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As part of the Government's commitment to reduce death, injury and damage caused by fire, the Communities and Local Government is reviewing fire safety law; and is making a number of changes which are designed to make the law easier to understand and comply with.
These changes form the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRFSO).
The changes set out in the RRFSO will apply to non-domestic premises only.
Until the RRFSO becomes the new law in October 2006, the Current fire safety lawmust be complied with.
The Regulatory Reform Act 2001 gives Ministers the power, by order, to reform legislation which 'has the effect of imposing burdens affecting persons in the carrying on of any activity'.
Such orders are known as Regulatory Reform Orders.
Before a Minister may make a Regulatory Reform Order, he or she must take the following three steps:
Only once all these steps have been successfully completed may the order become law.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 was approved by Parliament on 7 June 2005, and wil become law on 1 October 2006.
The consultation paper on which the Order is based can be found below.
The RRFSO itself is available from the Office of Public Sector Information website: Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 1541
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
You will also find links on the right hand side of this page to relevant news releases.
The main effect of the changes will be a move towards greater emphasis on fire prevention in all non-domestic premises, including the voluntary sector and self-employed people with premises separate from their homes.
Fire certificates will be abolished and will cease to have legal status.
The Fire Safety Order will apply in England and Wales. (Northern Ireland and Scotland will have their own laws.) It covers 'general fire precautions' and other fire safety duties which are needed to protect 'relevant persons' in case of fire in and around most 'premises'. The Order requires fire precautions to be put in place "where necessary" and to the extent that it is reasonable and practicable in the circumstances of the case.
Responsibility for complying with the Fire Safety Order will rest with the 'responsible person'. In a workplace, this is the employer and any other person who may have control of any part of the premises, eg the occupier or owner. In all other premises the person or people in control of the premises will be responsible. If there is more than one responsible person in any type of premises, all must take all reasonable steps to work with each other.
If you are the responsible person you will have to carry out a fire risk assessment which must focus on the safety in case of fire of all 'relevant persons'. It should pay particular attention to those at special risk, such as the disabled and those with special needs, and must include consideration of any dangerous substance likely to be on the premises. Your fire risk assessment will help you identify risks that can be removed or reduced and to decide the nature and extent of the general fire precautions you need to take to protect people against the fire risks that remain.
If you employ five or more people you must record the significant findings of the assessment.
A About the guides - introduction and checklistwill be produced 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 eleven planned RRO guides:
A small entry-level guide is also being produced. All of the guidance documents will be available to download free of charge from this site, as well as via the Small Business Service on the Business Link websites (see link above right). The Business Link website also contains guidance on current fire safety legislation.
Please e-mail Communities and Local Government Fire Safety Reform Team at Fire.safetyreform@communities.gsi.gov.uk
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