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Regulatory Reform Order
Introduction
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 introduces significant change. As well as simplifying current legislation, it introduces the need for employers, building owners and occupiers to have a greater understanding of fire safety and nominate a "responsible person" to ensure compliance.
An online form is available in the section below to help you check your compliance with this new legislation.
What is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005?
The government is bringing about better regulation, by regulating only where necessary and in a manner that is more suited to the needs of modern business and commerce.
The Order, made under the Regulatory Reform Act 2001 replaces many of the references to fire safety in other legislation such as the Fire Precautions Act, Licensing Act and Housing Acts with a simple, single Order. It requires any person who exercises some level of control in premises to take reasonable steps to reduce the risk from fire and ensure occupants can safely escape if a fire does occur.
In such premises achieving fire safety is often a matter of common sense but you will have to ensure that sufficient time is put aside to work through the necessary steps. In more complicated premises or those with a high life risk more expert help may be required.
To help you ensure your premises comply with the new legislation, an online self-assessment form is available. This consists of a series of fire-safety related questions which should take no more than ten minutes to complete via e-fire. At the end of the process, you will have the option to view your results and any suggestions for improvement that may be applicable by means of an online form which you can print or save for future reference (opens in a new browser window).
Where does it apply?
The Order applies to virtually all premises and covers nearly every type of building, structure and open space.
For example:
- Offices and shops
- Premises that provide care
- Community halls
- The common areas of houses in multiple occupation including common fire warning systems etc.
- Pubs, clubs and restaurants
- Schools
- Tents and marquees
- Hotels and hostels
- Factories and warehouses
But excluding:
- Purely domestic premises occupied by a single family group
What are the main requirements of the Order?
The responsible person is required to:
- Carry out or nominate someone to carry out a fire risk assessment identifying the risks and hazards.
- Consider who may be especially at risk.
- Eliminate or reduce the risk from fire as far as is reasonably practical and provide general fire precautions to deal with any residual risk.
- Take additional measures to ensure fire safety where flammable or explosive materials are used or stored.
- Create a plan to deal with any emergency and, in most cases, document your findings.
- Review the findings as necessary
 
Getting help and additional guidance
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) provides additional information and has produced a series of guides in order to assist those preparing fire risk assessments; these will give detailed information on risk assessments and other issues.
The following is a list of the eleven planned RRO guides:
- Offices and Shops
- Premises providing Sleeping Accommodation
- Residential Care
- Small and Medium Places of Assembly
- Large Places of Assembly
- Factories and Warehouses
- Theatres and Cinemas
- Educational Premises
- Healthcare Premises (responsibility of the Department of Health)
- Transport Premises and Facilities
- Open Air Events
A small entry-level guide is also being produced. All of the guidance documents will be available to download free of charge from this site, as well as via the Small Business Service website which also contains guidance on current fire safety legislation.
Who is responsible?
Under the Order, anyone who has control in a building or anyone who has a degree of control over certain areas or systems may be designated a "responsible person" for example:
- The employer for those parts of premises they have any control over.
- The managing agent or owner for common parts of a premises or common fire safety equipment such as fire warning systems or sprinklers.
- The occupier of premises that are not workplaces such as a chairperson in a parish hall.
- Any other person who has some control over a part of a premises may be the responsible person in so far as that control extends.
Although in many premises the responsible person will be obvious, there may be occasions when a number of people have some responsibility.
How do I comply with the Order?
If you are the responsible person you must ensure a fire risk assessment is carried out although you can delegate this task to somebody else. However you will still remain responsible, in law, for complying with the Order.
The responsible person, either on their own or in co-operation with any other responsible person must as far as is reasonably practical, ensure that everyone on the premises can escape safely in the event of a fire.
This differs from previous legislation in that there is no longer any distinction made between people who are employees, for example in a place of work and members of the public at an open air entertainment venue. It includes people who may have a disability or anyone who may need special assistance.
Fire certificates will no longer be issued and those previously in force will have no legal status (however, they may be used as a good starting point for a fire risk assessment). The Order requires that the responsible person takes ownership of the management of any risk in their premises.
If your premises have been designed and built, and are being used in accordance with modern Building Regulations then your structural fire precautions should be acceptable. You will still need to carry out a fire risk assessment and ensure that your risk reduction, fire precautions and maintenance routines are sustained.
