Government to extend Primary Authority to fire safety
The government has announced that it will legislate to extend Primary Authority to fire safety from next April.
The reform is part of the government’s drive to reduce burdens on business by ensuring that necessary regulations are enforced more efficiently.
This will allow multi-site landlords and commercial property owners to form a statutory partnership with a single lead authority to get reliable advice on the implementation of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRO).
Business minister Michael Fallon, said: “No enterprise should be held back by confusing or contradictory advice from regulators. Primary Authority is designed to make sure that hard-pressed businesses know what’s expected of them under the law — and receive clear guidance on how to maintain the highest safety standards.”
These initiatives, which are designed to improve the clarity and consistency of enforcement of fire safety regulations in England and Wales have been welcomed by the BWF-CERTIFIRE Scheme.
John Fletcher, manager of the scheme, said: “Fundamentally, the RRO is good legislation, but it cascades the responsibility to the person that can’t be the expert in all of these things — they need help. Common sense and simplicity brought to support the Responsible Person in making the right decision for their business and those people using their buildings through Primary Authority arrangements is a real step in the right direction and should be applauded.”
Helen Dickinson, director general of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said: “We’re delighted by this common sense approach, which promotes better ways of working for all involved. The BRC strongly supported the pilot which tested whether this move could work in practice, and which demonstrated that businesses and fire authorities both stand to gain from partnership working.”
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Government to extend Primary Authority to fire safety
The government has announced that it will legislate to extend Primary Authority to fire safety from next April.
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