Short answer. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is the law that makes one person at every non-domestic premises in England and Wales, the responsible person, legally accountable for fire safety. They must assess the fire risks, put suitable precautions in place, and since 1 October 2023 record the full assessment in writing, whatever the size of the business.
What the Fire Safety Order is
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the FSO) came into force on 1 October 2006. It replaced more than 70 pieces of earlier fire legislation, including the old fire certificate system, with a single risk-based framework that applies to almost every non-domestic premises in England and Wales.
The FSO does not apply in Scotland, which has its own regime under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, or in Northern Ireland, which is covered by the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006. If your business operates across the UK, check which regime applies to each site rather than assuming the FSO covers all of them.
Who is the responsible person
Article 3 of the FSO defines the responsible person as:
- The employer, where the premises are a workplace.
- The person who has control of the premises in connection with running a business, such as the owner or a managing agent.
- The owner, where no one else fits either of the above.
Article 5(3) separately places duties on any other person who has, to any extent, control of part of the premises, for example a contractor or a tenant managing their own unit. That person must take reasonable fire safety measures within the areas they control, but they are not the responsible person unless they also meet the article 3 definition. In shared or multi-let buildings, it is common for several duty holders to have overlapping responsibilities, which is exactly why coordination between them matters.
What the responsible person must do
Under the Order, the responsible person must:
- Carry out a fire risk assessment. Identify ignition sources, fuel sources and the people at risk.
- Put suitable precautions in place. Detection and warning systems, escape routes, signage, extinguishers and emergency procedures appropriate to the risk.
- Record the assessment and the fire safety arrangements. Since 1 October 2023, following section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022, every responsible person must record the significant findings of the fire risk assessment and the arrangements in place, regardless of how many people they employ. The old exemption for businesses with fewer than five employees no longer exists.
- Plan, inform and train. Staff need to know what to do if there is a fire, and anyone with a role in the evacuation plan needs to know theirs.
- Review the assessment. Article 9(3) requires a review when there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid, or when there has been a significant change to the premises, occupancy or work activities. Reviewing annually as a matter of routine is sensible practice, but it is not itself what the law requires.
A competent fire risk assessment typically follows the same five-step logic: identify the hazards, identify the people at risk, evaluate and reduce the risk, record and communicate the findings, then review. PAS 79-1:2020 sets out the methodology for non-domestic premises, and PAS 79-2:2020 covers housing.
What changed with the Fire Safety Act 2021 and the 2022 Regulations
Two later pieces of legislation extended what the FSO covers, particularly for residential blocks:
- The Fire Safety Act 2021 confirmed that the external walls of a building, including cladding, balconies and insulation, and the front doors of individual flats, fall within the scope of the responsible person's fire risk assessment. This closed a gap that had been argued over since the Grenfell Tower fire.
- The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 added specific duties for multi-occupied residential buildings in England, scaled by height. These include providing evacuation information to residents, checking lifts intended for evacuation, and checks on flat entrance doors and communal fire doors in the taller buildings the Regulations cover.
Both instruments apply in England; landlords and managing agents with residential blocks elsewhere in the UK need to check the equivalent local requirements rather than assume these apply.
Can you do a fire risk assessment yourself?
For a small, low-risk premises, the responsible person can often complete the assessment themselves, provided they understand the process and act on what it finds. For complex premises, multi-occupancy buildings or higher-risk processes, the Order expects the responsible person to use someone with the training and experience to identify the hazards correctly and apply the right controls. Competence, not job title, is what the law is looking for.
What happens if you do not comply
Fire and Rescue Authorities enforce the FSO. Where an inspection finds risks that are not being managed, they can issue an enforcement notice requiring specific improvements within a set timeframe, issue a prohibition notice stopping the use of unsafe areas, or, in serious cases, prosecute. Most authorities take a proportionate approach and work with businesses to put things right, but the powers exist and are used where risks are ignored.
If you share a building
Article 22 requires responsible persons who share premises to co-operate and co-ordinate their fire safety arrangements. In practice this means sharing relevant parts of your fire risk assessment with other duty holders in the building and making sure evacuation plans line up rather than conflict.
Read the Order itself on legislation.gov.uk for the full text of the duties described above. For premises that need a full review against current law, York Green's fire risk assessment service covers the assessment, the written record and the ongoing review cycle.
For related reading, see what to expect during a fire risk assessment and fire risk assessments and life safety.