Fighting Fire - The New Regime

19 July 2006

On the 1st October new fire safety legislation affecting the majority of business premises, the common parts of apartment blocks and houses in multiple occupation are planned to come into effect. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 was approved by Parliament on 7th June 2005 and was originally scheduled to come into effect on 1st April 2006. This has now been delayed amidst fears that those responsible for complying with the order would not be able to ensure compliance in time and a revised date of 1st October 2006 has been proposed.

The effect of the regulations is to shift the burden of compliance from the regime under which the fire and rescue service determines the precautions necessary to a more risk assessment based approach. It will do away with fire certificates for non domestic premises and place a greater emphasis on fire prevention, with a far more proactive approach for managers and other property professionals. However, building regulations will still have a great role in ensuring premises meet the latest requirements in fire prevention

Although the regulations primarily target non-domestic properties, they also apply to the common parts of residential blocks and houses in multiple occupation. The regulations impose a duty on the ‘responsible person’ to ensure fire safety requirements are complied with. The responsible person is widely defined under the Order as the person who has control of the premises. This includes landlords, management companies, employers, independent traders and the owners of premises.

Once established, the responsible person is under a duty to carry out risk assessments in order to decide the necessary steps required to ensure the premises are properly equipped with the appropriate fire precautionary measures. The emphasis will be on preventing fires starting and if they do start that procedures are in place to ensure people are safe. The onus passes to the individual organisation affected to show that adequate steps have been taken

Precisely what is appropriate depends on the circumstances and takes into account factors such as the size, use and maximum number of people that may be present at the premises. The regulations themselves do not supply any technical data nor minimum specifications as to the precautions which must be taken. The technical data is set out in British Standards or left to Fire Inspectors. However under the order fire authorities will no longer be required to carry out regular inspections of premises. Nonetheless, Fire Inspectors will have power to inspect the measures in place and to serve ‘Alterations’, ‘Prohibition’ or ‘Enforcement’ Notices requiring corrective action to be taken to the particular use of premises or the fire detection measures in place

Under the Order, Fire Inspectors have a wide discretion and may require measures to be installed without having regard to their cost. Where a Fire Inspector recommends a course of action that is unreasonable in the circumstances, it is possible to appeal to the Office of the Secretary of State to determine precisely what measures are necessary to comply with the Order. Alternatively where a notice has been served under the Order, it is possible to appeal to the Magistrates Court within 21 days to modify or cancel the notice. The Court may affirm the notice, modify the required action stipulated in the notice or cancel the notice entirely. Where an appeal is made against an Alterations or Enforcement Notice, the effect of the notice is suspended until the outcome of the appeal is known.

Once the regulations are in force ‘relevant persons’ will be under a duty to comply with the precautionary measures set out in the Order and should ensure compliance before October 1st. However, this need not be an onerous task. Consider:

where are the fire risks at the premises
who are at risk
what steps can be taken to mitigate the risk or remove it altogether
record what you do
ensure that people affected are trained and informed
carry out a regular review of the fire safety precautions that you introduce and

For more information please contact Andrew Gough, Partner.
 

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