Fire Safety Obligations for London Blocks of Flats: What the Responsible Person Must Do

Who Is the Responsible Person?

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO 2005) places fire safety duties on the "responsible person" for a premises. For a block of flats, the responsible person is typically the building owner or freeholder — or a management company or managing agent acting on their behalf. The RRO 2005 applies to the common parts of a block of flats: the entrance hall, staircases, corridors, lift lobbies, communal plant rooms, and any communal amenity areas. The legislation does not apply inside individual privately occupied flats.

This distinction is important. The responsible person for the common parts of a block of flats has no direct authority over what happens inside individual flats — they cannot require residents to install smoke alarms in their own flat or to maintain their own front door in a fire-safe condition. However, the Building Safety Act 2022 has begun to address this gap for higher-risk residential buildings, and many managing agents include front door maintenance requirements in lease agreements as a practical measure.

Fire Risk Assessment for Blocks of Flats

A fire risk assessment must be carried out for the common parts of every block of flats. The assessment covers: fire hazards in the common areas (electrical distribution boards, storage, mobility scooters and e-bikes in hallways); people at risk (residents, visitors, contractors, and particularly any residents with mobility impairments who may need assistance to evacuate); existing fire safety measures (detection systems, dry risers, sprinklers in newer blocks, emergency lighting, fire doors, signage); and the means of escape available to all residents from every point in the building.

The frequency and depth of the assessment depends on the complexity and risk profile of the building. For a simple low-rise block of four or six flats with a straightforward layout, an assessment every three to five years may be adequate provided no significant changes have occurred. For a taller block, a block with a complex layout, or a block with known fire safety deficiencies, annual assessment is appropriate. The assessment should always be reviewed after any fire or near-miss incident, after any significant works to the building, and after any changes to the tenancy profile that affect the evacuation strategy.

Front Entrance Doors and the Flat Front Door Problem

The fire safety of a block of flats depends critically on the integrity of the flat entrance door — the door between an individual flat and the common corridor. In a "stay put" evacuation strategy (the standard strategy for most blocks of flats before the Grenfell Tower fire of 2017), residents are advised to remain in their flat in the event of a fire elsewhere in the building, relying on the compartmentation provided by the flat entrance door to protect them. A flat entrance door that is not fire-rated, that has damaged intumescent strips, or that does not self-close properly undermines this strategy for the whole building.

The Building Safety Act 2022 and the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 introduced requirements for responsible persons of multi-occupied residential buildings with two or more storeys to conduct annual checks of flat entrance doors and quarterly checks of communal fire doors. This applies to blocks in England regardless of height. The responsible person must keep records of these checks and must take action to remedy any defects.

Emergency Lighting

Emergency lighting is required in all escape routes in blocks of flats. The emergency lighting system must provide sufficient illumination for residents to navigate to a place of safety in the event of a mains power failure. Monthly function tests (switching the mains supply off and checking that all emergency lights illuminate) and annual full discharge tests (a full three-hour drain test of the battery backup) are required. These tests must be recorded in a fire safety log book that is available for inspection.

Higher-Risk Buildings and the Building Safety Act

The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced a new regulatory regime for "higher-risk buildings" — defined as residential buildings above 18 metres (or 7 storeys) with two or more dwellings. For these buildings, the accountable person (broadly the building owner or management organisation) must register the building with the Building Safety Regulator and must appoint a Principal Accountable Person. Enhanced fire safety documentation, a Safety Case Report, and a Residents Engagement Strategy are required. London has a large number of high-rise residential buildings within scope of this regime, many of which were constructed with ACM cladding or other combustible materials subsequently identified as defective.