Fire safety is one of the most serious legal duties a facilities manager carries. It is not a topic you can leave to chance, delegate without oversight, or address once and forget. Every building you manage has people inside it. Those people depend on you to make sure that, if a fire starts, they can get out safely.
UK fire safety law changed significantly after the Grenfell Tower tragedy. The Building Safety Act 2022, updated fire safety regulations, and new 2026 standards for fire doors and evacuation have reshaped what is expected of facilities managers across the country. The regulatory bar is higher than ever and so are the consequences for those who fall short.
This guide explains the key fire safety responsibilities for UK facilities managers in 2026. It covers your legal duties as the Responsible Person, what a proper Fire Risk Assessment looks like, the latest regulatory changes, and how technology is helping FM teams stay compliant across complex estates.
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The Legal Foundation The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 known as the Fire Safety Order or FSO is the primary law governing fire safety in non domestic premises across England and Wales. It applies to virtually every commercial building, shared residential building, and workplace in the country.
The FSO places legal duties on the Responsible Person. That person must ensure a suitable and sufficient Fire Risk Assessment is in place, keep it current, implement all necessary fire precautions, and make sure everyone on the premises knows what to do in the event of a fire.
Since the implementation of Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022, the penalties for breaching the FSO have become far more severe. Fines are now unlimited, and courts have the power to impose custodial sentences of up to 24 months for serious breaches. Fire and Rescue Authorities have also increased their inspection frequency to enforce these standards across UK buildings.
Who Is the Responsible Person?
The Responsible Person (RP) is the individual or organisation legally accountable for fire safety under the FSO. In most commercial settings, this is the employer, the building owner, the landlord, or the managing agent with control over the premises. Facilities managers are frequently named as the Responsible Person or share the role particularly in managed estates and multi tenanted buildings.
This is a crucial point. The Responsible Person role carries a non delegable duty. You remain legally liable even if you appoint a fire risk assessor or a specialist contractor to carry out the work. You cannot hand off the accountability only to the task.
In shared buildings where more than one Responsible Person exists, all parties must work together and coordinate their fire safety plans. Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 strengthens the requirement to record and share fire safety information clearly across all duty holders in a building.
As a facilities manager, your core duties as the Responsible Person include:
- Commissioning and maintaining a suitable and sufficient Fire Risk Assessment
- Implementing all actions identified in the Fire Risk Assessment
- Maintaining fire detection, alarm, and suppression systems to the required standard
- Keeping all escape routes clear and properly signed at all times
- Providing clear fire safety information and training to all staff and contractors
- Running regular fire drills and recording the outcomes
- Keeping a fire safety logbook with up to date records of all inspections and actions
- Coordinating fire safety responsibilities with other duty holders in shared premises
Fire Risk Assessments What You Must Do
A Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) is the starting point for all fire safety compliance. It is a legal requirement under the FSO for all non domestic premises. This is not a one time exercise. It must be reviewed and updated regularly and immediately after any significant change to the building, its use, or its occupancy.
The UK government sets out a five step process for conducting a Fire Risk Assessment:
- Step 1 Identify all potential fire hazards: sources of ignition, fuel, and oxygen
- Step 2 Identify the people at risk: employees, visitors, contractors, and vulnerable persons
- Step 3 Evaluate the risk and put controls in place to eliminate or reduce it
- Step 4 Record your findings, prepare an emergency plan, and provide staff training
- Step 5 Review and update the assessment regularly and whenever conditions change
The completed FRA must produce a written report with a clear summary of significant findings, a prioritised action plan with deadlines, an evaluation of existing fire safety measures, and guidance on emergency procedures. A good FRA is a live, working document not a PDF filed away and never opened again.
Regulators now expect proof of action, not just documentation. If your FRA identifies a defective fire door or a gap in emergency lighting coverage, the evidence that you fixed it matters as much as the assessment itself. Since Grenfell, Fire and Rescue Authorities have zero tolerance for paper compliance that does not translate into real action on the ground.
Fire System Maintenance The Most Common Compliance Gap
Across UK facilities management, the most common fire safety compliance failure is not a missing FRA. It is a fire system that was installed correctly but has not been maintained to the required standard. Degraded detectors, alarm sources that have been masked rather than resolved, and service records that cannot be produced on demand are all enforcement triggers.
