Are You Ready? Changes to Fire Safety Legislation Coming into Force Sunday, 1st October

What has Changed Within Fire Safety Regulations in 2023?

Earlier this year, the UK Government brought into force changes to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 - which saw the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 laid under Article 24 - A section of the RRFSO 2005 that grants power to make regulations about fire precautions.

January’s update saw amendments to legislation that related to existing and new buildings - you can read our summary of the update here.

However, in Q4 of 2023 - further amendments to the RRFSO 2005 are being brought into force. Specifically, these relate to Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 - which looks to improve fire safety in ALL buildings regulated by the RRFSO 2005. Deviations from these new amendments will be punishable in a court of law from Sunday 1st October 2023.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is available to view and download on the gov.uk website.

What does Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 contain?

This section of the BSA 2022 relates generally to the Responsible Person.

Below, our resident Fire Safety Training Consultant, Richard Parker-Wood has outlined the key changes that will impact the Fire Safety Responsible Person in any building regulated by the RRFSO 2005.

Responsible Persons now MUST:

Record completed Risk Assessments
- This includes identifying the person/company responsible for any or all of the fire risk assessment
- If the building is made up of multi-domestic units then these records must be shared with residents
Record fire safety arrangements
- Ask, how is fire safety managed in your building?
Share the following with other Responsible Persons and residents of multi-domestic units where applicable:
- Contact details of the Responsible Person including UK address
- Identified fire safety risks
- Protective/preventative measures
- The identity of nominated Competent Persons details for fire-fighting and detection assistance
Take responsibility for identifying other Responsible Persons and any Accountable Persons (new for the BSA 2022) who share/have duties relating to the same premises
- The RP must identify themselves to the Accountable Person, so that they can fulfil their duties in accordance with BSA 2022.
Share all ‘relevant fire safety information’ with incoming RPs
Provide residents with relevant fire safety information in a format that is easily understood by the residents. This applies to buildings containing two or more sets of domestic dwellings

As you can see, this list of amendments is geared solely towards the Responsible Person, and whilst there are future calls for legislation to be written into law regarding Fire Safety Competent Persons, ultimately, the FSRP will have an increased level of legal responsibility from Sunday 1st October 2023.

We offer a range of courses designed to aid in increasing the competency of staff tasked with survey and inspection of multiple fire safety devices.

Outside of changes relating to the FSRP, further amendments can be summarised as:

Resident Access to Fire Safety Information
Stricter Enforcement Authorities Allowed for Non-Compliance
Record Keeping: Continuous and Expanded in Depth and Quality

Leading to…

Communicative Improvements between FSRPs.

Amendments to Section 156 of the Building Safety Act come into force on Sunday, 1st October 2023

In Summary

It is important to recognise that throughout the usage period of any building, ongoing maintenance and degradation can negatively impact regulatory compliance.

It is for this reason that risk management procedures are put in place.

As part of this, according to the new regulations, an RP must commission regular inspections by a “Competent Person” who will assess and remediate fire risks before reporting on their findings / works.

All of the above ties back to the findings of the report by Dame Judith Hackitt following the Grenfell Tower incident. Specifically, the implementation of a “Golden thread of digital information” for fire safety. Any Fire Safety Responsible Person will now be required to keep and make available detailed records pertaining to fire safety throughout the lifespan of the building. Part of this, includes a requirement to now make those records available to future Responsible Person successors and residents who would like to be informed.