WHAT GRENFELL PUT INTO LAW
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, in plain English
One rulebook, three tiers of duty, and a clear line on what applies to your building. Who they land on, what they ask for, and what they do not mean.
So what are these regulations?
THE SHORT VERSION
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 came into force on 23 January 2023. They sit under the Fire Safety Order, the main piece of fire safety law covering the shared parts of blocks of flats. They put most of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry's Phase 1 recommendations, the ones that needed a change in the law, onto the statute book.
They do not replace the Fire Safety Order or your fire risk assessment. They add a specific set of duties on top, aimed squarely at blocks of flats: better information for residents, regular fire door checks, and, for taller buildings, information and equipment checks that help the fire service respond. What you have to do depends on how tall your building is.
Does this land on your building?
WHO THIS FALLS ON
The Regulations apply to almost every block of flats in England: any building with two or more sets of domestic premises and common parts that residents use to get out. That covers purpose-built blocks, houses converted into flats, and student accommodation. They do not reach inside individual flats, except for things fitted there to protect other residents, and they do not catch a maisonette where two flats share no common parts.
The duties fall on the Responsible Person. That is a legal role defined by the Fire Safety Order, not a title you can hand out or delegate away. In a block of flats it is normally the freeholder, the managing agent or a residents' management company, and a building can have more than one. If you are not certain that role is yours, take legal advice before relying on someone else to hold it.
What you actually have to do
THREE TIERS, NOT ONE RULEBOOK
The taller the building, the more the Regulations ask. Each tier adds to the one before it.
How height is measured: from the lowest ground next to the building up to the floor of the top storey, ignoring a top storey used only for plant. A mezzanine counts as a storey if it is at least half the floor area of the largest storey.
Running the door checks: our fire door surveys and the Fire Door Check tool help you carry these out and keep the records.
Every block of flats
2+ flats, shared escape
- Give residents the building's fire safety instructions: the evacuation strategy, how to report a fire, what to do if one starts.
- Give residents information on fire doors: keep them shut, do not tamper with self-closers, report faults.
- Display the instructions somewhere obvious, give them to new residents, and reissue at least every 12 months.
Buildings over 11m
Typically 5 storeys or more
Everything in tier 1, plus:
- Check all fire doors in the communal areas at least every 3 months.
- Check flat entrance fire doors at least every 12 months, using best endeavours, and record any attempts to get access.
- These checks are about self-closing and condition. The Regulations set no new fire-resistance standard for the doors.
High-rise buildings
18m or 7+ storeys
Everything in tiers 1 and 2, plus:
- Fit wayfinding signage in stairwells showing floor and flat numbers, visible in low light or smoke.
- Install a secure information box with your details and hard-copy plans, and inspect it at least yearly.
- Put floor plans and a single-page building plan in the box, and send them electronically to the fire and rescue service.
- Give the fire service electronic information on the external wall construction, its level of risk and any mitigations, updated on any material change.
- Check firefighters' lifts, evacuation lifts and essential firefighting equipment every month, and keep the records available to residents.
- Report any fault not fixed within 24 hours to the fire service electronically, and report again once it is fixed.
What it does not mean
WHERE PEOPLE TRIP UP
It only applies to high-rises
In reality, every block of flats with two or more homes and shared escape routes is in scope. Height changes how much you do, not whether you are caught at all.
You have to upgrade your fire doors
In reality, the Regulations set no new fire-resistance standard. The checks are about whether doors self-close and are in sound condition, not about replacing them to a current spec.
Flat entrance doors are the leaseholder's problem
In reality, the Responsible Person must check flat entrance doors on best endeavours every 12 months, and record the attempts even where a resident refuses access.
You can appoint someone to take the duty off you
In reality, the Responsible Person is fixed by the Fire Safety Order and cannot be handed over. You can pay others to do the work, but the duty stays where the law puts it.
GO DEEPER
KEEP READING
Fire risk assessments
The independent FRA that underpins all of this, with no works arm behind the recommendations.
See the service →Fire safety jargon
Responsible Person, higher-risk building, high-rise residential building, explained in plain English.
Open the jargon buster →Residential PEEPs
The other post-Grenfell duty for blocks of flats: identifying residents who need help to evacuate, and planning for it.
See the explainer →Not sure your building is doing everything it should?
We are an independent fire safety function. No works arm, no remedial sales, just a clear read on where you stand against the Regulations.