject to paragraph (2)—
(a)measures to reduce the risk of fire on the premises and the risk of the spread of fire on the premises;
(b)measures in relation to the means of escape from the premises;
(c)measures for securing that, at all material times, the means of escape can be safely and effectively used;
(d)measures in relation to the means for fighting fires on the premises;
(e)measures in relation to the means for detecting fire on the premises and giving warning in case of fire on the premises; and
(f)measures in relation to the arrangements for action to be taken in the event of fire on the premises, including—
(i)measures relating to the instruction and training of employees; and
(ii)measures to mitigate the effects of the fire.

(2) The precautions referred to in paragraph (1) do not include special, technical or organisational measures required to be taken or observed in any workplace in connection with the carrying on of any work process, where those measures —
(a)are designed to prevent or reduce the likelihood of fire arising from such a work process or reduce its intensity; and
(b)are required to be taken or observed to ensure compliance with any requirement of the relevant statutory provisions within the meaning given by section 53(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc 1974.

(3) In paragraph (2) “work process” means all aspects of work involving, or in connection with—
(a)the use of plant or machinery; or
(b)the use or storage of any dangerous substance.
Relevant Persons Anyone lawfully on, or in the vicinity of, the premises – including employees, contractors or other persons as identified by the Responsible Person in a fire risk assessment.

Article 2. Interpretation
“relevant persons” means—
(a) any person (including the responsible person) who is or may be lawfully on the premises; and
(b) any person in the immediate vicinity of the premises who is at risk from a fire on the premises, but does not include a fire-fighter who is carrying out his duties in relation to a function of a fire and rescue authority under section 7, 8 or 9 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (fire-fighting, road traffic accidents and other emergencies), other than in relation to a function under section 7(2)(d), 8(2)(d) or 9(3)(d) of that Act;
Responsible Person A person who is responsible for fire safety and subject to statutory duties under the Fire Safety Order.

Article 3. Meaning of “responsible person”:
In this Order “responsible person” mean —
(a) in relation to a workplace, the employer, if the workplace is to any extent under his control;
(b) in relation to any premises not falling within paragraph (a)—
(i) the person who has control of the premises (as occupier or otherwise) in connection with the carrying on by him of a trade, business or other undertaking (for profit or not); or
(ii) the owner, where the person in control of the premises does not have control in connection with the carrying on by that person of a trade, business or other undertaking.
Workplace Any premises or parts of premises used by someone or reserved for people to undertake work activities, not necessarily indoor.

Article 2. Interpretation:
“workplace” means any premises or parts of premises, not being domestic premises, used for the purposes of an employer’s undertaking and which are made available to an employee of the employer as a place of work and includes—
(a) any place within the premises to which such employee has access while at work; and
(b) any room, lobby, corridor, staircase, road, or other place—
(i) used as a means of access to or egress from that place of work; or
(ii) where facilities are provided for use in connection with that place of work, other than a public road;

Table 2. Definitions of terms used in the Building a Safer Future consultation

Accountable person “The dutyholder during a building’s occupation. Under our proposals they would be the person who has control of the building, is legally responsible for the maintenance and who is entitled to receive funds from the residents for this. They would be responsible for ensuring fire and structural safety risks in the building are reduced so far as is reasonably practicable.”
Dutyholders “The key roles (whether fulfilled by individuals or organisations) that are assigned specific responsibilities at particular phases of the building life cycle.”
Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) “A risk-based evaluation tool to help local authorities identify and protect against potential risks and hazards to health and safety from any deficiencies identified in dwellings.”
Safety case “An evidence-based approach in which the dutyholder must demonstrate to the building safety regulator that life-critical risks within a given building are being proactively managed.”

An online copy of the Fire Safety Order and its Table of Contents is available at: The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

This annex provides a list of the Fire Safety Order provisions:

  • in groupings under each section 4 topic where there are referenced, in the same order as the topics are covered
  • in full text where the provisions have been amended[footnote 1], as this information may not be readily available online.

a) Duties of a Responsible Person

SCHEDULE 1 - PART 3 PRINCIPLES OF PREVENTION

PART 2 FIRE SAFETY DUTIES

Article 8.Duty to take general fire precautions

Article 9.Risk assessment

Article 10.Principles of prevention to be applied

Article 11.Fire safety arrangements

Article 12.Elimination or reduction of risks from dangerous substances

Article 13.Fire-fighting and fire detection

Article 14.Emergency routes and exits

Article 15.Procedures for serious and imminent danger and for danger areas

Article 16.Additional emergency measures in respect of dangerous substances

Article 17.Maintenance

Article 18.Safety assistance

Article 19.Provision of information to employees

Article 20.Provision of information to employers and the self-employed from outside undertakings

