Commencement regulations for new fire safety legal provisions within section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) have been laid in Parliament.

Section 156 makes a number of amendments to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) to improve fire safety in all buildings regulated by the FSO. These improvements form Phase three of the Home Office’s fire safety reform programme, building on Phase one (the Fire Safety Act 2021) and Phase two (the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022).

Phase three further strengthens fire safety in all FSO regulated premises by:

• Improving cooperation and coordination between Responsible Persons (RPs);
• Increasing requirements in relation to the recording and sharing of fire safety information thus creating a continual record throughout a building’s lifespan;
• Making it easier for enforcement authorities to take action against non-compliance; and
• Wnsuring residents have access to comprehensive information about fire safety in their building.

The requirement for RPs to ensure that anyone they appoint to do a fire risk assessment is competent has not yet been commenced. Government is actively working with the sector to develop a robust rollout plan and will provide more information on this in the coming months.

Guidance to support RPs in understanding and meeting these new requirements will be published before they come into force.

Guidance on recent (23 January 2023) changes that came into force under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 is available in International Workplace’s guide for responsible persons.

The responsible person is the person who is responsible for the safety of themselves and others who use a regulated premises. This is normally a building owner, or in residential properties, any other person in control of the premises.

The responsible person is the person on whom most of the duties set out in the Fire Safety Order are imposed. As the term ‘responsible person’ has a legal definition, it is not open to building owners, enforcing authorities or others to choose to ‘make’ someone the responsible person, nor can the responsibility for compliance with either the Fire Safety Order or the Fire Safety (England) Regulations be delegated to others (though the responsible person will normally need to engage other parties, such as contractors, to assist them in compliance).

Under certain circumstances, duties can also fall on individuals other than the responsible person if any of the requirements of the Fire Safety Order relate to matters within their control. In such circumstances, the responsible person will still also retain their duties under the Fire Safety Order. For all practical purposes, in the case of a block of flats, the responsible person will be the person who has control of the premises in connection with carrying on a business. This will, typically, be the freeholder or the managing agents for the block, or, for example, a residents’ management company. If any part of the building is a workplace, the employer of persons employed to work in that workplace will be a responsible person. This can occur if, for example, a concierge is employed or parts of the building are used for commercial purposes.