New laws for multi-occupied buildings – act now!

New laws for multi-occupied buildings – act now!

Did you know that the new The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 are coming into force in England on 23 January 2023? They are based on most of the recommendations made in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 report.

If you are a ‘Responsible Person’ for any multi-occupied residential building of any size, you may need to take action now.

In this blog post, we thought it would be helpful to summarise the new responsibilities. This will help you decide how to act, or to get help from our team of fire safety experts.

Who do the new regulations affect?

The new regulations affect Responsible Persons (RPs) of multi-occupied residential buildings that are:

• 18m (or 7 storeys) or above
• Between 11m and 17.9m high
• Any size, with 2 or more domestic premises with common areas

What do I need to do?

The regulations require Responsible Persons of all multi-occupied residential buildings to:

• Update their fire risk assessments using this Fire Risk Assessment Prioritisation Tool
• Provide fire safety information to residents on how to report and react to fire
• Provide residents with information on the importance of fire doors to safety

RPs of buildings between 11m and 17.9m must ALSO:

• Carry out annual checks of flat entrance doors and quarterly checks of all fire doors in common areas

In addition to all the above, RPs of buildings that are 18m (or 7 storeys) or higher MUST ALSO:

• Provide secure information boxes with RP contact details and building / floor plans
• Provide a record of external wall system design to the local fire service
• Provide up-to-date floor and building plans to the fire service
• Undertake monthly checks of lifts intended for firefighter use, evacuation lifts and all key firefighting equipment
• Install wayfinding signage including floor identification and flat indicator signs

RP responsibilities – a visual guide

How can I ensure I comply with the regulations?

The above is intended as a guide. The full regulations are very detailed, so you will need to read them in full in order to make sure you comply.

Alternatively, talk to Environtec’s fire safety team. We can undertake a comprehensive review of your current fire compliance to make sure that all the properties you are responsible for are fully compliant with the regulations.

For more information or help, please get in touch with Environtec today.