Article 21.Training

Article 22.Co-operation and co-ordination

b) Risk assessment

Article 9.Risk assessment

Article 19.Provision of information to employees

Article 21.Training

SCHEDULE 1 - PART 1 MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED IN RISK ASSESSMENT IN RESPECT OF DANGEROUS SUBSTANCES

c) Guidance

Article 26.Enforcement of Order

Article 50.Guidance

d) Employee training and duties

Article 21.Training

Article 23.General duties of employees at work

e) Competent Person

Article 13.Fire-fighting and fire detection

Article 15.Procedures for serious and imminent danger and for danger areas

Article 18.Safety assistance

f) Information sharing and management

Article 9.Risk assessment

Article 18.Safety assistance

Article 19.Provision of information to employees

Article 20.Provision of information to employers and the self-employed from outside undertakings

Article 29.Alterations notices

Article 32.Offences

SCHEDULE 1 - PART 1 MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED IN RISK ASSESSMENT IN RESPECT OF DANGEROUS SUBSTANCES

g) Enforcement and sanctions

PART 3 ENFORCEMENT

Article 25.Enforcing authorities

“(1) For the purposes of this Order, “enforcing authority” means—

(a) the fire and rescue authority for the area in which premises are, or are to be, situated, in any case not falling within any of sub-paragraphs (b) to (e);

(b) the Health and Safety Executive in relation to—

(iii) a ship, including a ship belonging to His Majesty which forms part of HM Navy, which is in the course of construction, reconstruction or conversion or repair by persons who include persons other than the master and crew of the ship; (iv) any workplace which is, or is on, a construction site, other than one in relation to which the Office for Nuclear Regulation is responsible for health and safety enforcement;

(bb) the Office for Nuclear Regulation in relation to—

(i) any premises for which a licence is required by virtue of section 1 of the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 or for which a permit is required by virtue of section 2 of that Act;

(ii) any premises for which such a licence or permit would be required but for the fact that the premises are used by, or on behalf of, the Crown;

(iii) any workplace which is, or is on, a construction site in relation to which the Office for Nuclear Regulation is responsible for health and safety enforcement;

(c) the fire service maintained by the Secretary of State for Defence in relation to—

(i) premises, other than premises falling within paragraph (b)(iii), occupied solely for the purposes of the armed forces of the Crown;

(ii) premises occupied solely by any visiting force or an international headquarters or defence organisation designated for the purposes of the International Headquarters and Defence Organisations Act 1964;

(iii) premises, other than premises falling within paragraph (b)(iii), which are situated within premises occupied solely for the purposes of the armed forces of the Crown but which are not themselves so occupied;

(d) the relevant local authority in relation to premises which consist of—

(i) a sports ground designated as requiring a safety certificate under section 1 of the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 (safety certificates for large sports stadia);

(ii) a regulated stand within the meaning of section 26(5) of the Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act 1987 (safety certificates for stands at sports grounds);

(e) a fire inspector, or any person authorised by the Secretary of State to act for the purposes of this Order, in relation to—

(i) premises owned or occupied by the Crown, other than premises falling within paragraph (bb)(ii) and (c);

(ii) premises in relation to which the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is the responsible person, other than premises falling within paragraph (bb)(ii).

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)—

(a) “construction site” means a construction site, as defined in regulation 2(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, to which those Regulations apply, other than one to which regulation 36 of those Regulations applies;

(b) the Office for Nuclear Regulation is responsible for health and safety enforcement in relation to a construction site if, by virtue of regulations under section 18(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (enforcement), it is responsible for the enforcement of any of the relevant statutory provisions (within the meaning of Part 1 of that Act) in relation to the site.”

Article 26.Enforcement of Order:

“(1) Every enforcing authority must enforce the provisions of this Order and any regulations made under it in relation to premises for which it is the enforcing authority and for that purpose, except where a fire inspector or other person authorised by the Secretary of State is the enforcing authority, may appoint inspectors.

(2) In performing the duty imposed by paragraph (1), the enforcing authority must have regard to such guidance as the Secretary of State may give it.

(3) A fire and rescue authority has power to arrange with the Health and Safety Executive, Office for Nuclear Regulation or the Office of Rail and Road for such of the authority’s functions under this Order as may be specified in the arrangements to be performed on its behalf by the Health and Safety Executive, Office for Nuclear Regulation or the Office of Rail and Road, as the case may be, (with or without payment) in relation to any particular workplace.”

