Guidance · Reviewed October 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 fire risk 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 to premises and equipment lost in minutes. That 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 legislation governing fire safety in buildings in England and Wales. It applies to all workplaces and other non-domestic premises, and to the common parts of buildings containing two or more domestic premises. Communal corridors, stairways and plant rooms in blocks of flats are in scope even though the inside of each flat is not.
It reaches further than many expect. The government publishes separate guidance for small paying guest accommodation precisely because bed and breakfasts, guest houses and self-catering lets fall within it.
It has been strengthened several times since 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, in buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises, the Order covers the structure, external walls (including windows, balconies and cladding) and flat entrance doors. |
| Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 | England only. Extra duties for blocks of flats: fire safety instructions and fire door information for residents, fire door checks in buildings over 11 metres, and further duties for high-rise buildings. |
| Building Safety Act 2022, s.156 | From 1 October 2023 in England and Wales: full recording of the assessment and arrangements, recording who helped carry it out, stronger cooperation duties, handover duties, wider legal weight for official guidance, 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?
In a workplace, the employer. Elsewhere, the person who has control of the premises, such as the owner, landlord or occupier. If you hold that role, it is your legal obligation to make sure the premises meet fire safety requirements, and it applies to more people than you might expect, including anyone letting a property to paying guests.
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, including sharing their names and the parts of the building they are responsible for. Assuming the landlord has it covered is not a position the Order supports.
Handing over
Where someone stops being the responsible person and another takes over, the outgoing responsible person must pass on the relevant fire safety information, including the fire risk assessment. New tenants and managing agents who inherit a building with no records are inheriting a problem, and the law now makes clear whose problem it was.
What Changed on 1 October 2023
This is the part much older 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, including all its findings, and their fire safety arrangements. 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 written health and safety policy and to recording general risk assessment findings, but not to fire.
Three other changes came in at the same time. If you engage someone to help make or review the assessment, you must record their name, and their organisation where applicable. Official guidance gained wider legal weight: compliance or non-compliance with any guidance issued under Article 50 can now be relied on in proceedings as tending to show whether there was a breach. Before, that applied only to risk-based guidance for blocks of flats. And fines increased: some offences, such as failing to comply with a fire inspector’s requirements, moved from a £1,000 maximum to an unlimited fine.
The guidance point is worth acting on. The government publishes Article 50 guidance as a suite of premises-specific guides, covering offices and shops, factories and warehouses, sleeping accommodation, residential care, educational premises, large places of assembly and more. Working to the guide that matches your premises is now a materially stronger position than working to none.
One thing has not yet commenced: the requirement that anyone you appoint to help with the fire risk assessment must be competent. It is in the legislation but will be brought into force at a later date. Until then it is strongly recommended 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.
If your premises are too large or complex to assess yourself, our sister site, Raybee, helps you find fire risk assessors covering your area.
Be 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 sources of ignition, fuel and oxygen, the people at risk and the means of escape.
Failing to meet these duties carries real consequences: fines and, in 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.
Equipment
Is there adequate firefighting equipment, such as extinguishers, blankets and sprinklers where appropriate? Is it maintained, and when was the alarm system last tested?
Escape routes
Are they clear and accessible at all times? Do they lead to a place of safety? Can every door on the route be opened easily and immediately without a key? Is there emergency lighting? See fire doors.
People and roles
Are trained fire marshals appointed to help account for everyone during an evacuation? Who calls the fire service, and who meets them on arrival?
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.
Sources of fuel
Where are flammable substances handled and stored? This overlaps with your COSHH arrangements, but the fire risk is assessed separately.
Records
Is the assessment recorded in full and dated, and does it name anyone who helped carry 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 make sure staff receive adequate fire safety training, at induction and repeated periodically where appropriate. In practice that ranges from general awareness for all employees, to fire marshal training for those nominated to help in an emergency, to a recognised fire risk assessment qualification for anyone carrying out assessments.
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 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 otherwise the person with control of the premises, such as the owner, landlord or occupier. In shared buildings there is usually more than one, and they must cooperate and coordinate with each other. It also covers people who wouldn’t describe themselves as a business, such as those letting rooms to paying guests.
Does my fire risk assessor have to be qualified?
The law contains a requirement that anyone you appoint to help with the assessment must be competent, but it has not yet been brought into force. In the meantime competence is strongly recommended, and you must already record who helped carry out or review 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 of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, it has its own recording duty, and it examines sources of ignition, 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, usually enforced by the local fire and rescue authority. Serious breaches can lead to an unlimited fine and imprisonment, and section 156 raised the maximum fines for several lesser offences. Compliance or non-compliance with government guidance issued under Article 50 can also be relied on in court as tending to show whether there was a breach.
Related Guidance
General guidance only, reviewed October 2026 against the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 as amended, the Fire Safety Act 2021, section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 and government fire safety guidance. Envico is an independent training intermediary and is not affiliated with any fire and rescue authority.