Under Articles 13 and 17 of the FSO, the Responsible Person must ensure that fire detection systems are maintained in a fully operational state. This duty includes protecting systems from foreseeable threats, including system failure and increasingly in 2026 cybersecurity vulnerabilities in networked fire detection systems.
For facilities managers overseeing multiple buildings, maintaining consistent oversight of fire system maintenance across a dispersed estate is particularly challenging. Robust contract management, documented service records, and a centralised certificate register are essential tools for managing this risk at scale.
Key fire system maintenance obligations include
- Fire alarm and detection systems regular testing and servicing to BS 5839 1:2017
- Emergency lighting periodic function tests and annual full duration discharge tests
- Fire extinguishers annual inspection and servicing by a competent engineer
- Sprinkler systems routine inspections and flow tests where installed
- Smoke control and ventilation systems testing to confirm correct operation in fire mode
- Evacuation lifts coordination with lift service providers for fire mode testing
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2026 Fire Safety Changes What Facilities Managers Must Act On
2026 is one of the most significant years for fire safety regulation in the UK in a generation. Several major changes have come into effect this year, and facilities managers who have not yet acted need to move quickly.
Approved Document B (ADB) Updates 30 September 2026
From 30 September 2026, updated ADB guidance introduces new fire safety requirements for commercial buildings. Key changes affect fire doors, evacuation routes, evacuation lifts, and staircase provision in buildings over 18 metres. Facilities managers must audit staircase access, width, fire resistance, and signage. Fire safety plans, risk assessments, and staff training must be updated to reflect the new ADB terms before the deadline.
BS 8214 2026 New Fire Door Standard
BS 8214 2026 came into force on 31 March 2026, replacing the 2016 edition. This is the most significant update to the UK’s primary fire door standard in a decade. The new standard now covers fire doors as complete coordinated systems including timber, steel, glazed metal, and composite door types. It introduces a new section on roles and responsibilities across the fire door supply chain, placing a greater duty on facilities managers to ensure that fire doors in their buildings have adequate documentation and test evidence. Any references to BS 8214:2016 in specifications or maintenance schedules must now be updated.
PEEP Regulations April 2026
From April 2026, Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) regulations introduce new duties for buildings with residential occupancy. Facilities managers responsible for buildings containing residential premises must now ensure that tailored evacuation plans are in place for individuals who may need assistance to evacuate. Generic evacuation plans are no longer sufficient where vulnerable occupants are present.
Building Safety Act Golden Thread Requirements
For higher risk buildings those over 18 metres or 7 storeys the Building Safety Act 2022 requires registration with the Building Safety Regulator and the maintenance of a golden thread of building safety information. This is a structured digital record of key safety information about the building, kept up to date and accessible to all duty holders. Facilities managers of qualifying buildings must review their golden thread documentation as a priority.
Fire Safety Training and Evacuation Planning
Fire safety training is a legal requirement, not an optional extra. Every person who works in or manages a building must know what to do if a fire breaks out. For facilities managers, this means ensuring that induction training, regular refresher sessions, and fire drills are planned, delivered, and recorded.
An effective fire evacuation plan for a managed building must cover
- How people will be warned if there is a fire alarm signals and verbal alerts
- How the building will be evacuated routes, assembly points, and roll call procedures
- The role of fire marshals and how they are trained and appointed
- Procedures for assisting vulnerable persons, including those covered by PEEPs from April 2026
- Actions to take on discovering a fire or hearing an alarm
- How to liaise with the Fire and Rescue Service on arrival
Fire drills must be carried out at least annually for most premises. The outcomes including evacuation times, issues identified, and corrective actions taken must be recorded in the fire safety logbook. Drills that reveal weaknesses are valuable. The worst case scenario is finding those weaknesses during a real fire, not a practice.
What Fire Safety Evidence Must Facilities Managers Keep?