Article 27.Powers of inspectors

“(1) Subject to the provisions of this article, an inspector may do anything necessary for the purpose of carrying out this Order and any regulations made under it into effect and in particular, so far as may be necessary for that purpose, shall have power to do at any reasonable time the following—

(a) to enter any premises which he has reason to believe it is necessary for him to enter for the purpose mentioned above and to inspect the whole or part of the premises and anything in them, where such entry and inspection may be effected without the use of force;

(b) to make such inquiry as may be necessary for any of the following purposes—

(i) to ascertain, as regards any premises, whether the provisions of this Order or any regulations made under it apply or have been complied with; and

(ii) to identify the responsible person in relation to the premises;

(c) to require the production of, or where the information is recorded in computerised form, the furnishing of extracts from, any records (including plans)—

(i) which are required to be kept by virtue of any provision of this Order or regulations made under it; or

(ii) which it is necessary for him to see for the purposes of an examination or inspection under this article, and to inspect and take copies of, or of any entry in, the records;

(d) to require any person having responsibilities in relation to any premises (whether or not the responsible person) to give him such facilities and assistance with respect to any matters or things to which the responsibilities of that person extend as are necessary for the purpose of enabling the inspector to exercise any of the powers conferred on him by this article;

(e) to take samples of any articles or substances found in any premises which he has power to enter for the purpose of ascertaining their fire resistance or flammability; and

(f) in the case of any article or substance found in any premises which he has power to enter, being an article or substance which appears to him to have caused or to be likely to cause danger to the safety of relevant persons, to cause it to be dismantled or subjected to any process or test (but not so as to damage or destroy it unless this is, in the circumstances, necessary).

(2) An inspector must, if so required when visiting any premises in the exercise of powers conferred by this article, produce to the occupier of the premises evidence of his authority.

(3) Where an inspector proposes to exercise the power conferred by paragraph (1)(f) he must, if requested by a person who at the time is present in and has responsibilities in relation to those premises, cause anything which is to be done by virtue of that power to be done in the presence of that person.

(4) Before exercising the power conferred by paragraph (1)(f) an inspector must consult such persons as appear to him appropriate for the purpose of ascertaining what dangers, if any, there may be in doing anything which he proposes to do under that power.

(5) This article applies to a person authorised by the Secretary of State under article 25(1)(e) in relation to premises in England as it applies to an inspector; and article 32(2)(d) to (f), with the necessary modifications, applies accordingly.”

Article 28.Exercise on behalf of fire inspectors etc. of their powers by officers of fire brigades

“(1) The powers conferred by article 27 on a fire inspector are also exercisable by an employee of the fire and rescue authority when authorised in writing by such an inspector for the purpose of reporting to him on any matter falling within his functions under this Order; and articles 27(2) and (4) and 32(2)(d) to (f), with the necessary modifications, apply accordingly.

(1A) The powers conferred by article 27 on an authorised person (by virtue of paragraph (5) of that article) are also exercisable by an employee of a fire and rescue authority in England when authorised in writing by such an authorised person for the purpose of reporting to him or her on any matter falling within the authorised person’s functions under this Order; and articles 27(2) to (4) and 32(2)(d) to (f), with the necessary modifications, apply accordingly.

(2) A fire inspector or authorised person must not authorise an employee of a fire and rescue authority under this article except with the consent of the fire and rescue authority.

(3) In this article, “authorised person” means a person authorised by the Secretary of State under article 25(1)(e) in relation to premises in England.”

Article 29.Alterations notices

Article 30.Enforcement notices

Article 31.Prohibition notices

PART 4 OFFENCES AND APPEALS

Article 32.Offences

Article 33.Defence

Article 34.Onus of proving limits of what is practicable or reasonably practicable

Article 35.Appeals

Article 36.Determination of disputes by Secretary of State

h) Provisions of specific interest

Article 24.Power to make regulations about fire precautions

Article 38.Maintenance of measures provided for protection of fire-fighters

Dangerous substance

Article 9.Risk assessment

Article 12.Elimination or reduction of risks from dangerous substances

Article 16.Additional emergency measures in respect of dangerous substances

Article 19.Provision of information to employees

SCHEDULE 1 - PART 1 MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED IN RISK ASSESSMENT IN RESPECT OF DANGEROUS SUBSTANCES

SCHEDULE 1 - PART 4 MEASURES TO BE TAKEN IN RESPECT OF DANGEROUS SUBSTANCES

Young people

Article 9.Risk assessment

SCHEDULE 1 - PART 4 MEASURES TO BE TAKEN IN RESPECT OF DANGEROUS SUBSTANCES12

C. List of government guidance on the Fire Safety Order

Fire risk assessment guides

Fire risk assessment guides and dates of publications are available online at: Fire safety in the workplace. The guides cover the mitigation of fire risks and means of escape for the ongoing management of buildings, specifically the common parts of high-rise residential buildings.

