Making your premises safe
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 sets out what you need to do to make premises safe from fire. It covers all non-domestic premises including:
- offices
- communal parts of apartment blocks or houses in multiple occupation (HMOs)
- places of worship
- schools and libraries
- public buildings
You must carry out a Fire Risk Assessment
Under the order a Responsible Person is required to make sure the regulations are met. A Responsible Person is anyone who has some control over all or part of the premises, or certain systems within it, this may be the employer, occupier or owner of the premises.
The Responsible Person must carry out a fire risk assessment and put in place the required fire safety measures for the premises.
Making your premises safe
The government have published a practical advice guide to meeting the fire safety requirements for small and medium sized businesses and responsible persons.
Download the short guide to making your premises safe from fire (PDF, 510KB).
It is also available in alternative languages from the Chief Fire Officers Association website.
GOV.UK also has a range of advice on fire safety for different business and premises which are all available as free downloads.
Disability and fire safety regulations
The Responsible Person must make a fire safety risk assessment with an emergency evacuation plan for all people who might be in a premises including people with disabilities.
The Equality Act 2010 requires companies to provide for people with disabilities and The Disability Equality Duty (DED) requires companies to actively promote the equality of people with disabilities.
For fire safety purposes, this means all companies must have a sufficient evacuation plan which will meet the needs to anyone with a disability. Failure to do so could be seen as discrimination.
Download the Government's Means of Fire Escape for Disabled People (PDF, 896KB) for advice on how to incorporate the needs of disabled people in your fire safety assessment.
Enforcing the fire safety regulations
The Fire and Rescue Service is responsible for enforcing fire safety regulations
Our Protection Officers carry out regular premises inspections to make sure they meet the required safety standards.
Protection Officers have legal powers which give them the right to enter a premises and require you to produce relevant document for fire safety. Inspections follow our Enforcement Procedures Policy (PDF, 151KB). We maintain a Public Register of Notices that records all prohibition, restriction or enforcement notices that have been issued by us.
Enforcement Notices
If a premises does not meet the requirements of the Fire Safety Order 2005 we can issue one of three notices.
Alterations Notice (Article 29)
An alterations notice is issued if any major alterations to the premises will cause a serious risk to the people who use it.
Enforcement Notice (Article 30)
An enforcement notice is issued if the premises and it's fire safety measures do not comply with any provision of the Fire Safety Order
Prohibition Notice (Article 31)
A prohibition notice is issued if there is a serious risk of fire and we need prohibit or restrict the use of all, or parts of the premises.
Appeal an enforcement notice
You can appeal an enforcement notice under Article 35 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. There will be instructions on how to appeal attached to your notice
We would like to resolve any issues you have with a enforcement notice without engaging in a legal process. You should contact us on 01473 260 588 to discuss your concerns before beginning an appeals process.
Contact details
To find out more about Fire Safety Regulations contact our Business Support service on:
Phone: 01473 260588
Email: fire.businesssupport@suffolk.gov.uk
Office hours: 9am to 5pm, Monday to Thursday and 9am to 4pm on Friday.