Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

Understand your responsibilities for managing fire safety across relevant premises, with this guide focusing on residential buildings, including communal areas, fire risk assessments, and the duties of building owners and managers.

Date of Publication : 7th Jun 2005

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Applies to

Non-domestic premises in England and Wales, including workplaces and the communal areas of multi-occupied residential buildings.

Responsible party

The Responsible Person

Key focus

Fire safety, fire risk assessment, and evacuation

What is this regulation?

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is the main fire safety law for non-domestic premises in England and Wales. It requires the Responsible Person to assess fire risks, put suitable fire safety measures in place, and keep people safe from fire.

For residential buildings, it applies mainly to the communal areas of multi-occupied premises, such as corridors, stairways, lobbies, plant rooms and other shared spaces. It is relevant to building owners, landlords, managing agents and others who have control over fire safety in those areas.

What this means in practice

Fire risk must be actively managed

Building owners and managers must identify fire risks in shared areas and take reasonable steps to reduce them.

Communal areas must support safe escape

Routes such as corridors, stairways, lobbies and exits need to be kept safe, protected and usable in the event of a fire.

Responsibilities must be clear and evidenced

The Responsible Person must be able to show that fire safety arrangements are in place, reviewed and properly maintained.

If the Regulations apply, you must:

Know who is responsible — Identify who has control of the building or relevant parts of it.
Assess the fire risks — Carry out a suitable fire risk assessment for the areas covered by the Order.
Reduce fire risks — Put measures in place to remove or reduce risks where possible.
Keep escape routes safe — Make sure communal routes, exits and shared areas support safe escape in the event of a fire.
Maintain fire safety measures — Keep fire safety systems, equipment and arrangements in good working order.
Record key information — Keep clear records of fire risks, safety measures and significant findings where required.
Review regularly — Update the fire risk assessment when the building, use or risk level changes.
Co-operate with others — Work with other dutyholders where fire safety responsibilities overlap.

How The Building Safety Register Helps

Our team helps building owners, managers and dutyholders find the clearest route to compliance across building safety and fire safety legislation for higher-risk buildings. We continuously monitor evolving regulations and use that expertise to deliver class-leading compliance software for golden thread management, safety case creation and wider building safety obligations.

For fire safety duties under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, our platform helps you store, manage, review and evidence the key information needed to demonstrate ongoing compliance, including fire risk assessments, significant findings, responsible person details, communal area records, escape route information, fire safety measures, maintenance records, review dates and supporting evidence.

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