Who is the responsible person for fire safety?

“Responsible person” is a legal term, and it matters because it decides who gets the enforcement notice, and who is prosecuted if things go badly wrong. It is also one of the most misunderstood parts of fire safety law.

The definition

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which applies in England and Wales, the responsible person is:

• the employer, for a workplace to any extent under their control; or
• where it is not a workplace, or not under an employer’s control, the person who has control of the premises in connection with a trade, business or other undertaking; or
• where nobody has control in that way, the owner.

GOV.UK lists who that usually means in practice: an employer, owner, landlord or occupier, or anyone else with control of the premises, such as a facilities manager, building manager, managing agent or risk assessor.

Often there is more than one

In a shared building, several people can be responsible persons at once:

• In an office building let floor by floor, each tenant is responsible for its own floor as employer, and the landlord or managing agent is responsible for the shared reception, stairs and plant rooms.
• In a block of flats, the freeholder, the residents’ management company or right to manage company, and the managing agent may all have control of the common parts.
• In a shop with a flat above, the shop’s occupier, the landlord and anyone managing the flat’s access route may all have duties.

The law expects them to co-operate and co-ordinate. Since 1 October 2023 in England, each responsible person must also identify any others in the building and make themselves known to them.

What the responsible person must do

The core duties are the same whatever the premises:

1. Make sure a fire risk assessment is carried out by a competent person, and keep it under review.
2. Act on it: put in place and maintain the fire safety measures it identifies, such as alarms, emergency lighting, fire doors, signs and escape routes.
3. Plan for an emergency: an evacuation plan that works for everyone who uses the building.
4. Give staff information, instruction and training.
5. Co-operate with other responsible persons in the same building.

What changed in England in October 2023

Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 added to these duties from 1 October 2023. Every responsible person must now:

• record all findings of the fire risk assessment, whatever the size of the organisation, and their fire safety arrangements;
• record the full name, and organisation, of anyone who carries out or reviews the assessment;
• make sure anyone appointed to help is competent;
• keep a UK address for notices and share it;
• pass relevant fire safety information to an incoming responsible person; and
• in multi-occupied residential buildings, give residents the relevant fire safety matters, including the risks found and the responsible person’s name and UK address.

Can I hand the duty to someone else?

You can appoint someone to help: a fire risk assessor, a facilities management company or a managing agent. You cannot hand over legal responsibility for the result. GOV.UK and the fire sector’s guidance are both clear that the responsible person remains responsible even when a contractor does the work.

That is why choosing a competent assessor, and recording why you chose them, matters.

What if the responsible person gets it wrong?

Local fire and rescue authorities enforce the Order. They can issue alteration, enforcement and prohibition notices. Under article 32, the most serious offences carry, on conviction on indictment, an unlimited fine, up to two years in prison, or both. Since October 2023 some lesser offences, such as failing to provide a copy of the assessment to an inspector, also carry unlimited fines.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland uses the term “duty holder” under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service describes a duty holder as any person or organisation with any control of relevant premises, such as an employer, occupier, landlord or managing agent. See our Scotland page.

Northern Ireland uses “appropriate person” under the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 and the Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010.

Quick check: am I a responsible person?

• Do you employ anyone who works in the premises? Yes.
• Do you own, let or manage a non-domestic building, or the common parts of flats or an HMO? Yes.
• Do you run a business, club or charity from premises you control? Yes.
• Do you only own and live in your own house? No, there is no fire risk assessment duty for a private home.

If you are a responsible person without a current assessment, start with our guide to fire risk assessment and the law by nation, then ask for quotes.