The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 came into force on 23rd January 2023 and to a varying degree, affect all premises containing two or more dwellings.
The Fire Safety duties imposed on a Responsible Person (RP) are based on the height of the building as follows:
- In all multi-occupied residential buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises with common areas, Responsible Persons will be required to provide:
- Fire Safety Instructions to their residents, which will include instructions on how to report a fire and any other instruction which sets out what a resident must do once a fire has occurred, based on the evacuation strategy for the building.
- Fire Door Information, specifically relating to the importance of fire doors in fire safety.
- In residential buildings with storeys over 11 metres in height, responsible persons will also, in addition to the above, be required to be responsible for:
- Fire Doors by undertaking annual checks of flat entrance doors and quarterly checks of all fire doors in the common parts.
- In high-rise residential buildings, with storeys over 18 metres in height (or 7 storeys), Responsible Persons will in addition to the actions in 1) and 2) above, be required to provide:
- Building Plans to their local Fire and Rescue Service with up-to-date electronic building floor plans and to place a hard copy of these plans, alongside a single page building plan which identifies key firefighting equipment, in a secure information box on site.
- External Wall Systems information to their local Fire and Rescue Service detailing the design and materials of a high-rise building’s external wall system and to inform the Fire and Rescue Service of any material changes to these walls. Also, they will be required to provide information in relation to the level of risk that the design and materials of the external wall structure gives rise to and any mitigating steps taken.
In addition, the Responsible Person must also take the following actions:
- Lifts and other Key Fire-Fighting Equipment. Undertake monthly checks on the operation of lifts intended for use by firefighters, and evacuation lifts in their building and check the functionality of other key pieces of firefighting equipment. They will also be required to report any defective lifts or equipment to their local Fire and Rescue Service as soon as possible after detection if the fault cannot be fixed within 24 hours, and to record the outcome of checks and make them available to residents.
- Information Boxes. Install and maintain a secure information box in their building. This box must contain the name and contact details of the Responsible Person and hard copies of the building floor plans.
- Wayfinding Signage must be installed. This must be visible in low light or smoky conditions and identify flat and floor numbers in the stairwells of relevant buildings.
A range of fact sheets with greater detail on each requirement can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-england-regulations-2022
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The information contained within this blog is provided solely for general informational and educational purposes and is not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Before taking any actions based upon this information, we advise the reader to consult any and all relevant statutory or regulatory guidance and where felt necessary to consult a qualified fire or industry regulation professional. The use or reliance on any information contained herein is solely at the reader’s risk.
