The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022: a checklist for responsible persons
What the 2022 Regulations require in blocks of flats, split by building height — and how to keep the evidence.
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 came into force on 23 January 2023. They apply to the responsible person (and accountable persons) for multi-occupied residential buildings in England — any building with two or more sets of domestic premises sharing common parts. What you have to do depends on the building's height.
Every multi-occupied residential building
- Fire safety instructions for residents. Give residents clear instructions on how to report a fire, what to do if there is one, and the building's evacuation strategy. Provide them when a resident moves in, after any change, and at least every 12 months.
- Fire door information. Tell residents that fire doors should be kept shut when not in use, must not be tampered with (including self-closers), and that they should report any fault or damage straight away.
Buildings over 11 metres
Everything above, plus:
- Communal fire doors — check them at least every three months.
- Flat entrance doors — use best endeavours to check them at least every 12 months. Keep a record of the attempts if you can't get access.
High-rise residential buildings (18 metres or more, or at least seven storeys)
Everything above, plus:
- Secure information box containing the responsible person's details and floor and building plans, accessible to firefighters.
- Building plans and external wall information shared electronically with the local fire and rescue service, and kept up to date.
- Lifts for firefighters and evacuation lifts checked monthly, along with other firefighting equipment; faults that can't be fixed within 24 hours reported to the fire and rescue service.
- Wayfinding signage showing floor and flat numbers, visible in low light and smoke.
Keeping the evidence
The duties are only as good as the record that shows they were done. For each building you should be able to show the height and category, when residents were last given instructions, each door check and its findings, and what happened to every defect.
In Vital IMS each of these is an obligation linked to the building. Checks are scheduled at the right interval for its height, defects become tracked actions, and the evidence is attached to the record, so you can produce it when the fire and rescue service asks.
This article is general information, not advice for your building. Check the current legislation at legislation.gov.uk and speak to a competent fire risk assessor.