Oct 1st Fire Safety Law Changes: What You Need to Know

Businesses and building owners will have new duties from Sunday 1 October, when new fire safety legislation comes into affect. The changes in legislation are also known as Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022, and they are in addition to the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and the Fire Safety Act 2021 which commenced last summer.

The new legislation is geared towards improving safety for residents, and applies to all non-domestic premises as well as the communal parts of residential buildings.

Here are the 3 main changes;

1. Written fire risk assessment and fire safety arrangements.

The previous requirement to have a written fire risk assessment only applied in certain circumstances (e.g. where the responsible person employees five or more persons). This will no longer be the case, and if you are a responsible person, then you will need to record both your fire risk assessment and fire safety arrangement in full, regardless of the size or purpose of the business or premises.

2. Enhanced requirements for cooperation and coordination.

In premises where there is more than one responsible person, for example in multi-occupied premises or buildings where the occupier and building owner are different entities, there are increased requirements for cooperation and coordination between responsible persons.

3. Provision of information to residents

In residential buildings with two or more domestic premises (e.g. blocks of flats) then the responsible owner must provide residents with information on the risks from fire within their building and the fire safety measures provided to keep them safe. This requirement expands upon legislation introduced earlier this year that required responsible persons to provide residents with information on emergency procedures and the importance of fire doors.

You can find out more and book our risk assessment services here.

For a full summary of changes you can also watch the NFCC Video below;