The LWF Blog

Fire Safety for Facilities Management Personnel – Fire Safety Regulations in Scotland & Northern Ireland – Part 51

June 23, 2020 9:40 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 50, LWF discussed appeals under Scottish legislation and looked at how disputes are determined. In part 51, we look at the available guidance for the Scottish legislation, before touching upon the legislation in Northern Ireland.

Scottish fire safety legislation, The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006, do not make statutory provision for guidance to be produced, however, the Scottish Executive has produced a series of guides which set out to provide practical fire safety guidance for different types of premises:

Fire safety guidance for existing non-residential premises (2017)
Fire safety guidance for existing premises with sleeping accommodation (2018)
Fire safety guidance for care homes (2014)

A further guide is available which provides guidance on the safe evacuation of people with disabilities from buildings in a fire situation.

Each guide provides an overview of the fire safety legislation and then looks at fire safety risk assessments. After these sections, the guide deals with management of fire safety and the various fire safety measures which are required by the legislation. Annexes to the guides set benchmark standards which are based on the technical handbooks supporting the Building (Scotland) Regulations and specific examples.

The legislation in Northern Ireland The Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 and The Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 came into effect on 15 November 2010. The requirements within the two pieces of law provide largely the same framework for fire safety as that provided in England, Wales and Scotland and includes the requirement to undertake a fire risk assessment. We will not be reviewing the content in any detail, it is suggested that where premises are located in Northern Ireland, the owner of the buildings should ensure they are familiar with the requirements in place.

In part 52, LWF will consider housing legislation and how it overlaps with mainstream fire safety legislation. 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.