The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 were introduced to implement the recommendations made in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 report, which required a change in the law. These regulations came into force on 23 January 2023 and apply only in England. The responsible person, typically the building owner or another person in control of the premises, is required to take necessary steps to ensure the safety of those who use a regulated premises. In this blog post, we will discuss the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 in detail and explore the reasons behind their implementation, their scope, and their impact on the public.

Background

Following the tragic Grenfell Tower fire, the government established the Independent Grenfell Tower Inquiry in August 2017. The Inquiry published its first Phase report in October 2019, which made several recommendations that required a change in the law to implement. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 implemented most of these recommendations. The regulations were introduced to improve fire safety outcomes and protect the public from the risk of fire, by better supporting compliance and effective enforcement in all regulated premises.

Scope

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 apply to all premises, including workplaces and the common parts of all multi-occupied residential buildings. The regulations primarily focus on high-rise residential buildings, as recommended by the Inquiry. The height of 18 meters (or at least seven storeys) is commonly used in England to define a high-rise building. Building standards become more restrictive at this height, and firefighting tactics change. Therefore, limiting the parts of the regulations that require responsible persons to share information about their building electronically with Fire and Rescue Services ensures that the Fire Service has the information it needs to respond to potentially the most complex fires.

Regardless of the height of the residential building, residents of all blocks of flats and other multi-occupied residential buildings with common parts are given fire safety instructions, as well as information on the importance of looking after fire doors, to help make them feel safer in their own homes. The regulations make it mandatory for responsible persons of high-rise flats to provide Fire and Rescue Services with necessary information to plan and respond to emergencies effectively. Additionally, the regulations require responsible persons in multi-occupied residential buildings that are high-rise or above 11 meters in height to provide additional safety measures.

Requirements

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 impose several requirements on responsible persons in high-rise residential buildings, as well as multi-occupied residential buildings that are high-rise or above 11 meters in height. These requirements are designed to mitigate the risks of fire and improve the safety of those who use regulated premises.

Building Plans: Responsible persons in high-rise residential buildings are required to provide their local Fire and Rescue Service with up-to-date electronic building floor plans and to place a hard copy of these plans, alongside a single-page building plan that identifies key firefighting equipment, in a secure information box on site.

External Wall Systems: Responsible persons in high-rise residential buildings must provide their local Fire and Rescue Service with information about the design and materials of a high-rise building's external wall system and to inform the Fire and Rescue Service of any material changes to these walls. Also, they will be required to provide information in relation to the level of risk that the design and materials of the external wall structure gives rise to and any mitigating steps taken.

Lifts and other Key Firefighting Equipment: Responsible persons in high-rise residential buildings are required to undertake monthly checks on the operation of lifts intended for use by firefighters and evacuation lifts in their building and check the functionality of other key pieces of firefighting equipment. They will also be required to report any defective lifts or equipment to their local Fire and Rescue Service as soon as possible after detection if the fault cannot be fixed within 24 hours, and to record the outcome of checks and make them available to residents.

Information Boxes: Responsible persons in high-rise residential buildings are required to install and maintain a secure information box in their building. This box must contain the name and contact details of the Responsible Person and hard copies of the building floor plans.

Wayfinding Signage: In high-rise residential buildings, responsible persons are required to install signage visible in low light or smoky conditions that identifies flat and floor numbers in the stairwells of relevant buildings.

In multi-occupied residential buildings that are high-rise or above 11 meters in height, responsible persons are required to undertake annual checks of flat entrance doors and quarterly checks of all fire doors in the common parts. They are also required to provide relevant fire safety instructions to their residents, including instructions on how to report a fire and any other instruction that sets out what a resident must do once a fire has occurred, based on the evacuation strategy for the building. Additionally, responsible persons must provide residents with information relating to the importance of fire doors in fire safety.

Implications

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 impose new obligations on the responsible person for a regulated premises, including building owners and building managers. These regulations have significant implications for those who own or manage regulated premises, especially high-rise and multi-occupied residential buildings. Responsible persons will need to ensure that they comply with the requirements set out in the regulations, which will require significant investment of time, effort, and resources.

The regulations are also likely to have financial implications for responsible persons, as they may need to purchase new items such as information boxes and wayfinding signage. However, the regulations are not expected to have a significant impact on the cost of buildings or their refurbishment, as most of the requirements are related to the maintenance of existing systems.

The regulations also have implications for Fire and Rescue Services, who will need to be able to access the necessary information and plans from responsible persons quickly and efficiently. This will require investment in new systems and training for Fire and Rescue Services personnel to ensure that they can use the information provided effectively.

Conclusion

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 are an important step forward in improving fire safety outcomes and protecting the public from the risk of fire. The regulations impose new obligations on responsible persons in high-rise and multi-occupied residential buildings, but they are proportionate and designed to ensure that those who use regulated premises are as safe as possible.

The regulations also demonstrate the government's commitment to learning from the tragic events at Grenfell Tower and taking decisive action to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. By ensuring that responsible persons provide the necessary information to Fire and Rescue Services, and by ensuring that residents are provided with clear instructions and information about fire safety, the regulations will help to prevent fire-related tragedies in the future.