What’s New?
With the Fire Safety Regulations 2022 coming into force from 23rd January 2023 this means that the responsible persons will acquire additional responsibilities. The reasoning behind this is that following the tragic events of the Grenfell Tower fire it’s highlighted that something needed to change, aespecially for high rise buildings.
Within The Fire Safety Regulations 2022 there have been a number of changes. One of these requires that the responsible person of a multi-occupied residential building take specific action depending on the height of the building.
With the responsible person, the 2022 regulations also state that this designated person must ensure that the adequate fire risk assessments are carried out. This risk assessment should also accurately reflect the building itself and the new requirements of the 2022 regulations.
As with all fire risk assessments, it’s vital that as many potential fire risks are removed or reduced within the building. Extra attention should also be taken when assessing the risks with material changes to the building. This includes repairs, refurbishments or alterations being carried out as this can also have a huge affect on how fire and smoke spread through the building if it is not correctly managed.
As the responsible person, you may also be required to show that you have adequately assessed the fire risks associated with the new Fire Safety Regulations 2022.
In short, the responsible person for that building must do the following if over 18 metres in height or 7 or more stories:
- Share electronically with the local fire and rescue service information about the buildings external wall system and also provide electronic copies of floor and building plans.
- Keep hard copies of floor plans, in addition to a single page orientation plan. Also keep name and contact details of the responsible person in a secure information box which is accessible by firefighters.
- Install wayfinding signage in high rise buildings which is visible in low light conditions.
- Minimum of monthly checks on lifts which are in use for fire fighters and also on essential fire fighting equipment.
- Inform the fire and rescue service if any of the lifts or equipment used by them is out of order for longer than 24 hours.
For multi occupied residential buildings over 11 metres in heigh, the responsible person must:
- Undertake quarterly checks on all communal fire doors and annual checks on flat entrance doors.
In all multi occupied residential buildings, the responsible person must:
- Provide residents with relevant fire safety instructions and information about the importance of fire doors.
What about our fire risk assessments?
With the Fire Safety Regulations, increased scrutiny is going to be put on the appointment of fire risk assessors. This therefore means risk assessments will only be carried out by a competent professional and not a competent person.
At OJ Safety, we put our clients at the heart of everything we do, recognising that each client is different and has individual needs that need to be met. This therefore means that our assessments are all tailored to your business, with our main focus being an easy to use, action-based document.
Whether it be industrial, retail, HMO, care homes or flats/apartments then do get in touch with the team at OJ Safety!