In the wake of the tragic Grenfell Tower fire of 2017, the UK government has undertaken a series of consultations to improve fire safety in residential buildings in England.
The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 are due to come into force on 6 April 2026. This means if you haven’t already reviewed your responsibilities as a building manager, you need to do so now.
What does a building manager have to do under the new fire safety regulations?
One of the most important aspects to look into as a building manager is the need for personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs) for anyone who lives in the building who may struggle to get out safely in the event of an emergency.
This could be due a physical disability, a cognitive condition or impaired sight or hearing. The key word in this is “personal” – in other words each plan needs to be tailored to suit the relevant individual.
As a result, you may have several PEEPs in place if you have multiple vulnerable residents in the building you manage.
These are in addition to the general emergency evacuation plan that you are legally required to have in place for all residents.
What might a building manager need to provide under a PEEP?
Every person who needs a PEEP in your building should be given a written evacuation plan, which is reviewed by a responsible person every 12 months to ensure it is still accurate.
For those with physical disabilities, such as wheelchair users, it’s important to consider how they can be safely and quickly evacuated in the event of a fire. In many cases, this will mean ensuring that there are evacuation chairs available in the stairwells.
These vary from wheelchairs in that the person in the chair is strapped in and evacuation chairs are designed to provide a quick, safe and efficient way to help people get out of a building in an emergency.
If no one in a building needs a PEEP, do you still need specialist equipment on the premises?
Yes, because visitors could have physical disabilities and need support in evacuating in the event of an emergency. This will be covered under your general emergency evacuation plan.
You will be expected to provide one evacuation chair per stairwell, per floor. It’s also important to note that these evacuation chairs will likely need to be provided in addition to any required under a PEEP.
Therefore the sooner you reach out to a medical supply store to purchase your evacuation chairs the better, given that these regulations will come into force within the next two months in England.
What buildings do these regulations apply to?
The new regulations only apply to buildings that are more than 18 metres (seven storeys) high, or that are more than 11 metres high with a simultaneous evacuation strategy.
There are different regulations in place for premises that are open to the general public, such as libraries, museums and shopping centres.
Of course, you will need to provide evacuation chairs in these properties too, so that anyone who needs one has access to a safe way to exit the upper floors of a building in the event of an emergency.