Section 156 of the Building Safety Act: what changed?

In brief

Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 amended the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the main fire safety law for non-domestic premises in England and Wales. The main changes came into force on 1 October 2023. In short, they ask Responsible Persons to keep fuller records, to be clear about who carried out their assessment, and to share fire safety information with other Responsible Persons, with a new Responsible Person when premises change hands, and with residents of multi-occupied residential buildings.

Who does it apply to?

It applies to every Responsible Person under the Fire Safety Order. That means the employer in a workplace, or otherwise whoever has control of the premises, such as an owner, landlord or managing agent. It covers non-domestic premises, including the common parts of multi-occupied residential buildings such as corridors, stairways and plant rooms. It does not apply inside individual flats or homes.

What changed for every Responsible Person

Record the assessment in full. You must record your whole fire risk assessment, including all of the findings, not just the significant ones. The old threshold, such as having five or more employees, no longer limits the duty to record.
Record your fire safety arrangements. The record should show how fire safety is managed in the premises day to day.
Record who carried out the assessment. If you engaged someone to carry out or review any part of it, record their name and, where relevant, their organisation.
Co-operate with other Responsible Persons. Take reasonable steps to find out whether anyone else shares duties for the same premises, such as a landlord, a managing agent or another tenant. Exchange names and a UK address for notices, record which part of the building each of you is responsible for, and keep written records.
Hand over when you leave. 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.

Competence of your assessor

Section 156 also inserted a new Article 9A into the Fire Safety Order. It says a Responsible Person must not appoint someone to help with fire risk assessment unless that person is competent, meaning they have the training, experience, knowledge and other qualities to do the job properly. This part was left out when the rest of section 156 came into force in 2023, and at the time of writing it has still not been brought into force. Until it is, the Order's general test of competence applies and you remain legally responsible for a suitable and sufficient assessment. Government guidance recommends that you check competence anyway.

Change is coming. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government ran a consultation in England from 26 March to 18 June 2026 on regulating the fire risk assessor profession. The government has said it will legislate so that assessors have their competence independently verified by a UKAS accredited certification body. It plans to publish its response in the last three months of 2026, with primary legislation currently shown for 2027 to 2029, subject to Parliamentary time. BS 8674:2025 now sets out the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours expected of fire risk assessors, though it is a standard, not law.

That is why third-party certification matters now, not later. Recording who assessed your premises, and being able to show why they were a sound choice, turns competence into an evidenced decision. See how to choose a competent fire risk assessor and how we prove our competence.

Residential buildings

If your building contains two or more sets of domestic premises, there are extra duties. You must give residents clear fire safety information, including:

the fire risks to residents found in the assessment
the measures in place, such as escape routes, fire containment and what to do in a fire
your name and a UK address for notices
who helped carry out the assessment
who has been nominated to carry out any firefighting measures
any risks to people in the building that other Responsible Persons have told you about

The information must be easy for residents to understand, and the government can set how often and in what form it is provided by regulations.

In England, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 add further duties for multi-occupied residential buildings, such as providing residents with fire safety instructions and displaying them prominently.

In higher-risk buildings, meaning residential buildings of at least 18 metres or seven storeys with at least two residential units, the Responsible Person must also identify the Principal Accountable Person and any other Accountable Persons under the Building Safety Act, and co-operate with them, including by sharing the fire risk assessment.

Penalties and enforcement

Section 156 removed the cap on fines for several offences under the Order. For offences committed on or after 1 October 2023, the maximum fine rose from £1,000 to unlimited for three offences: falsely pretending, with intent to deceive, to be a fire inspector; failing without reasonable excuse to comply with an inspector's requirements, such as not providing a copy of your fire risk assessment when asked; and failing to follow the rules on luminous tube signs. In court, compliance with or failure to follow official guidance issued under Article 50 of the Order can be relied on as tending to show whether the Order was breached. The fire and rescue authority is the usual enforcer, and local authorities enforce the non-domestic parts of many residential buildings.

What to do now

Check that your fire risk assessment is recorded in full, with your arrangements, and names who carried it out.
Find out who else shares responsibility for your building, and swap contact details in writing.
Keep a handover file ready for your successor.
In a residential building, make sure residents get the information they are entitled to.
Choose an assessor you can show to be competent, and keep the evidence.

Wales

Section 156 extends to England and Wales. In Wales the main changes also took effect on 1 October 2023, under the Building Safety Act 2022 (Commencement No. 3, Transitional and Saving Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2023. Two parts were left out there: the competence rule (Article 9A), and the duty to co-operate with Accountable Persons in higher-risk buildings (Article 22B), which belongs to the English higher-risk building regime. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 apply to England only.

Sources and a note on advice

This page is general information, not legal advice, and was checked against the sources below in October 2026, including the position on assessor competence, the commencement notes on section 156 and the text of the amended Order. Dates and commencement can change, so confirm the position for your building.

More guidance