The Principles of Good Enforcement
Policy and Procedures
This document sets out what business and others being regulated can expect from enforcement officers. It commits us to good enforcement policies and procedures. It may be supplemented by additional statements of enforcement policy. The primary function of central and local government enforcement work is to protect the public, the environment and groups such as consumers and workers. At the same time, carrying out enforcement functions in an equitable, practical and consistent manner helps to promote a thriving national and local economy. We are committed to these aims and to maintaining a fair and safe trading environment.
The effectiveness of legislation in protecting consumers or sectors in society depends crucially on the compliance of those regulated. We recognise that most businesses want to comply with the law. We will, therefore, take care to help business and others meet their legal obligations without unnecessary expense, while taking firm action, including prosecution where appropriate, against those who flout the law or act irresponsibly. All citizens will reap the benefits of this policy through better information, choice and safety.
We have therefore adopted the central and local government Concordat on Good Enforcement. Included in the term ‘enforcement’ are advisory visits and assisting with compliance as well as licensing and formal enforcement action. By adopting the concordat we commit ourselves to the following policies and procedures, which contribute to best value, and will provide information to show that we are observing them.
Policy Standards
In consultation with business and other relevant interested parties, including technical experts where appropriate, we will draw up clear standards setting out the level of service and performance the public and business people can expect to receive. We will publish these standards and our annual performance against them. The standards will be made available to businesses and others who are regulated.
Openness
We will provide information and advice in plain language on the rules that we apply and will disseminate this as widely as possible. We will be open about how we set about our work, including any charges that we set, consulting business, voluntary organisations, charities, consumers and workforce representatives. We will discuss general issues, specific compliance failures or problems with anyone experiencing difficulties.
Helpfulness
We believe that prevention is better than cure and that our role therefore involves actively working with business, especially small and medium sized businesses, to advise on and assist with compliance. We will provide a courteous and efficient service and our staff will identify themselves by name. We will provide a contact point and telephone number for further dealings with us and we will encourage business to seek advice/information from us. Applications for approval of establishments, licenses, registrations, etc, will be dealt with efficiently and promptly. We will ensure that, wherever practicable, our enforcement services are effectively co-ordinated to minimise unnecessary overlaps and time delays.
Complaints About Service
We will provide well publicised, effective and timely complaints procedures easily accessible to business, the public, employees and consumer groups. In cases where disputes cannot be resolved, any right of complaint or appeal will be explained, with details of the process and the likely time-scales involved.
Proportionality
We will minimise the costs of compliance for business by ensuring that any action we require is proportionate to the risks. As far as the law allows, we will take account of the circumstances of the case and the attitude of the operator when considering action. We will take particular care to work with small businesses and voluntary and community organisations so that they can meet their legal obligations without unnecessary expense, where practicable.
Consistency
We will carry out our duties in a fair, equitable and consistent manner. While inspectors are xpected to exercise judgement in individual cases, we will have arrangements in place to promote consistency, including effective arrangements for liaison with other authorities and enforcement bodies through schemes such as those operated by the Local Authorities Co-Ordinating Body on Food and Trading Standards (LACOTS) and the Local Authority National Type Approval Confederation (LANTAC).
Procedures
Advice from an officer will be put clearly and simply and will be confirmed in writing, on request, explaining why any remedial work is necessary and over what time-scale, and making sure that legal requirements are clearly distinguished from best practice advice.
Before formal enforcement action is taken, officers will provide an opportunity to discuss the circumstances of the case and, if possible, resolve points of difference, unless immediate action is required (for example, in the interests of health and safety or environmental protection or to prevent evidence being destroyed).
Where immediate action is considered necessary, an explanation of why such action was required will be given at the time and confirmed in writing in most cases within 5 working days and, in all cases, within 10 working days.
Where there are rights of appeal against formal action, advice on the appeal mechanism will be clearly set out in writing at the time the action is taken (whenever possible this advice will be issued with the enforcement notice).
CABINET OFFICE (March 1998)
Fire Safety Risk Assessment
This document suggests information that might be contained in a fire safety risk assessment. When completed in accordance with all suggestions it may serve as a record as required by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Fire Safety Risk Assessment
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