The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (often called the Fire Safety Order or RRFSO) is the main UK fire safety law for non-domestic premises in England and Wales. It places legal duties on the "Responsible Person" — typically the employer, occupier or owner of the premises — to carry out a fire risk assessment, put fire safety measures in place, and keep them under review. Key duties include identifying fire hazards, identifying people at risk, evaluating risks, and recording findings. The Order has been significantly extended by the Fire Safety Act 2021 and Building Safety Act 2022, particularly for residential buildings.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is the central piece of fire safety legislation in England and Wales. It applies to almost every non-domestic premises — workplaces, public buildings, common areas of residential blocks, hospitals, schools, hotels, places of worship. This guide explains what the Order requires, who's responsible, and how recent legislative changes have expanded its reach.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (referred to in this article as the Fire Safety Order or RRFSO) came into force on 1 October 2006. It consolidated and replaced over 70 separate pieces of fire safety legislation that had built up over the previous decades — including the Fire Precautions Act 1971, which had operated a fire certificate scheme.
The Order applies in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate (broadly similar) regimes — the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006.
The fundamental shift the Order made was from prescriptive ("you must have a fire certificate that says X, Y, Z") to risk-based ("you must assess the fire risk and put in place reasonable controls"). The fire certificate scheme was abolished. Responsibility moved squarely onto the occupier or owner of the premises.
The Order applies to almost all non-domestic premises in England and Wales, including:
The Order does not generally apply to private dwellings — a private home occupied by a single household. However, common parts of multi-occupancy residential buildings (corridors, stairwells, plant rooms) are covered.
The Fire Safety Order places duties on the Responsible Person — a defined legal term. The Responsible Person is typically:
For residential blocks of flats, the Responsible Person is usually the freeholder or managing agent for common parts (corridors, stairwells, lifts), while individual leaseholders may have duties for fire safety within their own demised premises.
The Responsible Person can delegate the practical work — for example, by appointing a fire safety consultant or fire risk assessor — but cannot delegate the legal liability. If something goes wrong, the Responsible Person is who the fire authority will pursue.
| Duty | What it requires |
|---|---|
| Carry out a fire risk assessment | Identify fire hazards, identify people at risk, evaluate risks, decide on controls. Record significant findings (mandatory in writing for premises with five or more employees, or where required by other law). |
| Put in place general fire precautions | Reduce risk of fire and spread, ensure means of escape, ensure escape can be safely used, fight fire, detect and warn of fire, plan for emergencies, instruct and train staff. |
| Appoint competent persons | Appoint enough trained people to help with fire safety duties — including marshalling people during evacuation. |
| Provide information | Provide employees with comprehensible information on fire risks, controls, evacuation procedures and the identity of competent persons. |
| Cooperate and coordinate | Where premises are shared, Responsible Persons must cooperate with each other and coordinate fire safety arrangements. |
| Provide training | Adequate fire safety training for employees on starting work and at intervals appropriate to the risk. |
| Maintain measures | Ensure fire safety equipment, systems and devices are subject to a suitable system of maintenance and kept in efficient working order. |
| Record and review | Record significant findings of the assessment. Review when circumstances change or assessment is no longer valid. |
The fire risk assessment is the foundation of compliance. The Order doesn't prescribe a specific format, but it does require the assessment to be "suitable and sufficient" — meaning it must be appropriate for the premises and the risks present.
The 5-step approach recommended by the HSE and applied to fire is:
Who carries out the assessment is the Responsible Person's choice — but the Order requires it to be done by a "competent person" with the necessary knowledge, training and experience. For complex or high-risk buildings, this typically means engaging a registered fire risk assessor (see our guide on becoming a fire risk assessor).
The Fire Safety Order has been significantly modified by two recent pieces of legislation, both responses to the Grenfell Tower fire of 2017.
Came into force in stages from May 2022. Clarifies that for buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises, the Fire Safety Order applies to:
This explicitly placed external walls and flat entrance doors within the scope of the Responsible Person's duties — clearing up legal ambiguity that had existed before Grenfell.
Came into force in stages from 2023. Major regulatory reform for "higher-risk buildings" — defined as buildings of at least 18 metres or 7 storeys with at least two residential units. The Act introduced:
Higher-risk buildings have additional duties on top of the Fire Safety Order's existing requirements. For these buildings, the Accountable Person and Responsible Person duties operate alongside each other.
From 1 October 2023, the Order was amended to require Responsible Persons to:
This was a major tightening — the previous "five or more employees" threshold for written records was effectively replaced with universal written-record duties.
Enforcement of the Fire Safety Order falls primarily to local Fire and Rescue Authorities. They have powers to:
Penalties for breach can be severe. Summary conviction in the Magistrates' Court can carry an unlimited fine. Conviction on indictment in the Crown Court can carry up to two years' imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both. The Building Safety Act increased some penalties further for higher-risk buildings.
Recent prosecutions have produced six-figure fines for serious breaches — particularly where lives have been lost or where Responsible Persons have ignored prior enforcement notices.
The most common failure. Either no assessment exists, or the assessment is so old or generic that it doesn't reflect the current premises.
Assessment carried out by someone without the necessary knowledge — for example, a managing agent's own staff carrying out assessments of high-rise residential buildings without specialist training.
The assessment lists required actions, but they're never implemented. Fire authorities increasingly check this.
Fire doors propped open, missing intumescent strips, gaps too large, self-closers removed. Common audit findings.
Building use has changed (e.g., office converted to residential), occupancy has increased, layout has changed — but the fire risk assessment hasn't been reviewed.
The Order was made in 2005 and came into force on 1 October 2006. It replaced over 70 earlier pieces of fire safety legislation and abolished the fire certificate scheme.
No — private domestic premises are excluded. The Order applies to non-domestic premises and to the common parts of multi-occupied residential buildings. If you live in a block of flats, the Order applies to the corridors, stairwells, lifts and external walls (covered by your landlord or managing agent), but not to the inside of your individual flat.
The Responsible Person is the employer (for workplaces), or the person who has control over the premises (for other premises). In multi-occupied buildings there may be more than one Responsible Person, each with duties for the parts they control.
No. The fire certificate scheme was abolished by the Fire Safety Order in 2006. Compliance is now based on the Responsible Person carrying out a fire risk assessment and keeping fire safety measures up to date.
The Order requires review whenever circumstances change or whenever the assessment is no longer valid. As best practice, an annual review is typical for stable premises, with more frequent review for higher-risk or rapidly changing environments. Major changes to the building, occupancy, or activities should trigger an immediate review.
The Fire Safety Order is the main legislation (2005). The Fire Safety Act 2021 amends the Order — specifically clarifying that for residential buildings, the Order covers the building structure, external walls, and flat entrance doors. The Order remains the underlying law; the Act is one of several amending pieces of legislation.
Yes. Breach can carry an unlimited fine, and conviction on indictment can carry up to two years' imprisonment. Recent prosecutions have produced six-figure fines for serious breaches, particularly where lives have been lost or where Responsible Persons have ignored prior enforcement notices.
If you're a Responsible Person under the Fire Safety Order, or you're aiming to become a competent fire risk assessor, KeyOstas offers:
For consultancy support on fire risk assessments, see our Risk Assessment & Management consultancy. Or call us on +44 (0) 3300 569534.
Related: our guide to becoming a fire risk assessor in the UK covers the qualifications and route into specialist fire safety practice.
