The short answer
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 came into force on 23 January 2023. They apply to blocks of flats with common parts. All such blocks must give residents fire safety instructions and fire door information. Blocks over 11 metres must check communal fire doors every three months and flat entrance doors every year. Blocks of 18 metres or seven storeys and over have further duties, including information boxes, wayfinding signs and monthly lift checks.
On this page
After the Grenfell Tower fire, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s phase 1 report made recommendations about how residential buildings are managed. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 put many of them into law. They were made under article 24 of the Fire Safety Order, published in May 2022, and came into force on 23 January 2023.
They apply in England only, to buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises and common parts: in other words, blocks of flats, including converted houses with shared stairs.
The three tiers
The duties build up by height.
| Building | What the responsible person must do |
|---|---|
| All blocks with two or more flats and common parts | Give residents fire safety instructions, and information about the importance of fire doors |
| Over 11 metres | Everything above, plus quarterly checks of communal fire doors and annual checks of flat entrance doors |
| High-rise: 18 metres or seven storeys and over | Everything above, plus building information, an information box, wayfinding signs and monthly checks of lifts and firefighting equipment |
Height is usually measured from ground level to the top of the floor surface of the top storey. If you are unsure which tier your block falls into, ask your fire risk assessor to state it in the report.
All blocks: information for residents
The responsible person must give residents:
- fire safety instructions in a form they can reasonably understand, covering how to report a fire, the evacuation strategy and what to do once a fire has occurred; and
- information about fire doors: that they must be kept shut when not in use, that residents should not tamper with self-closers, and that they should report any fault or damage.
This must be given to new residents as soon as practicable after they move in, and to all residents at least once a year. Since October 2023, section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 has added to this: residents must also be told the risks identified in the fire risk assessment, the measures in place, and the responsible person’s name and UK address.
Over 11 metres: fire door checks
In blocks over 11 metres the responsible person must:
- use best endeavours to check all flat entrance doors at least once every 12 months; and
- check all communal fire doors, including stair and corridor doors, at least once every three months.
“Best endeavours” recognises that you cannot always get into every flat. Keep a record of each attempt: letters, dates, visits. Our fire door inspection page sets out what a check involves and what it typically costs.
High-rise: 18 metres or seven storeys
High-rise blocks have five further duties:
- Building plans: share electronic floor plans and a single-page building plan with the local fire and rescue service, and keep hard copies in a secure information box.
- External walls: share information about the design and materials of the external wall, including the level of risk it poses, with the fire service electronically.
- Secure information box: install one, accessible to firefighters, holding the responsible person’s name and UK contact details and the plans.
- Wayfinding signage: floor and flat numbers visible in low light and smoky conditions in stairs and lobbies.
- Lifts and equipment: monthly checks of firefighting lifts and essential firefighting equipment, and reporting to the fire service any fault that cannot be fixed within 24 hours.
How this fits with the fire risk assessment
None of this replaces the fire risk assessment. The assessment should:
- state which tier the building is in;
- check that the duties are being met and records are kept;
- look at the flat entrance doors as part of the common parts, since the Fire Safety Act 2021 confirmed they are in scope; and
- say whether the external wall needs a specialist appraisal.
For housing, the current code of practice is BS 9792:2025, published by BSI in August 2025. It replaced PAS 79-2:2020 and covers blocks of flats, HMOs and specialised housing.
What this means in practice
For a typical managing agent with mixed stock, a sensible pattern is:
- an annual resident pack for every block;
- a quarterly communal door check for anything over 11 metres, by trained staff or a contractor;
- an annual flat entrance door programme with a written access plan;
- a fire risk assessment review each year, and a fresh assessment every few years.
If you manage a block and need an assessment or a door inspection programme, tell us about it and we will find an assessor who covers your area.