Commercial Fire Safety UK: Compliance Guide 2026

Overview

Fire safety compliance in a commercial building is the combination of legal duties, physical measures, and management practices that together reduce the risk of fire and limit the harm caused if one breaks out. In England and Wales, the central piece of legislation is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which places duties on a 'responsible person' for almost all non-domestic premises.

That responsible person is usually the employer, the occupier, or the person in control of the premises. Their core duty is to carry out and keep up to date a suitable fire risk assessment, then put in place general fire precautions that follow from it.

Alongside the Fire Safety Order sit Building Regulations (including Approved Document B, which covers fire safety in design and construction), the Fire Safety Act 2021, the Building Safety Act 2022, and the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, which introduced additional duties for higher-risk and multi-occupied buildings. Employers also owe duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and accessibility duties under the Equality Act 2010 feed into how evacuation is planned for disabled occupants.

Key steps

1. Identify the responsible person and any duty-holders. Work out who holds fire safety duties for the premises. In a single-occupier building this is usually the employer or occupier. In multi-occupied or shared buildings there can be several responsible persons, and they are required to cooperate and share relevant information so that risks across the whole building are properly managed.
2. Carry out a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment. The fire risk assessment is the foundation of everything else. It should identify ignition sources, fuel, and people at risk, evaluate existing precautions, and record significant findings. Where five or more people are employed, or a licence applies, the findings must be recorded in writing, and the assessment should be reviewed whenever circumstances change.
3. Put general fire precautions in place. Based on the assessment, install and maintain appropriate detection and warning systems, fire-fighting equipment, emergency lighting, and clearly marked escape routes. Compartmentation, fire doors, and the protection of escape routes deserve particular attention, and any shortfall identified in the assessment should be given a realistic timescale to fix.
4. Train staff and plan for evacuation. Everyone who works in the building needs to know what to do if a fire starts. That means induction training, regular refreshers, and documented emergency plans. Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans should be considered for anyone who may need help leaving the building, and fire drills should be run often enough that the procedure is familiar rather than theoretical.
5. Keep records, review, and maintain. Fire safety is not a one-off task. Keep maintenance logs for alarms, extinguishers, emergency lighting, and fire doors. Revisit the risk assessment after layout changes, new equipment, staffing changes, or any near miss. If the building falls within the higher-risk regime, additional information must be shared with the fire and rescue service and, where applicable, the Building Safety Regulator.