Guidance · Reviewed August 2026
Who the responsible person is, what the Fire Safety Order requires, what changed in October 2023, and the questions to work through before an inspector asks them.
The short answer
Workplace fire safety in England and Wales sits under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. It puts the duty on a responsible person — usually the employer, owner or occupier — to assess the fire risk and put general fire precautions in place. Since 1 October 2023 the assessment and your fire safety arrangements must be recorded in full, whatever the size of the business.
Fire is one of the few workplace risks that can destroy a business in an afternoon. It spreads faster than people expect, it is difficult to contain once established, and the consequences run from serious injury and death through to premises and equipment lost in minutes. Which is why the law asks employers to prevent it rather than react to it.
The Law That Applies
The Fire Safety Order is the main piece of legislation governing fire safety in buildings in England and Wales. It applies to all workplaces and to the common parts of buildings containing two or more domestic premises — so communal corridors, stairways and plant rooms in blocks of flats are in scope even though the flats themselves are not.
It reaches further than many expect. Anywhere people work, visit or stay is covered, and the government publishes separate guidance for small paying guest accommodation precisely because bed and breakfasts and self-catering lets fall within it.
It has been amended twice in recent years, both times as part of the government’s response to Grenfell:
| Legislation | What it did |
|---|---|
| Fire Safety Order 2005 | The core regime. Responsible person, fire risk assessment, general fire precautions. |
| Fire Safety Act 2021 | Clarified that the Order covers the structure, external walls and flat entrance doors of multi-occupied residential buildings. |
| Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 | Additional duties, principally for high-rise and multi-occupied residential buildings, including information to residents. |
| Building Safety Act 2022, s.156 | From 1 October 2023 — full recording of the assessment and arrangements, recording who carried it out, cooperation between responsible persons, handover duties, and higher fines. |
Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own fire safety legislation. The Fire Safety Order does not extend there, so the detail below applies in England and Wales.
Who Is the Responsible Person?
The employer, landlord, owner or occupier of the premises. If you hold that role, it is your legal obligation to make sure the building meets fire safety requirements — and it applies to more people than expect it, including anyone letting a property to paying guests such as a bed and breakfast or self-catering let.
There can be more than one responsible person in a building, and in shared premises there usually is. Section 156 strengthened the duty on them to cooperate and coordinate with each other, and to be able to identify who the others are. Assuming the landlord has it covered is not a position the Order supports.
Handing over
Where one person stops being the responsible person and someone else takes over, the outgoing responsible person must pass on the relevant fire safety information — including the fire risk assessment and the identity of whoever was appointed to carry it out. New tenants and new managing agents inheriting a building with no records are inheriting a problem, and it is now explicitly someone’s fault.
What Changed on 1 October 2023
This is the part most guidance still gets wrong. Before October 2023, you only had to record the significant findings of your fire risk assessment if you employed five or more people, or the premises were licensed or subject to an alterations notice.
Those limits are gone
Every responsible person must now record the fire risk assessment in full and their fire safety arrangements, in all circumstances. Not just the significant findings, and regardless of headcount, licensing or building type.
If someone tells you the five-employee threshold still applies to fire, they are working from pre-2023 guidance. It still applies to your health and safety policy and to recording general risk assessment findings — just not to fire.
Three other changes came in at the same time. Where you engage someone to carry out or review the assessment, you must record who they are — their name, and their organisation where applicable. Article 50 guidance gained legal weight: in proceedings for an alleged breach, compliance with or deviation from that guidance can be relied on as tending to establish whether there was a breach. And fines increased, with the levels aligned across offences to strengthen the deterrent.
That second point is worth acting on. The Home Office publishes Article 50 guidance as a suite of premises-specific guides — offices and shops, factories and warehouses, sleeping accommodation, residential care, educational premises, places of assembly, animal premises and more. Working to the guide that matches your premises is now a materially stronger position than working to none.
One thing that has not yet commenced: the requirement for an appointed fire risk assessor to be competent is in the legislation but is being brought into force at a later date. Until then it is a strong recommendation rather than a legal duty — though appointing someone unqualified would be difficult to defend either way.
