Fire safety: guidance for those with legal duties
Documents on fire safety law and guidance for those who have a legal duty for fire safety in a relevant building to help them meet those duties.
Fire safety law
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) is the main piece of legislation governing fire safety in buildings in England and Wales.
The FSO applies to all workplaces and the common parts of buildings containing 2 or more domestic premises. It places legal duties on anyone in control of these premises (the Responsible Person - usually the owner or landlord) to undertake and record a fire risk assessment and put in place and maintain general fire precautions.
The Fire Safety Act 2021 clarified that the external walls, flat entrance doors and structure of buildings are all covered by the FSO and must be accounted for in fire risk assessments.
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and section 156 of the Building Safety Act Check your fire safety responsibilities under section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 brought in additional duties for Responsible Persons under the Fire Safety Order.
Find out if you’re a Responsible Person under the Fire Safety Order and what responsibilities you may have: People with duties under fire safety laws.
Guidance
If you have identified that you are a Responsible Person or someone with duties under fire safety legislation the following guides will help you to:
- understand what you need to do to comply with fire safety law
- carry out and review a fire risk assessment
- identify the general fire precautions you need to put in place and maintain
As well as the guidance listed below, which is published under Article 50 of the FSO to assist responsible persons in complying with their duties under The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) , complimentary fire safety advice is also available:
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guidance on fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing produced by the Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS)
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fire safety in construction produced by the Health and Safety Executive
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National Fire Chiefs Council: NFCC Protection-Guidance. The National Fire Chiefs Council produce a range of guidance, including guidance on fire safety in specialised housing, and guidance on finding a competent fire risk assessor.
These non-statutory guides offer recommendations for best practice on fire safety which may go beyond the scope of the FSO. You may therefore find it helpful to consider them in conjunction with the relevant statutory guidance below.
Legislative guidance
Guidance for evacuating disabled persons
Guidance for fire safety in small premises
Fire risk assessment checklist
Guidance for residential buildings under the Fire Safety Order
Guidance for non-domestic premises
Guidance for livestock premises
Guidance for workplaces where people sleep
Guidance for places of assembly
Updates to this page
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Updated the text on this page.
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Added 'Fire Safety Order: enforcement and sanctions for non-compliance'.
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Added a link to the Check your fire safety responsibilities under Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 document.
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Added new documents: A guide to making your small block of flats safe from fire, A guide to making your small paying guest accommodation safe from fire, A guide to making your small non-domestic premises safe from fire.
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First published.