Fire safety law changed October 2006.
The new law will
- Emphasise preventing fires and reducing risk
- Make it your responsibility to ensure the safety of everyone who uses your premises and in the immediate vicinity
- Do away with the need for fire certificates
A set of guidance notes has been developed to tell you what you have to do to comply with fire safety law, help you to carry out a fire risk assessment and identify the general fire precautions you need to have in place.
More complex premises will probably need to be assessed by a person who has comprehensive training or experience in fire risk assessment.
From 1 October 2006, the responsibility for fire safety will lay with employers, self-employed with premises, voluntary organisations, those responsible for buildings with public access and any contractor who exercises a degree of control over any premises.
These ‘responsible persons’ will have a duty to ensure the safety of everyone who uses their premises and those in the immediate vicinity who may be at risk if there is a fire.
The new rules will apply to most places except private houses and will make fire safety law easier to understand by doing away with the existing 70 separate pieces of legislation and replacing them with a new regime focused on preventing fires happening in the first place.
Anyone responsible for premises must carry out a fire safety risk assessment by 1st October 2006. The fire and rescue service will carry out inspections and failure to comply could lead to enforcement action or even prosecution
If you meet your obligations under the current law, the new regime should not cost you anything more and may save you money.
The Department for Communities and Local Government is working with stakeholders to raise awareness of the new laws amongst those affected. They have already targeted 1.6 million premises to receive a leaflet explaining the main changes and what needs to be done to comply with the Regulatory Reform Order (Fire Safety) 2005 (copies available at www.communities.gov.uk)
There are also a series of guides to assist those preparing fire risk assessments including an entry level ‘A short guide to making your premises safe from fire’ and more detailed guidance targeted at specific areas of business including:
- Offices and shops
- Premises providing sleeping accommodation
- Residential care
- Small and medium places of assembly
- Large places of Assembly
- Factories and Warehouses
- Theatres and Cinemas
- Educational Premises
- Healthcare Premises
- Transport Premises and Facilities
- Open Air Events
All of the guidance documents will be available to download free of charge at www.communities.gov.uk/index
Guide 1 offices and shops
Who is it for?
All employers, managers, occupiers and owners of premises where the main use of the building or part of the building is an office or shop including:
- Purpose built or converted office blocks
- Individual office or shop units which are part of other complexes e.g. shopping centre
The new law does not apply to offices in private domestic accommodation. The Offices and Shops guide is not applicable for the overall management of multi-use shopping areas, here the Large Places of Assembly guide will be more appropriate.
Guide 2 - factories and warehouses
Who is it for?
This guide is for all employers, managers, occupiers and owners of premises where the main use of the building or part of the building is a factory or warehouse including:
- Large and small factories
- Manufacturing warehouses
- Storage warehouses
- Factories with warehouses
Guide 3 - sleeping accommodation
Who is it for?
This guide looks at sleeping accommodation for staff, common areas for residents and sleeping, dining or other accommodation for guests/residents including:
- The common areas of houses in multiple occupation (HMO)
- The common areas of flats and maisonettes
- The common areas of sheltered accommodation where care is not provided
- Holiday chalets, holiday flat complexes, camping, caravan and holiday parks (other than privately owned individual units)
- Areas in work places where staff ‘sleeping in’ is a condition of the employment or a business requirement as in licensed premises or hotels
This guide is not intended for domestic premises, hospitals, residential care and nursing homes and prisons and other establishments where people are in lawful custody.
Guide 4 - residential care premises
Who is it for?
This guide is for all employers, managers, responsible persons, occupiers, employees and owners of premises where the main use of the building or part of the building is to provide residential care. It is intended for non-domestic residential premises with staff in attendance at all times and where many, most or all of the residents would require carer assistance to be safe in the event of a fire i.e. where residents would not be able to make their way to a place of safety unaided. These could include:
- Residential and nursing homes
- Rehabilitation premises providing residential treatment and care for addiction
- Care homes and care homes with nursing (as defined by the Care Standards Act).