What the Responsible Person Must Do
Carry out a fire risk assessment of the premises and act on what it finds. Tell staff about the risks identified. Put general fire precautions in place and keep them maintained. Plan for an emergency so people know how to get out. Provide fire safety instruction and training. And where there is more than one responsible person, coordinate your arrangements with theirs.
Worth being clear on one point the older guidance blurs: a fire risk assessment is not just another risk assessment. It sits under different legislation from your general workplace assessments, it has its own recording duty, and it looks specifically at ignition sources, fuel, oxygen, the people at risk and the means of escape.
Failing to take responsibility carries real consequences — fines and, for serious cases, imprisonment.
Questions to Work Through
If you are the responsible person, these are the questions an inspector is likely to arrive with. Being unable to answer any of them is a good indication of where to start.
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Equipment
Is there adequate firefighting equipment — extinguishers, blankets, sprinklers where appropriate? Is it maintained, and when was the alarm system last tested?
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Escape routes
Are they clear and accessible at all times? Do they lead outside and away from the building? Can every door on the route be opened without a key? Is there emergency lighting? See fire doors.
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People and roles
Are trained fire wardens appointed to account for everyone during an evacuation? Who calls the fire service, and who meets them and shows them the source?
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Everyone gets out
Have you accounted for disabled people in the evacuation strategy? Personal emergency evacuation plans are the usual mechanism, and their absence is a common finding.
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Sources of fuel
Where are flammable substances handled and stored? This overlaps with your COSHH arrangements, but the fire risk is assessed separately.
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Records
Is the assessment recorded in full, dated, and does it name whoever carried it out? Are your fire safety arrangements written down? Since October 2023 both are required.
Not sure where you stand?
A health and safety risk review identifies what your arrangements are missing, and a fire safety audit covers the fire side specifically.
Training
The Order requires the responsible person to ensure staff receive appropriate fire safety instruction and training. What that means in practice varies a great deal — general awareness for all employees, fire marshal training for those nominated to assist, and a regulated qualification for anyone carrying out fire risk assessments in anything more complex than a simple office.
Our fire safety training courses page sets out the options, including the fire risk assessment qualification ladder from Level 2 to Level 5 and which level suits which type of building.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I still only need to write down the fire risk assessment if I have five or more employees?
No — that changed on 1 October 2023. Every responsible person must now record the assessment in full and their fire safety arrangements, regardless of headcount. The previous limits, which also covered licensed premises and those under an alterations notice, were removed by section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022.
Who is the responsible person?
The employer for a workplace, or the person with control of the premises — owner, landlord or occupier. In shared buildings there is usually more than one, and they must cooperate and coordinate with each other. It also catches people who wouldn’t describe themselves as a business, such as those letting to paying guests.
Does my fire risk assessor have to be qualified?
There is a legal requirement for an appointed assessor to be competent, but it has not yet been commenced — it is to be brought into force at a later date. In the meantime it is strongly recommended, and you must in any case record who carried out or reviewed the assessment. Appointing someone without relevant competence would be hard to defend if something went wrong.
Is a fire risk assessment the same as a normal risk assessment?
No. It sits under the Fire Safety Order rather than the Management Regulations, it has its own recording duty, and it examines ignition sources, fuel, means of escape and the people at risk. They are separate documents with separate legal bases, and you need both.
Does the Fire Safety Order apply in Scotland or Northern Ireland?
No. It covers England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own fire safety legislation, with broadly similar duties but different detail — check the position with the relevant fire and rescue service if you operate there.
What happens if we get it wrong?
Breaches are criminal offences, prosecuted by the fire and rescue authority. Section 156 increased the fines available and aligned the levels across offences to strengthen the deterrent, and imprisonment is available for serious cases. Government guidance issued under Article 50 can also be relied on in court as tending to show whether there was a breach.
Related Guidance
Fire doors →
Fire safety audits →
Building safety →
Fire safety training →
All guidance topics →
General guidance only, reviewed against government guidance and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 as amended, in August 2026. Envico is an independent training intermediary and is not affiliated with any fire and rescue authority.