LFB Review: The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, 10 Years On

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) has recently completed a review of the effectiveness of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO).  Intended to review if the RRO is still fit for purpose, whether it clearly stipulates responsibilities and if it is fully watertight, the LFB’s independent review highlighted some changes may be required for the future.

Nick Coombe, CFOA lead on Enforcement commented on the findings:

“The LFB has found that while the RRO is generally fit for purpose, there are possible improvements that might be sought to the details of the legislation: That changes to existing guidance on the RRO may be needed, and that the level of awareness of the RRO and its provisions among ‘responsible persons’ under the RRO is not as high as it should be”.

Key areas of concern highlighted by the LFB included:

• “Guidance issued under the RRO is of varying quality.Some is formally issued under the terms of Section 50 of the RRO, which requires the Secretary of State to ensure that there is sufficient guidance available for “responsible persons” under the legislation. Other guidance is not formally issued under Section 50.  It may be seen as best practice by the industry or issued by the Local Government Association such as the Purpose Built Block of flats guide.  This may result in issues about the extent to which such guidance has legal application. The quality of guidance is also variable.  It was also noted that the guidance is approaching 10 years old with no plans to review despite knowing it has fallen short in some areas. working with the sector (FSF) to help with sector specific guidance”
• “Enforcement of other related legislation such as Housing Act and Building Regulations is seen by respondents as problematic, and the RRO is seen as a tool to pick up the pieces. This is not how the legislation should be applied but this is seen as due largely to lack of resources in Local Authority enforcement and fire being only one of 29 hazards they have to assess. Enforcement of building regulations is very rare retrospectively and can be difficult to prove non-compliance many years after the building has been completed. Working with LABC TSI and CEIH to look at this issues and see if there a joint working that can ease resourcing issue
• “The competency of fire safety managers, risk assessors (both in-house and contract), and their understanding of ‘risk’.Looking at pushing third party accreditation and FRA registers.
• “The competency of enforcement officers, their understanding of “risk”, and consistency of approach both within and between Fire and Rescue Services.This is being addressed by CFOA competency framework and all Brigade inspecting officers receive training that leads to a nationally recognised fire safety qualification.
• “The significant rise of independent living premises that are care homes in all but name and regulation.This is problematic to Fire and Rescue services due to the risks presented by the behaviours and characteristics of some of the most vulnerable now being in their homes with little enforcement  Contacting specific groups who responded to the review. E.g. Supported living sector and this has fed in to the CFOA work on producing specialised housing guidance. This is sector led piece of work funded by CFOA to produce national guidance to help with the issued facing the aging population etc.

The RRO firmly assigns that the ‘responsible person’ must have a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment. A fire risk assessment must be recorded, where the responsible person employees 5 or more persons, if they require a licence under an enactment is in force in relation to the premises; or an alterations notice requiring this is in force in relation to the premises.

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