  1. Do you have paying guests? - 18 November 2008

  2. Fire safety risk assessment: animal premises and stables - 23 October 2007

  3. Fire safety risk assessment: means of escape for disabled people - 29 March 2007

  4. Fire safety risk assessment: open-air events and venues - 8 March 2007

  5. Fire safety risk assessment: transport premises and facilities - 12 February 2007

  6. Fire safety risk assessment: healthcare premises - 25 September 2006

  7. Fire safety risk assessment: residential care premises - 6 July 2006

  8. Fire safety risk assessment: theatres, cinemas and similar premises - 8 June 2006

  9. Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005: a short guide to making your premises safe from fire - 5 June 2006

10.Fire safety risk assessment: 5-step checklist - 5 June 2006

11.Fire safety risk assessment: factories and warehouses - 5 June 2006

12.Fire safety risk assessment: large places of assembly - 5 June 2006

13.Fire safety risk assessment: small and medium places of assembly - 5 June 2006

14.Fire safety risk assessment: educational premises - 5 June 2006

15.Fire safety risk assessment: sleeping accommodation - 13 December 2012

16.Fire safety risk assessment: offices and shops - 5 June 2006

Guidance notes on the Fire Safety Order :

This annex presents key data from a full research report that the Home Office intends to publish later in the year. Data from Ordnance Survey AddressBase® and Incident Recording System (IRS) data were used to calculate:

  • the rates of fires in different types of building; and
  • the rates of fires involving fire-related fatalities or casualties requiring hospital treatment in different types of buildings

Property types used in the IRS were matched with AddressBase® classifications to create 24 distinct property types of interest (R = residential, NR = non-residential).

It is important to note that the analysis was designed to explore the relative rate of fires across different types of building and did not take into account the number of individual dwellings or occupants within each building. Therefore, although some building types have higher rates of fires than others this is likely to be because of the higher occupancy rates in larger buildings.

Table A1: Examples of buildings in each property type

Property type Examples
Agricultural buildings Non-residential and permanent agricultural buildings such as barns
Animal care Vets, shelters, kennels, stables
Apartment/flat Converted and purpose-built properties including unregistered HMOs, retirement villages, independent living etc
Car park Covered only
Care home Registered only – for any group (for example age or disability)
Education (NR) Schools and universities – not including dormitory buildings
Education (R) Boarding school accommodation, student hall of residence
Emergency services Lifeboat services, coastguard, mountain rescue, lighthouse, police / transport police, fire and rescue services, ambulance, air sea rescue
Entertainment culture and sport Cinema, club, theme park, museum, gallery, community centre, sporting venues – indoor and ancillary outdoor
Food and drink Restaurant, take-away, pub, cafe
HMO Registered houses of multiple occupancy[footnote 2]
Holiday let Holiday let, accommodation, short-term let (that is not hotel)
Hospitals By building not whole hospital complex, includes onsite accommodation for nurses/doctors
Hotel Hotel, B&B, hostel, guest house
Industrial premises Industrial processing, manufacturing, warehouses and bulk storage - all materials, mines and quarries – buildings above ground, public utilities, laboratory/research establishment
Office and public buildings Law court, office, studio, embassy, local government service, broadcasting (TV / radio)
Other medical Doctor surgery, dentist etc
Prison Prison, detention centre, secure residential accommodation
Religious (NR) Chapel of rest, crematorium, mortuary, place of worship (all)
Religious (R) Monastery/convent
Retail Shop, bank, markets (indoor / outdoor), petrol station, garden centre
Supported/Sheltered housing Homeless shelters, supported living, retirement homes
Single dwelling House (detached, semi-detached, terraced), caravan, house boat, privately owned holiday caravan / chalet,
Transport buildings Train station, airport, docks, ferry terminal, bus/coach station

While this analysis provides an in-depth assessment of fire risk in buildings using the best available data, the following points should be noted: TOID[footnote 3]references and classification dates were used to obtain building counts for each year. In some cases, particularly in large complex buildings such as shopping centres or apartment blocks, the TOID reference may overestimate the number of buildings. In addition, in some cases a building may have existed but not yet been classified correctly. The best estimate is that this may affect around 10 per cent of buildings. Due to mixed commercial and domestic use properties, for example a newsagent on the ground floor of an apartment block, some buildings may be counted in multiple categories.

