Building Safety: additional duties of the responsible person from 23 January 2023

For those responsible persons operating in England regulations coming into force on 23 January 2023 place additional responsibilities on them in buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises that are:

• of any height and which have common parts through which residents would need to evacuate.
• at least 18 metres or 7 storeys high.
• above 11 metres in height. 

The additional duties are:

Buildings of any height which have common parts through which residents would need to evacuate

• Fire safety instructions must be displayed in a conspicuous place. They must be in a comprehensible form that the residents can be reasonably expected to understand. 
• Fire doors. Information must be provided to residents that a) fire doors should be kept shut when not in use; b) that residents or their guests should not tamper with the self -closing devices; and c) that residents should report any faults or damages with doors immediately to the responsible person. This information must be provided to each new resident and to all residents every 12 months.

Buildings above 18 metres or 7 storeys high, the following duties also apply:

• Installation and maintenance of  a secure information box, which is readily accessible, contains certain documents and is reasonably secure.  The responsible person must inspect the box at least annually.
• The design and materials of the external walls must be recorded. A revised record must be prepared if there are ‘significant’ changes to the external walls of the building.
• Floor plans and building plans must be prepared for each floor identifying the location of lifts and the lifts that can be used by firefighters or as evacuation lifts and identifying key fire-fighting equipment in the building. 
• Lift and escape equipment.  Monthly routine checks of lifts for use by firefighters, evacuation lifts and essential fire-fighting equipment must be undertaken. A record must be kept and that record must be made accessible to residents. 
• Wayfinding. There must be clear markings of floor identification and identification of domestic premises. Markings must be on landings within stairways and in lift lobbies. 

Buildings over 11 metres high, the following additional duties apply:

• Fire doors at the entrances of individual domestic premises must be checked at least every 12 months and a record kept including where it has not been possible to gain access and what steps have been taken to gain access.
• Fire doors in communal areas must be checked at least every 3 months.