New fire safety guidance comes into force on 1 October 2023

30 Mar 2023 04:39 PM

Commencement regulations for new fire safety legal provisions within section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 have been laid in Parliament.

Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) makes a number of amendments to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) to improve fire safety in all buildings regulated by the FSO. These improvements form Phase 3 of the Home Office’s fire safety reform programme, building on Phase 1 (the Fire Safety Act 2021) and Phase 2 (the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022).

Phase 3 further strengthens fire safety in all FSO regulated premises by:

• improving cooperation and coordination between Responsible Persons (RPs)
• increasing requirements in relation to the recording and sharing of fire safety information thus creating a continual record throughout a building’s lifespan
• making it easier for enforcement authorities to take action against non-compliance
• ensuring residents have access to comprehensive information about fire safety in their building

We are not at this stage commencing a requirement for RPs to ensure that anyone they appoint to do a fire risk assessment is competent. We are actively working with the sector to develop a robust roll out plan and will provide more information on this in the coming months.

Guidance to support RPs in understanding and meeting these new requirements will be published before they come into force.

We have today published 3 new fire safety guides on small non-domestic premises, small blocks of flats and for small sleeping accommodation. These replace the old short guide to making your premises safe from fire. We have also published and updated the fire risk assessment checklist.