The LWF Blog

Fire Safety for Facilities Management Personnel – Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 – Part 36

March 9, 2020 2:50 pm

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 35, LWF considered what an inspection by an official inspector under the Order might comprise. In Part 36, we continue looking at the potential contents of an alteration notice issued by an Enforcing Authority.

As well as requiring a Responsible Person to notify the enforcing authority of any changes which could result in an increase in risk, an Alterations Notice may also place additional requirements on the Responsible Person, such as:

– They must notify any other person who has control of the premises to any extent of the terms of the alteration notice.
– Significant findings of the risk assessment must be recorded, along with any persons identified as being at risk.
– Fire safety arrangements should be recorded.
– The enforcing authority should be sent a copy of the risk assessment and a summary of changes proposed to the general fire precautions.

It should be noted that there is no reason why the changes should not go ahead, as per the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 providing the responsible person notifies the enforcing authority prior to making the changes. However, good practice and adherence to the overall aims of the order mean it would be sensible to discuss and agree changes with the Enforcing Authority proper to implementation. It is relatively rare to see Alterations Notices issued, however.

Enforcement Notices

If a situation arises where the enforcing authority feels that the Responsible Person or any other person who has control of the premises has failed to comply with any provisions of the Order, they may serve an enforcement notice on that person.

The notice will state that the enforcement authority feels the responsible person has failed to comply with the provisions of the Order, before stating which provisions have not been complied with and the requirements necessary for that person to remedy the failure, within a specific period not less than 28 days.

In part 37, LWF will continue looking at Enforcement Notices and how they are used by enforcing authorities to instigate changes in an organisation as per the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. 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.