New fire safety regulations to implement majority of Grenfell recommendations

Personal emergency evacuation plans not taken forward following consultation. 

Recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry will form part of the new Fire Safety (England) 2022 regulations, however, two recommendations on personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPS) will not be ratified. 

The decision came from the government’s initial 2021 consultation on the event. Speaking in the House of Lords earlier this year building safety manager, Lord Stephen Greenhalgh, said that mandating PEEPs in high-rise residential buildings showed “substantial difficulties…around practicality, proportionality, and safety”. 

An alternative consultation considering an alternative package of measures – referred to as emergency evacuation information sharing (EEIS+) – closed last month. 

Meanwhile, updates to the regulations will see new duties for building owners and managers under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) order 2005.  

Among five recommendations for high-rise residential buildings (at least 18 metres or seven storeys high), responsible persons must “Install wayfinding signage which is visible in low light or smoky conditions that identifies flat and floor numbers in the stairwells of relevant buildings”. 

The new regulations are due to come into force on 23 January 2023.

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