Responsible Person duties, in plain English.
Short guides for decision-makers on fire safety law, competence and evidence.
What is a Responsible Person?
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the Responsible Person is the employer, where the premises are a workplace. Otherwise it is whoever has control of the premises as part of running a business or other undertaking, which can include a landlord, a managing agent or an occupier. Only where nobody has control in that way does the duty fall on the owner. There can be more than one Responsible Person for the same building, for example a landlord for the common parts and each tenant for their own space, and they are expected to co-operate.
The Responsible Person must carry out and act on a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, put the right fire safety measures in place, and keep them maintained. The Order applies to non-domestic premises in England and Wales, including the common parts of blocks of flats. It does not apply inside individual homes, and Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own laws.
What changed under Section 156 of the Building Safety Act?
Since 1 October 2023, Section 156 requires Responsible Persons to record their fire risk assessment in full, including all of the findings, and their fire safety arrangements. They must also record who carried out the assessment, work with any other Responsible Persons, and, in buildings with flats, give residents clear fire safety information.
If you stop being the Responsible Person, for example when you sell, close or hand over the premises, you must pass the relevant fire safety information to the incoming Responsible Person and keep a record that you did. That includes your assessment and review records, who helped carry them out, contact details for any other Responsible Persons, the Accountable Person in a higher-risk building where known, and any fire safety information handed over under Regulation 38 of the Building Regulations when the building was built or extended. If you do not know who is taking over, give the information to the building owner or manager and keep a written record that you did.
A legal requirement that assessors must be competent was also passed but is not yet in force. See our full guide to Section 156.
How to choose a competent fire risk assessor
- Look for third-party certification such as BAFE SP205 or NSI Gold.
- Ask for assessor qualifications and professional memberships.
- Check professional indemnity insurance.
- Ask how reports are validated before they are issued.
- Be wary of very low prices. Cheap assessments often lack depth.
Our full checklist goes into each of these.
What evidence should you keep if challenged?
- Your full fire risk assessment and the assessor's details.
- The action plan and proof that actions were completed.
- Maintenance and test records for alarms, lighting and extinguishers.
- Training and drill records.
What happens after your Fire Risk Assessment?
You prioritise the actions, assign owners and deadlines, and record completion. The law does not set a fixed review date, but the assessment must be kept under review, and updated if there is reason to think it is no longer valid or something significant changes, such as building work, a change of use or a fire. Many organisations review at least once a year.
Talk to a competent specialist
Tell us about your building and we will explain what you need and what it involves.