The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 (the Regulations) require responsible persons (RPs) for buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises to provide information to residents. If a building is at least 18 metres or 7 storeys in height, RPs will also need to provide information to Kent Fire and Rescue Service.
To understand what information you may need to provide and to who, please see the helpful diagram below.
This diagram provides an overview of the different requirements dependent on your building and its height
It shows the specific things RPs for multi-occupied residential buildings must do, depending on the height of the building. You will find further details below.
What Responsible Persons need to do
Responsible Persons (RPs) of multi-occupied residential buildings must take specific actions. The number of actions they need to take will depend on the height of the building.
If your building has two or more sets of domestic premises
you must provide...
Fire Safety Information to Residents
The RP must provide fire safety information to their residents on how to report a fire and what a resident must do once a fire has occurred.
Fire Door Information
The RP must provide residents with information relating to the importance of fire doors in fire safety.
For further information please see Fire door guidance and Fire doors checklist published by the government.
If your building is over 11 metres in height
you must also provide...
Fire Door checks
The RP should carry out annual checks of flat entrance doors. They must also undertake quarterly checks of all fire doors in the common parts.
For further information please see Fire door guidance and Fire doors checklist published by the government on the 19 January 2023
If your building is at least 18 metres or 7 storeys in height
you must provide the above, plus the following...
Secure Information Boxes
The RP must install and maintain a secure information box in their building. This box must contain the name and contact details of the RP and hard copies of the building and floor plans. Learn about Secure Information Boxes
External Wall Systems
The RP must prepare a record of the design of the external walls of the building including the materials used in their construction. The record must provide information on the level of fire risk associated with the externals and any mitigating steps that have been taken. The RP is required to electronically share a copy of the record with the local fire and rescue service
Building Plans
The RP must prepare up-to-date floor plans, alongside a single page building plan which identifies key firefighting equipment. The RP is required to electronically share copies of the plans with the local fire and rescue service as well as provide paper copies of the plans within the premises’ secure information box.
Lifts and other Key Fire-Fighting Equipment
The RP must undertake routine monthly checks of lifts intended for use by firefighters, evacuation lifts, and other key pieces of firefighting equipment. Any faults identified with equipment that cannot be rectified within 24 hours should be reported to the local fire and rescue service via electronic means.
Learn how to report faults and fault rectification
Wayfinding Signage
The RP must install floor identification signs and flat indicator signs. The signage is intended to assist responding firefighters and should be visible in low light or smoky conditions.
Your building's structure and external walls
As a result of the Fire Safety Act 2022, a building’s structure and external walls (including windows, balconies, cladding, insulation, and fixings) must now be considered as part of the fire risk assessment for the premises. Fire risk assessments that do not consider these should be updated as quickly as practicable.
To help RPs update their fire risk assessment in line with the above, the government has developed the Fire Risk Assessment Prioritisation Tool (the FRAPT).
Further information
Video learning - Understanding the Fire Safety (England) Regulations
A helpful video by the National Fire Chiefs Council explaining what the Regulations mean for RPs
Submitting your documents to KFRS
If you are an RP for a multi-occupied residential building of 18 metres or over, you must send us an external wall report, your building plans, and report any fault and its rectification.
Secure Information Boxes
Read about Secure Information boxes, what they should contain and where you need to position them.
Government guidance
The Home office have published a helpful short guide for those with duties under fire safety law. They have also produced a series of fact sheets to assist RPs.