Home Office looks to externally commission updates to Fire Safety Order guidance documents

As part of its overhaul of guidance on The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 – the Fire Safety Order (FSO) – the Home Office is seeking to externally commission new guides and updates to existing guidance documents.

According to the FIA, the guidance in this requirement, which is the third tranche of their programme, will be needed by Q3 of 2022 when the fire safety provisions in the Building Safety Bill (BSB) may be enacted. 

Five new guides are required including: 

1. A brief explainer on fire doors that captures any regulatory changes
2. A summary of the sanctions available for breaches of the FSO
3. An implementation guide for the primary fire safety changes planned through the BSB 
4. A comprehensive overarching fire risk assessment guide
5. An overlap guide explaining the difference between a Responsible Person and an Accountable Person under the BSB.  

They are also looking to rationalise and update all of the premises specific guides on GOV.UK as well as the Specialised Housing and Means of Escape for Disabled People guides. 

The final element will be the requirement to update all the guides they publish in Tranche 2 of the programme to make sure they include the fire safety changes made through the BSB. All guides must be consistent with the FSO at the time of publication. 

All these guides must be accessible and provide details for the Responsible Person, fire risk assessor or enforcing authority on how to discharge their duties.  

For further details on the new guidance, click here.

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