Fire Safety

Fire Safety Act 2021

The Fire Safety Act 2021 (FSA) received Royal Assent on 29th April 2021 and sections 1 and 3 came into force on 16th May 2022. The FSA amends the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (Fire Safety Order).

The Fire Safety Order requires the ‘Responsible Person’ (usually the person who has control of the premises) to take general fire safety precautions to ensure the safety of all persons who are lawfully on the premises and those in the vicinity of the premises who would be affected by any fire on the premises. The Fire Safety Order excludes single private dwellings but it does apply to the common areas of HMOs, flats, mainsonettes and sheltered accommodation. The FSA has been extended by the FSA to clarify the requirements for buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises.

The FSA amends the Fire Safety Order to provide that the responsible person for buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises must manage and reduce the risk of fire for the building’s structure, external walls, common parts and all doors between the domestic premises and common parts (s6(1A) Fire Safety Order). External walls includes doors or windows in those walls and anything attached to the exterior of those walls (including balconies) (s6(1B) Fire Safety Order). A fire risk assessment is required to assess the fire safety risks and the ‘Responsible Person’ must ensure that any assessment now includes assessing the risk of fire for the building’s structure, exernal walls, common parts and doors in buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises.

The ‘Responsible Person’ must be able to provide evidence of how they have complied with the Fire Safety Order obligations. This can include following the Fire Safety Act Commencement guidance and using the Fire Risk Assessment Prioritisation Tool.

Government guidance advises that risk assessments should be reviewed and, if necessary, updated to take into account an assessment of the structure, external walls and doors between the domestic premises and common parts. The assessment should consider whether a more in depth review of external walls is required and whether a PAS 9980 assessment (assessment of external wall fire risk in multi-occupied residential buildings) is necessary. Where the fire risk assessment already complies with the requirements of the FSA it is not necessary to re-do the assessment but risk assessments should be regularly reviewed.

The Building Safety Act 2022

The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022) makes amendments to the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (LTA 1987) and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO 2005). 

S156 of the BSA 2022, which came into force on 1st October 2023, amends the FSO 2005 (which applies to the common parts of residential buildings) to require the responsible person to provide residents in buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises (e.g. blocks of flats) with comprehensible and relevant information about relevant fire safety matters, as well as other information for the common parts, including the name and UK address of the responsible person carrying out the fire risk assessment.  Fire safety arrangements must be recorded and a fire risk assessment completed in full.

Higher-risk Buildings

The BSA 2022 introduces new requirements for a ‘higher-risk building.’  A ‘higher-risk building’ is defined in s65 of the BSA 2022 as ‘at least 18m in height, or has at least 7 storeys and contains at last 2 residential units.’

S113 of the BSA 2022 amends the LTA 1987 to insert two new sections – s47A and s49A which apply to ‘higher-risk buildings.’  Although these new sections have now been inserted in the LTA 1987 on the legislation.gov.uk website it does not appear that s47A and s49A are in force at the time of writing.  However, these sections are expected to be in force in the near future so landlords and lettings agents should update their practices for ‘higher-risk buildings.’  Under s47A of the LTA 1987 ‘relevant building safety information’ is required to be provided to tenants of a ‘higher-risk building’ on any written demand given to them for rent or other sums payable to the landlord under the terms of the tenancy.  If this information is not provided it will be the part of the amount that consists of a service charge or administration charge that will be treated as not due before the ‘relevant building safety information’ is given to the tenant.  Under s49A of the LTA 1987 a notice containing the ‘relevant building safety information’ must be given to a tenant of a ‘higher-risk building.’  Where this is not provided any rent, service charge or administration charge will be treated as not due at any time before the landlord gives the notice to the tenant.

For further information on Fire Safety and useful guidance see Letting Factsheet No. 53 and the relevant links in this article.

Sources of further information