The LWF Blog

Fire Safety for Facilities Management Personnel – Fire Safety Regulation in Scotland – Part 43

April 28, 2020 10:22 am

Lawrence Webster Forrest (LWF) is a specialist fire engineering and fire risk management consultancy whose aim is to give information on best practice in fire safety for facilities management personnel through this blog series. In part 42, looked at the guidance provided by the Secretary of State as per Article 50 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, to assist responsible persons with compliance with Articles 8-22. In part 43, we consider the relevant fire safety legislation in Scotland for existing buildings.

At the same time as the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 came into force in England and Wales – 1st October 2006, the current Scottish fire safety legislation also came into effect. The legislation differs from that for England and Wales, because it comprises both primary and secondary legislation.

Part 3 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 is primary and Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006 is secondary legislation. Several changes have since been made in the form of amendments to the Fire (Scotland) Act through the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2005 and the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 (Relevant Premises) Regulations 2005.

Just as in the case of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, the new Scottish legislation replaced almost all existing legislation considering fire safety in Scotland. The Fire Precautions Act 1971, the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations and the general fire safety provisions of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 were repealed or revoked in favour of the new regulations.

The over-arching theme of the legislative regimes is identical in each country and much of the information available relating to the Fire Safety Order in England and Wales can also be applied to the Scottish Act and Regulations, but within the detail lies significant differences. For this reason, they cannot simply be discounted as ‘the same’ and to ensure compliance with the requirements in Scotland, the scope and detail must both be understood.

Northern Ireland’s fire safety legislation is also similar to, but not the same as the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Act 2005, but will be addressed separately, later in this blog series.

In part 43, LWF will begin to look at the scope of the Fire (Scotland) Act. In the meantime, if you have any queries about your own facilities or wish to discuss this blog series, please contact LWF on freephone 0800 410 1130.

Lawrence Webster Forrest is a fire engineering consultancy based in Surrey with over 25 years’ experience, which provides a wide range of consultancy services to professionals involved in the design, development and construction and operation of buildings.

While care has been taken to ensure that information contained in LWF’s publications is true and correct at the time of publication, changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of this information.