New Fire Safety Guidance for Residential Premises in England

With the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 due to come into force on 23rd January 2023, the Home Office has published new guidance regarding the responsibilities of individuals under the regulations.

While the regulations are mainly focused on high-rise buildings, there are also regulations regarding providing information to residents and fire doors in relation to all building which contain two or more sets of domestic premises and which contain common parts through which residents would need to evacuate in the case of an emergency.

The guidance provides a walk through of each of the stages of the regulations clearly specifying which guidance applies to which buildings and what the exact responsibilities of the responsible person are in regard to the regulations.

The guidance covers the following duties:

For all residential buildings:

• Duty to display fire safety instructions

For buildings over 11m in height:

• Duty to complete regular fire door checks and flat entrance fire door checks

For high-rise buildings (buildings at least 18m above ground level or at least 7 storeys):

• Duty to ensure appropriate wayfinding signage
• Duty to have a secure information box
• Duty to have a record of the design of the external walls of the buildings alongside a risk assessment
• Duty to have a floor plan and building plan as well as to provide the plans to the fire service
• Duty to complete regular checks of fire fighting equipment, and lifts

If you have any questions or would like support with managing issues at your workplace, please speak to your usual contact or get in touch using the form below.