The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

Fire safety law for businesses changed in October 2006 when the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 was introduced.  From this date, fire certificates were abolished and the responsibility for the safety of anyone using business premises was placed with the business owner.

The law

  • Emphasises the prevention of fires and risk reduction.
  • Makes it your responsibility to ensure the safety of everyone who uses your premises and those in the immediate vicinity.
  • Removes the need for fire certificates.

Guides and resources

A  number of guides are available to help you asses your business and will help you to:

  • Comply with safety law
  • Carry out a Fire Risk Assessment
  • Identify general fire safety precautions you need to have in place

The guides are designed so that a responsible person, with limited formal training or experience, should be able to carry out a Fire Safety Risk Assessment. If you read the guide and decide you are unable to apply the guidance then you should seek expert advice.

These guides are also appropriate for more complex, multi-occupied buildings, enabling you to address fire safety issues in individual occupancies.

More complex premises may need to be assessed by a person who has comprehensive training or experience in fire risk assessment.

Click here to visit the .gov website where the guides are available.

Other guides relating to specific subjects are available from the following links.

People with special needs

Measures must be taken to ensure people with special needs can benefit from the above Fire Safety Risk Assessment. Further guidance can be obtained from this page on the .gov website.

Dangerous substances

You will need to take account of where you use and store flammable substances and determine the necessary precautions to minimise the chance of them being involved in a fire. More information can be found in Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR) on the Health and Safety Executive's website.

Bed and Breakfast/Guest Houses

There is also additional information on complying with fire safety law for people who provide sleeping accommodation in small bed & breakfasts, guest houses, self-catering accommodation and inns with rooms.  For this document visit the .gov website here.

A guide to making your small block of flats safe from fire 

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This guide gives simple and practical advice to assist persons with responsibilities for fire safety in the common parts of small blocks of flats (limited to 3 storeys), as well as the building’s structure, external walls and the doors between the flats and common parts. The guide takes the form of guidance and recommendations to support the application of fire safety legislation, including advice about completing a fire safety risk assessment. 

If your block of flats falls outside the scope of this guide, you should base your fire precautions, and your fire risk assessment, on the guidance in gov.uk Fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats.

A guide to making your small paying guest accommodation safe from fire 

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This guide gives simple and practical advice to assist persons with responsibilities for fire safety in paying guest accommodation with simple layouts, limited fire risks and a small number of bedrooms designated as guest sleeping accommodation for short-term lets, such as small bed and breakfast, guest houses and self-catering accommodation. 

The guide takes the form of guidance and recommendations to support the application of fire safety legislation, including advice about completing a fire safety risk assessment. 

If your paying guest accommodation falls outside the scope of this guide, you should base your fire precautions, and your fire risk assessment, on the guidance on gov.uk in Fire safety risk assessment: sleeping accommodation.

A guide to making your small non-domestic premises safe from fire 

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This guide gives simple and practical advice to assist persons with responsibilities for fire safety in in small non-domestic premises that have simple layouts, low fire risk, with limited fire hazards and a small number of employees, customers, and visitors. The guide takes the form of guidance and recommendations to support the application of fire safety legislation, including advice about completing a fire safety risk assessment. 

If your non-domestic premises falls outside the scope of this guide, you should base your fire precautions, and your fire risk assessment, on the most relevant guide from gov.uk suite of guides for specific types of non-domestic premises.

Further business fire safety information is available on gov.uk