Evidence is the difference between demonstrating compliance and facing enforcement action. When a Fire and Rescue Authority inspector visits your building, your documentation tells them everything they need to know about how seriously you take fire safety. Facilities managers should maintain the following records as a minimum
- Current Fire Risk Assessment with a dated review record and action completion evidence
- Fire safety logbook covering all inspections, tests, maintenance, drills, and incidents
- Fire alarm and detection system service records to BS 5839 1:2017
- Emergency lighting test records including annual full duration discharge test results
- Fire door inspection and maintenance records, updated to BS 8214:2026
- Evacuation plan, including PEEP records for vulnerable occupants where applicable
- Fire marshal appointment records and training certificates
- Fire drill records with evacuation times and corrective actions noted
- Contractor accreditation records for all fire safety work carried out on site
- Golden thread documentation for higher risk buildings registered under the Building Safety Act
These records must be centralised, kept current, and available on demand. Fire and Rescue Authorities can and do inspect at short notice. The time to get your documentation in order is now not when an inspector is standing at your door.
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FAQ’s
Are facilities managers legally responsible for fire safety?
Yes. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, any person who has control over a premises can be named as the Responsible Person for fire safety. Facilities managers are frequently designated as the Responsible Person or share the role and carry full legal accountability for fire safety compliance in the buildings they manage.
What is a Fire Risk Assessment and how often must it be reviewed?
A Fire Risk Assessment is a formal, five step evaluation of all fire hazards and risks in a building, along with the controls in place to manage them. There is no fixed legal review interval, but it must be reviewed whenever there is a significant change to the building, its use, its occupancy, or after any fire related incident. Annual review is considered best practice for most commercial premises.
What are the penalties for fire safety non compliance in the UK?
Since the Building Safety Act 2022, fines for fire safety breaches under the FSO are unlimited. Courts can also impose custodial sentences of up to 24 months for the most serious breaches. Beyond criminal penalties, non compliance can invalidate building insurance, trigger enforcement notices, and result in the closure of premises by Fire and Rescue Authorities.
What changed with fire safety regulations in 2026?
Several significant changes took effect in 2026. BS 8214:2026, the new fire door standard, came into force on 31 March 2026. PEEP regulations for buildings with residential occupancy took effect in April 2026. Updated Approved Document B (ADB) guidance introducing new requirements for evacuation routes, fire doors, and staircases in taller buildings takes effect on 30 September 2026.
What is BS 8214:2026 and does it affect my building?
BS 8214:2026 is the new British Standard for fire resisting and smoke control doors. It came into force on 31 March 2026, replacing the 2016 edition. It now covers all fire door types including timber, steel, glazed metal, and composite and places greater responsibility on building managers to ensure fire doors have adequate documentation and test evidence. If you manage fire doors in any UK building, you need to know what has changed.
What is a PEEP and when is it required?
A Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) is a tailored evacuation plan for an individual who may need assistance to evacuate a building safely. From April 2026, new PEEP regulations place duties on facilities managers responsible for buildings with residential occupancy to ensure that suitable PEEPs are in place for all vulnerable occupants. Generic evacuation plans alone are no longer sufficient.
What is the golden thread of building safety information?
The golden thread is a structured digital record of key safety information about a building, required under the Building Safety Act 2022 for higher risk buildings over 18 metres or 7 storeys. It must be kept up to date and accessible to all duty holders. Facilities managers of qualifying buildings must register with the Building Safety Regulator and maintain their golden thread documentation as an ongoing legal duty.
How often should fire drills be carried out?
For most commercial premises, fire drills should be carried out at least once a year. Buildings with complex or high risk occupancy such as healthcare facilities, schools, or hotels may require more frequent drills. All fire drill outcomes, including evacuation times and any issues identified, must be recorded in the fire safety logbook.
Can AI tools help facilities managers with fire safety compliance?
Yes. AI powered FM compliance platforms can automate fire safety inspection scheduling, track certificate expiry dates and renewal deadlines, generate instant audit ready evidence packages, and provide real time alerts when compliance gaps emerge. For facilities managers overseeing multiple buildings, AI tools provide the consistent oversight that manual processes cannot reliably deliver at scale.
What should be in a fire safety logbook?
A fire safety logbook should contain records of all fire alarm tests and servicing, emergency lighting tests, fire extinguisher inspections, fire door checks, fire drills and evacuation exercises, staff fire safety training, Fire Risk Assessment reviews, and any fire related incidents or near misses. It is a key piece of evidence that Fire and Rescue Authorities will inspect during compliance visits.