Legal & Compliance Library

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

Places fire safety responsibility on a 'responsible person' for most non-domestic premises in England and Wales.

Scope

Puts one person clearly in charge

The Order places fire safety responsibility on a single 'responsible person' for the premises, rather than leaving it distributed or assumed.

One responsible person, named

Duty

Applies to most non-domestic premises

Employers, building owners, occupiers or anyone with control of non-domestic premises in England and Wales are likely to fall within the definition of responsible person.

Most workplaces, in scope

Practice

A fire risk assessment that gets reviewed

Good practice generally means a fire risk assessment with a genuine review-due date, not a document produced once and never revisited.

Reviewed, not one-off

This page is an educational, plain-English summary — it is not legal advice and must not be relied on as a substitute for the legislation itself or advice from a competent person. Always refer to the official source for the authoritative text.

What it covers

The Order requires a responsible person to carry out a fire risk assessment, implement and maintain fire safety measures, plan for an emergency, and provide information/training to those who may be affected.

Who it applies to

The 'responsible person' for non-domestic premises in England and Wales (broadly, employers, building owners/occupiers, or those with control of premises).

How SafetyOps supports compliance

SafetyOps' Fire Safety centre manages fire risk assessments, review-due tracking and outstanding fire safety actions in one place.

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