Building height is not recorded in the IRS therefore data from a field that records ‘number of floors above ground’ was used to assess the height of building in which the fires occurred. The analysis did not look at where in the building the fire started as the aim was to understand the whole building risk. A fire on whichever floor it starts has the potential to affect the whole building, although in 2017/18 in apartment buildings only 2% of fires spread further than the floor of origin[footnote 4]. A four-storey building is estimated to be 11m, six storeys as 18m, and 10 storeys as 30m. Quality assurance conducted on this field for purpose-built flats found a 20 per cent error rate that is assumed to be consistent across all property types.

Few fires result in fatalities. In all property types during the period October 2011 to September 2018 0.5% of fires (1,423 out of 307,697) resulted in a fatality and fewer in multiple fatalities (0.02% of fires; 70 out of 307,696). Given the low numbers it is not possible to conduct detailed analysis of fatal fires only. To better understand the risk of fire and the potential for risk to life the rate of fires, and fires with a fatality or casualty requiring hospital treatment across a wide range of buildings were calculated (see Table A3).

Table A2: Rates of fire per 1,000 buildings for the combined years ending September 2012 to 2018

Property type Any height 0 to 11m >11 to <18m ≥18 to <30m ≥30m
Agricultural buildings 32 32 29 0 714
Animal care 5 5 6 0 0
Apartment/flat 9 7 22 43 366
Car park 18 19 22 9 14
Care home 22 21 69 0 0
Education (NR) 19 18 34 20 60
Education (R) 56 32 130 158 501
Emergency services 23 21 49 43 57
Entertainment culture and sport 10 10 18 11 10
Food and drink 20 20 23 6 20
HMO 6 6 13 12 65
Holiday let 3 3 2 0 0
Hospitals 263 205 783 574 2,258
Hotel 27 20 63 55 157
Industrial premises 8 7 11 11 6
Office and public buildings 6 5 11 10 41
Other medical 8 7 11 4 5
Prison 5,021 4,736 8,435 571 0
Religious (NR) 4 4 3 4 0
Religious (R) 59 40 64 0 0
Retail 6 6 7 2 7
Supported/Sheltered housing 158 147 602 375 491
Single dwelling 1 1 3 1 5
Transport 22 21 43 10 11

Table A3: Rates of fires involving fatality or casualty requiring hospital treatment per 1,000 buildings for the combined years ending September 2012 to 2018

Property type Any height 0 to 11m >11 to <18m ≥18 to <30m ≥30m
Agricultural buildings 2.3 2.3 0.0 0.0 0.0
Animal care 0.4 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0
Apartment/flat 4.8 3.9 10.8 18.7 170.4
Car park 1.4 2.0 0.9 0.0 3.8
Care home 7.1 6.7 32.5 0.0 0.0
Education (NR) 1.2 1.1 2.8 10.6 0.0
Education (R) 8.6 5.1 19.5 27.2 57.7
Emergency services 0.9 0.3 14.5 0.0 0.0
Entertainment culture and sport 0.8 0.7 2.1 0.0 0.0
Food and drink 3.2 3.1 5.0 1.9 2.6
HMO 3.0 2.7 7.7 5.8 42.5
Holiday let 0.7 0.7 1.6 0.0 0.0
Hospitals 48.8 40.8 118.6 23.8 696.4
Hotel 5.4 4.4 12.4 7.7 8.1
Industrial premises 1.2 1.2 1.7 1.2 1.2
Office and public buildings 0.4 0.2 0.8 1.4 7.7
Other medical 0.8 0.7 1.9 0.0 0.0
Prison 1,473.1 1,371.1 2,686.9 0.0 0.0
Religious (NR) 0.4 0.4 1.2 0.0 0.0
Religious (R) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Retail 0.5 0.5 0.8 0.0 0.0
Supported/Sheltered housing 61.0 56.3 264.2 135.7 250.0
Single dwelling 0.5 0.5 1.7 0.0 0.0
Transport 1.7 1.8 0.0 0.0 0.0

  1. At the time of publication of the Call for Evidence. ↩

  2. A house of multiple occupancy is defined as having more than one household (unrelated residents) however different Local Authorities have different registration requirements depending on the number of households. ↩

  3. Topographic Identifier used by Ordnance Survey to reference all mappable features. ↩

  4. Fire statistics incident level datasets - dwelling fires. ↩

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