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Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 became law in October 2006 and introduced significant change to workplace fire safety responsibilities. As well as simplifying the legislative regime by bringing all fire safety legislation together into one Order, it introduced the need for employers, building owners and occupiers as 'responsible persons' to carry out, implement and maintain a fire safety risk assessment.

A 5-step fire safety risk assessment checklist is available in the section below to help 'responsible persons' carry out and implement a risk assessment in their premises.

All non-domestic premises, including the common or shared parts of blocks of flats or houses in multiple occupation are covered by the Order, and may be inspected by their local Fire and Rescue Authority. Under the Order, Fire and Rescue Authorities have a statutory duty to ensure compliance and enforce the requirements where necessary.

As well as the checklist setting out what you need to do to put in place an adequate risk assessment, an online form is available in the section below to help you check the extent to which your assessment will comply with legislation.

What is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005?

The Order, made under the Regulatory Reform Act 2001 has replaced over 70 separate pieces of fire safety legislation, such as the Fire Precautions Act, Licensing Act and Housing Acts with a simple, single Order. It has abolished the requirement for certain premises to hold a fire certificate and instead requires any person who exercises some level of control in any non-domestic premises to take reasonable steps to reduce the risk from fire and ensure occupants can escape safely if a fire does occur.

As well as simplification, the Order provides for better regulation by reducing the number of enforcing authorities that businesses have to deal and ensuring that regulation is carried out on the basis of risk and in a manner more suited to the needs of modern business and commerce.

In many non-domestic premises achieving fire safety will be a matter of common sense but as a 'responsible person' you will have to ensure that sufficient time is put aside to work through the necessary steps. In more complicated premises or those with a high life risk more expert help may be required.

To help you ensure your premises comply with the new legislation, the CLG website www.communities.gov.uk/firesafety contains information on how to comply with the requirements of the Order. The 'Short Guide to Making Your Premises Safe From Fire' provides a useful introduction to the principles of fire safety (and includes the 5-step risk assessment checklist) and more detailed technical guidance, designed to help you consider how best to comply with the legislation in a range of specific types of premises, is also available to help you consider how best you can comply.

In addition, an online self-assessment form is available to enable you to test the extent to which your completed risk assessment is likely to comply with the requirements of the Order. This consists of a series of fire-safety related questions which should take no more than ten minutes to complete. At the end of the process, you will have the option to view your results and any suggestions for improvement that may be applicable by means of an online form which you can print or save for future reference (opens in a new browser window). The results of this online form are displayed as a pdf document and will require Adobe Reader. This can be downloaded from the link given below.

To complete the 5-step risk assessment, click here.

What are the main requirements of the Order?

The responsible person is required to:

• Carry out a fire risk assessment identifying the risks and hazards.
• Consider who may be especially at risk.
• Eliminate or reduce the risk from fire as far as is reasonably practical and provide general fire precautions to deal with any residual risk.
• Take additional measures to ensure fire safety where flammable or explosive materials are used or stored.
• Create a plan to deal with any emergency and, in most cases, document your findings.
• Review the findings as necessary

In carrying out a risk assessment the responsible person may decide that given the nature of the premises or the people involved, they do not have the necessary competence to discharge their duties. If this is the case, the responsible person can choose to appoint one or more competent persons to assist them. The level of necessary competence is not prescribed in the Order. It recognises that the extent of competency will vary according to the nature and complexity of the premises involved.

Getting help and additional guidance

The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) provides additional information and has produced a series of guides in order to assist those preparing fire risk assessments; these will give detailed information on risk assessments and other issues.

The following is a list of the available fire safety risk assessment guidance:

A shorter entry-level guide is also available as well as a supplementary guide on the Means of Escape for Disabled People, which should be read in alongside the main guides.

All of the guidance documents are available to download free of charge or to purchase in hard copy from this site.



Where does it apply?

The Order applies to virtually all premises and covers nearly every type of building, structure and open space.

For example:
• Offices and shops
• Premises that provide care
• Community halls
• The common areas of houses in multiple occupation including common fire warning systems etc.
• Pubs, clubs and restaurants
• Schools
• Tents and marquees
• Hotels, B&Bs, guest houses, hostels and self catering accommodation
• Factories and warehouses
• Stables

The Order does not however apply to individual, domestic premises occupied by a single family group.

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