The Fire Safety Order

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 came into effect on 1 October 2006. It replaced over 100 pieces
of fire safety law – the most notable of which were the Fire Precautions Act 1971 and the Fire Precautions
(Workplace) Regulations – with the intention of simplifying legislation.

The legislation involves a significant change of emphasis. Buildings will no longer be routinely inspected by the
fire service to check if they are complying with the standards set down in the fire certificate. As a result, fire
certificates are no longer issued or enforced.

The approach taken by the Fire Safety Order is similar to that adopted by current health and safety legislation and
is based on risk assessments. Fire certification tended to ‘freeze’ the level of fire protection to the standard
prevailing at the time the certificate was issued. In contrast, the new legislation is of a ‘dynamic’ nature, ensuring
that fire safety measures are updated in the light of current experience, changes in use, or shortcomings revealed
following a risk assessment.

The employer or manager needs to nominate a competent person to carry out the fire safety risk assessment and
implement and maintain a fire management plan. In a shopping centre this means that there will be more than one
responsible person – the tenant will be responsible for their shop and the landlord responsible for the common
parts. Risk assessments are to be carried out at least annually or whenever there has been a change in the
circumstances. As there is also an ongoing responsibility to continually monitor fire precautions, risk assessments
in retail centres are likely to be undertaken more frequently than annually.

While the responsibility for fire safety now rests with the operator, fire and rescue  services have extensive powers
under the FSO. They can issue an alterations notice that would make it an offence to carry out any alterations that
may affect the fire safety within the premises, without first notifying them. They can issue an enforcement notice to
carry out work to improve the fire safety measures if they believe they are inadequate. This may be to insist on the
removal of a mall kiosk they feel is located in the wrong area, or to require modifications to the fire alarm system
if, for example, the standard of detection was not adequate. The landlord or occupier would then be required to
carry out the necessary changes within a reasonable period. Ultimately they can issue a prohibition notice to close
a building or part of the building, if they feel that the risk to occupants is imminently life threatening. Such a notice
has immediate effect. In theory, this could occur if fundamental systems such as the sprinklers, smoke control or
fire alarm were shown not to be working properly. In practice, the fire service would only issue a prohibition notice
as a last resort; normally they would try to work with the building management to find a solution both in the interim
and long term that can allow it to continue to trade.