The guide is not intended for day-care centres with no residential clients, sheltered accommodation where no care is provided, hospitals, out-posted nursing care in single private dwellings.
Guide 5 - educational premises
Who is it for?
This guide is for all employers, head teachers, governors, vice-chancellors, occupiers and owners of premises where the main use of the building or part of the building is for educational purposes including:
- Schools including Sunday schools and after school clubs
- Universities
- Academies
- Crèches
- Adult education centres
- Outdoor education centres
- Music schools
This guide does not apply to residential premises such as university halls of residence, boarding school sleeping accommodation.
Guide 6 - small and medium places of assembly
Who is it for?
This guide is for all employers, managers, occupiers, and owners of small (accommodating up to 60 people) and medium (accommodating up to 300 people) places of assembly including:
- Public houses
- Clubs
- Village halls and community centres
- Churches and other religious centres
- Marquees and tents
This guide does not apply to sports grounds or common areas of shopping malls.
Guide 7 - large places of assembly
Who is it for?
All employers, managers, occupiers and owners of large places of assembly i.e. where more than 300 people could gather including:
- Sports stadia
- Exhibition and conference centres
- Large nightclubs
- Churches, cathedrals, other places of worship
- Community centres and village halls
- Common areas of shopping malls
- Premises that are next to other complexes such as shopping centres
This guide does not apply to premises that include sleeping accommodation, theatres and cinemas and or outdoor facilities.
Guide 8 - theatres and cinemas
Who is it for?
This guide is for all employers, managers, occupiers and owners both professional and amateur of premises where the main use of the building or part of the building is a theatre, cinema or multi-screen cinema or a combination of these. This guide also includes buildings converted to cinemas or theatres. Examples include:
- Theatres
- Cinemas
- Concert halls
This guide does not include temporary structures and marquees or tents used as theatres or cinemas.
Guide 9 - outdoor events
Fire safety law is changing. Before the changes come into force a set of guidance notes will be available to help you comply with the new law.
Who will it be for?
This guide will be for all employers, managers and persons responsible for outdoor events and venues including:
- Zoos
- Music concerts
- Sporting events
- Firework displays
- Markets
This guide is currently being developed. Please revisit this site in the future to download a copy.
Guide 10 - healthcare premises
Who will it be for?
This guide will be for all employers, managers, responsible persons, occupiers and owners of premises where the main use of the building or part of the building is to provide healthcare including:
- Hospitals
- Medical centres
- Other healthcare premises
This guide will not be intended for use in care and nursing homes, rehabilitation premises, day-care centres with no residential clients, sheltered accommodation, out-posted nursing care in single private dwellings and staff accommodation.
This guide is currently being developed. Please revisit this site in the future to download a copy.
Guide 11 - transport premises and facilities
Who will it be for?
This guide will be for all managers, employers, occupiers and owners of transport premises and facilities including:
- Train, bus, coach and airport transportation terminals and exchanges
- Rail and road tunnels
- Passenger ferry ports and facilities
- Taxi stands and facilities
- Shipping ports and terminals
This guide will not apply to the offices and shops within transport premises and facilities or the actual modes of transport e.g. cars, buses, trains.
This guide is currently being developed. Please revisit this site in the future to download a copy.
Frequently asked questions
What is the fire safety reform order?
It will be a consolidation of nearly all existing fire safety legislation.
Who will it affect?
Primarily employers and building owners but it could be anyone who has some control over premises.
What will I have to do?
Mainly, carry out a fire risk assessment and act on the findings.
I have a fire certificate… will that be enough?
No. Fire certificates will no longer be valid. However a fairly recent fire certificate will be a good starting point for your fire risk assessment.
Will fire precautions have to be improved? / Will it cost me anything?
(Answer for both) Yes and No! If you are already fully complying with existing legislation then it should be fairly simple. If you have not kept your fire precautions up to date there may be some additional areas to look at.
Will the Fire and Rescue Service still inspect my premises?
In some cases yes, particularly in higher risk premises. But they cannot carry out your fire risk assessment for you.