New responsibilities for the Responsible Person – what you need to know

On 3 July 2023, the government published new guidance on the fire safety responsibilities of Responsible Persons (‘RPs’). The guidance was released in advance of the commencement of Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 in October and informs RPs on what they need to do as a result of changes made to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

The requirements apply to all non-domestic premises, including those where people work, visit or stay. This includes workplaces, and the non-domestic parts of multi-occupied residential buildings. The requirements do not apply within individual domestic premises.

New duties for responsible persons

The legislation amends the Fire Safety Order to impose the following new duties on all RPs:

Recording your fire risk assessment (‘FRA’) in full

Previously, RPs only needed to record the significant findings of the FRA; however, RPs must now keep a record of a full and completed FRA, including all the findings, as well as the fire safety arrangements for their premises;

The RP must record the identity of the individual and the organisation (if applicable) engaged by them to undertake or review any or all of the FRA;

The RP must record their fire safety arrangements - in other words, they must demonstrate how fire safety is managed in the premises;

If the RP employs a fire risk assessor to complete the FRA, then they must record their name and, where applicable, the name of their organisation.  The guidance places the onus on the RP to ensure that the person they employ to carry out the FRA is competent to do so. There will be a new legislative requirement in due course, that where the RP appoints a person to make or review the FRA, they must be competent and new guidance will be issued by the government in respect of this ahead of the commencement date. 

The guidance advises that the RP should hold as much information as possible about its premises’ fire safety.  

 

Cooperation and coordination between RPs

RPs must identify whether there are other RPs in their premises, and if there are, then they must share with all other RPs their name and a UK based address which can receive notices or other documentation. The RPs are also required to inform each other (in writing) of the extent of their responsibilities under the Fire Safety Order, and must make a record of this information. If an RP has a new RP taking over their part of the premises, then they should let the other RPs know, to allow for the above information to be shared with them.

As we know under Articles 3 and 5(3) of the Fire Safety Order, there can be more than one RP. The guidance provides the following example of the type of premises where there might be more than one RP who share fire safety duties:

“in multi-occupancy commercial buildings, other Responsible Persons would not only include the other businesses, but would also include a landlord (and possibly a managing agent) who has overall responsibility for the safety within the building.”

 

Cooperation with Accountable Persons

If you are an RP in a higher risk residential building, then you must:

• take reasonable steps to identify the Accountable Person(s) (this would likely be the landlord or a management company) within the premises;
• cooperate with them to enable them to perform any duties they are required to perform under the Building Safety Act (this includes, for example, sharing the fire risk assessment).

The Building Safety Act defines a higher risk residential building as at least 18 metres in height, or with at least 7 storeys and containing at least 2 residential units.

This requirement aims to ensure that RPs and Accountable Persons take “a whole building approach to building and fire safety in the premises.”

 

Provision of information to new RPs

This duty requires RPs to share any relevant fire safety information with incoming RPs to “provide a continual record of fire safety information throughout a building’s lifetime.”

The guidance sets out the following fire safety information which the existing RP must provide to a new RP:

• the fire risk assessment and review records (including any fire safety information provided by other Responsible Persons);
• the identity of any person who assisted with the fire risk assessment/review;
• the name and UK address of any Responsible Person or any person acting on behalf of the Responsible Person who will accept notices or other documentation;
• the identity of the Accountable Person, where known (if a higher risk residential building);
• any information given under regulation 38 of the Building Regulations 2010 (such as the information provided when a building is built or extended).

 

Buildings which contain two or more sets of domestic premises

The government says the new requirements aim to help residents feel more informed and involved and as such, requires RPs of buildings which contain two or more sets of domestic premises to provide the following information to residents:

• any risks to residents identified in the FRA;
• the fire safety measures provided for the safety of any or all occupants (such as the means of escape, the measures to restrict the spread of fire and what people should do in the event of a fire);
• the name and UK address of the Responsible Person;
• the identity of any person appointed to assist with making or reviewing the fire risk assessment;
• the identity of any competent person nominated by the Responsible Person to implement firefighting measures;
• any risks to relevant persons throughout the building that have been identified by other Responsible Persons in the building.

Other changes

In addition to the above changes, the Building Safety Act amends two other articles of the Fire Safety Order:

• Section 156 introduces an increase in the available level of fines for certain offences under article 32, from level 3 (up to £1000) to level 5 (unlimited). This will take effect from 1 October 2023 when the legislation comes into force;
• Section 156 strengthens the status of Article 50 guidance by providing that “in court proceedings for alleged breaches of the Fire Safety Order, compliance with or deviation from guidance issued under Article 50 may be relied upon as tending to establish whether or not there was a breach of the Fire Safety Order.”

Further detail on these amendments, as well as the full guidance, can be found here.

FURTHER INFORMATION

If you have any questions regarding this blog, please contact Hannah Eales in our Regulatory team. 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hannah Eales is a Partner and barrister in the Regulatory team. She is an experienced advocate and a regulatory, health & safety and criminal law specialist. Hannah has a particular expertise in fire safety law having prosecuted on behalf of fire and rescue authorities nationally as well as representing individuals and corporates facing prosecution for breaches of the Fire Safety Order in the criminal courts. Hannah is experienced in advising property owners, directors and managers on compliance with fire safety legislation and regulations. Since 2018 Hannah has also acted in relation to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.