Fire safety arrangements
The law does not turn on whether the file is called a policy.
What matters is the live set of assessments, arrangements, building information, resident instructions and action records required for the premises. A polished policy cannot fill a missing operational control.
The core record
Start with the arrangements every responsible person needs.
The current fire risk assessment
Keep the premises, people at risk, hazards, controls, assumptions and review triggers visible.
Planning, organisation and control
Record how preventive and protective measures are planned, organised, controlled, monitored and reviewed. The legal requirement is not dependent on the document title.
The building's emergency arrangements
State the evacuation strategy, alarm and call arrangements, escape routes, responsible roles and information people need in an emergency.
The open and closed action record
Connect each finding to an owner, timescale, interim control where required and completion evidence.
Additional duties in England
Height and evacuation strategy change the record.
Fire-safety and fire-door information
For multi-occupied residential buildings with common parts, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations require specified information for residents and regular reissue at intervals not exceeding 12 months.
Fire-door checks
The responsible person must use best endeavours for annual flat entrance-door checks and carry out quarterly checks of fire doors in the common parts.
Information for the fire and rescue service
At 18 metres or at least seven storeys, further duties apply to plans, external walls, lifts and key firefighting equipment, secure information and fault reporting.
Residential evacuation plans from 6 April 2026
The 2025 regulations apply to high-rise residential buildings and to buildings over 11 metres using simultaneous evacuation. They require a building-wide plan and a consent-based process for relevant residents.
A separate regime
Do not rename the Building Safety Act safety case as a fire policy.
Check whether it is a higher-risk building
For the occupied-building regime in England, this normally means at least two residential units and either at least 18 metres in height or at least seven storeys.
Identify accountable persons and the principal accountable person
These roles follow ownership and repairing obligations for common parts. They are distinct from, although they may overlap with, the Fire Safety Order responsible person.
Assess and manage fire-spread and structural risks
The principal accountable person prepares the safety case report and supplies it to the Building Safety Regulator when required. It is not a substitute for the fire risk assessment.
Sources for this page
Open the law and guidance yourself.
The duty to make and give effect to appropriate fire-safety arrangements.
↗England guidanceFire Safety (England) Regulations 2022Official scope and duties for all, over-11-metre and high-rise multi-occupied residential buildings.
↗Current England lawResidential evacuation plansOfficial guidance on the regulations in force from 6 April 2026 and their high-rise and over-11-metre simultaneous-evacuation scope.
↗Building Safety RegulatorPreparing a safety case reportCurrent guidance on higher-risk building scope and the principal accountable person's safety case report.
↗Links and current-law position checked 18 August 2026. Apply the governing documents, building facts and current law to the case in front of you.
Take the next step in LEASE-iQ
What does the lease allocate, and what belongs to safety law?
Use this for access, repair, cost recovery and document responsibility, not for a safety verdict.
Keep checking: LEASE-iQ cannot assess physical safety or professional competence. Use it to find the document route and make the safety evidence gap visible.
