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The Fire Safety Act 2021 and Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022

June 14, 2023

The Fire Safety Act 2021 (“The Act”) received Royal Assent on 29 April 2021 and commenced on 16 May 2022. The Act clarifies the scope of The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, so that in buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises, a fire safety risk assessment must include the following two elements:

  1. The exterior, structure and external walls of the building, including cladding, balconies and windows; and
  2. All doors between the domestic premises (individual flats) and common parts.

Compliance of the Act falls upon the Responsible Persons (“RPs”) who must manage and reduce the risk of any fire that could be caused by the buildings structure.  ‘Responsible Persons’ has a legal definition as per The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, it is either the person who has control of the premises (as an occupier or otherwise) in connection with the carrying on by him of a trade, business or other undertaking (for profit or not) or the owner, where the person in control of the premises does not have control in connection with the carrying on by that person of a trade, business or other undertaking. The responsibility for compliance cannot be delegated to others (apart from the RPs engaging other parties such as contractors to assist them in compliance).

In the case of a block of flats, the RPs will be the person who has control of the premises in connection with carrying out a business. This is typically the freeholder / landlord or the managing agents for the block. RPs must ensure that for buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises they have reviewed and where necessary, updated their fire risk assessment. Non-compliance of The Act could result in prosecution.

The House of Commons successfully rejected a House of Lords amendment whereby the cost of the assessment and any works would not be added to the service charge.

RPs should refer to the guidance published on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-act-2021/fire-safety-act-commencement-prioritisation-guidance-accessible-version

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 (“The Regulations”) came into force in England on 23 January 2023. The Regulations set out further responsibilities on RPs to identify and provide information of any fire risk in multi occupied residential buildings of at least 18 meters or 7 storeys in height. RPs must:

  1. Share electronically with the fire and rescue services details of external wall systems, floor plan and building plans;
  2. Keep hard copies of the floor plan and details of the RPs in a secure information box;
  3. Have low visibility wayfinding signage, which is visible in low light conditions;
  4. Establish monthly checks on lifts that are for the use of fire and rescue services in high-rise residential buildings and on essential pieces of firefighting equipment; and
  5. Inform the fire and rescue service if any fire fighting equipment is out of action for at least 24 hours.

For multi occupied residential buildings of 11 or more meters there must be quarterly checks of fire doors and annual checks of flat entrance doors.

If circumstances of the property change, another updated Fire Risk Assessment must be carried out.

Further guidance can be found on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-england-regulations-2022/fact-sheet-overview

If you are a Responsible Person of a multi-occupied residential building, it is important to ensure compliance with The Fire Safety Act 2021 and Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022. To learn more about your responsibilities and how to meet them, contact us at 0121 705 7571 or at enquiries@wallacerobinson.co.uk

James Sawyer
Trainee Solicitor – Commercial and Development Department

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