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Fire safety guidance has recently been published by the Home Office. The main change is that it now is a legal requirement for you to have a written Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) from 1 October 2023. If needed, a template FRA (and other information on completing an assessment) is available from Visit Britain here:
Your fire risk assessment form
Property guidance
New guidance for small properties
The new government guidance provides more detail, is more prescriptive on how to undertake an FRA, and sets out some suggested measures to help mitigate fire risks.
The new guidance only applies to ‘small properties’ or ‘small accommodation’, being:
- Single properties (with a simple layout) consisting of a ground floor, or ground floor and first floor, providing sleeping accommodation for a maximum of 10 persons, and with no more than four bedrooms
- Individual flats (whether in a purpose-built block or a house that has been converted), other than unusually large flats (e.g. as often found in mansion blocks in London)
- Smaller types of outdoor accommodation, for example, holiday caravans, camping and glamping pods, bothies, lodges, shepherds' huts, tents, tree houses and yurts
Guidance for large properties
The new guidance does not apply to ‘large properties’ that fall outside of the scope of ‘small properties’ or differ materially from those mentioned above, for example, those that have:
- An open-plan ground floor (with no internal separation between the living area and escape routes from bedrooms on the first floor)
- More than two floors
- More than four bedrooms or sleep more than 10
- A bedroom accessed only via another room
If you’re an owner of a ‘large property’, existing guidance continues to apply, which is available here.
The Home Office is in the process of updating the guidance for large properties, which is likely to be available in early 2024. They also intend to produce some further guidance as soon as possible for open-plan properties by extracting the relevant parts from the current guidance for large properties. The Professional Association of Self-Caterers UK (PASC) has recorded webinars and produced information guides, available here, which you may find useful.
Responsible Person
Under current legislation, the ‘Responsible Person’, who has ultimate responsibility for complying with the various fire safety requirements, is the owner of the property. PASC has recorded webinars and produced information guides on this as well, which you may find useful and are available here:
Safety compliance legislation for property owners
FRAs, checks and appropriate measures
New guidance for small properties
The new guidance for small properties provides details on the checks that should be made. You may choose to delegate some of these checks to others, such as a caretaker or housekeeper, or use the services of a third-party contractor to carry out work on fire detection and alarm systems, for example. Even if you delegate some of the requirements to others, use contractors, or utilise our managed services, the responsibility for compliance remains with you as the ‘Responsible Person’.
As detailed in the guidance, reviewing and completing the FRA should not be treated as just a ‘tick-box’ exercise. The FRA should cover all findings, not just significant ones, and should set out details on appropriate measures undertaken and ways to mitigate fire risks. By way of example only, the measures may include:
- Inspections carried out on all types of heating and hot water systems (not just gas)
- Chimneys and flues to be swept at least annually
- Fire detectors/alarms: a Grade D1 system (which includes smoke alarms in all bedrooms) consisting of one or more mains-powered interlinked detectors, each with a tamper-proof standby supply (consisting of batteries, being recommended)
- Heat alarms should be installed in kitchens, and may be required in other rooms such as laundry and utility rooms
- Hollow and thin panel doors, and any non-fire-resisting glazing within doors or frames, would usually need to be replaced with 30-minute, fire-resisting doors
- Front and rear exit doors should not need a key to unlock them – a simple latch or thumb turn would usually be good enough
- Carrying out regular checks, which may include some checks in between stays, six-monthly or annually
Who conducts the FRA?
If you feel confident to do so, you can carry out your own FRA. If you are unsure of the measures you should take to mitigate fire risks, you may want to use a qualified fire risk assessor to carry out the FRA on your behalf. You should act on the outcomes of any assessments, although again, you, as the owner, will ultimately remain responsible for compliance.
In the future, if your property comes within the scope of a ‘large property’, it is likely you will no longer be able to carry out the FRA yourself.