The landscape of fire safety regulation in the UK has changed substantially since the 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy. This has not been a single reform; instead, it has occurred through a series of layered legislative and standards-based changes that collectively redefine what dutyholder compliance looks like.
The Building Safety Act 2022 serves as the legislative spine, with subsequent regulations and updated standards introducing new obligations.
This article will bring you up-to-date with these changes and outline what is now law, what came into force in April 2026, and what changes are still to come. Our aim is to help Responsible Persons (RPs) understand the full, interconnected changes, rather than viewing individual changes in isolation.
The Building Safety Act 2022 – the legislative framework
This Act put in place a more stringent regime for “higher-risk” buildings. Such structures are generally defined as those with a height of more than 18 metres or seven storeys, and at least two residential units.
It was also this landmark legislation that established the Building Safety Regulator, defined the role of the Accountable Person, and created new duties in relation to registration, safety cases, and ongoing management.
Higher-risk buildings must be registered with the Regulator. New certificates, such as Landlord and Leaseholder certificates, may be needed in certain contexts.
In October 2023, Section 156 of the Act amended the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO). This brought in key operational changes for Responsible Persons. Among these were the fuller recording of fire risk assessments and fire safety arrangements (irrespective of business size), as well as clearer duties on cooperation and coordination between dutyholders, and strengthened requirements for competent persons.
The Act provides the overarching framework that subsequent regulations have built upon.
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 – what came into force in January 2023
These regulations implemented many of the recommendations arising from Phase 1 of the Grenfell Inquiry for which a change in the law was necessary. They introduced practical operational duties for Responsible Persons managing blocks of flats, particularly high-rise ones.
Key requirements now in force include:
- Regular inspections of flat entrance doors (annually) and communal fire doors (quarterly).
- Floor plans, wayfinding signage for fire crews, and other information-sharing duties.
- Secure Information Boxes, which must store key building safety information, including Responsible Persons contact details and floor plans, accessible to attending crews.
These operational duties are complemented by the parallel building regulation changes in 2022. The latter encompass restrictions on combustible materials such as MCM panels, together with requirements for evacuation alert systems in buildings at least 18 metres in height, and Secure Information Box mandates in construction contexts.
Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (RPEEPs) – in force from April 2026
The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 came into force on 6th April 2026. They introduced the most significant new operational duty for building managers since the FSO amendments.
The structures in scope of these regulations include:
- All residential buildings that are at least 18 metres or seven storeys in height.
- Residential buildings more than 11 metres high where a simultaneous evacuation strategy is in operation.
Responsible Persons have these four core legal duties placed upon them:
- Using reasonable endeavours to identify “relevant residents” (those whose ability to self-evacuate is impaired by physical, sensory, or cognitive conditions).
- Offering a Person-Centred Fire Risk Assessment (PCFRA) and carrying one out if a resident requests it.
- Implementing reasonable and proportionate mitigating measures to support safe evacuation.
- Maintaining a building-wide emergency evacuation plan (and an Emergency Evacuation Statement for relevant residents).
This process is consent-based. Residents are entitled to decline a PCFRA, but even if this is the case, the Responsible Person still has a legal duty to identify relevant residents using reasonable endeavours.
Key RPEEP information must be stored in the Secure Information Box. This demonstrates the direct link between these 2026 duties and the 2022 regulations, and it shows the cumulative nature of the UK’s current fire safety regulatory framework.
Initial plans should be followed by annual reviews (within 12 months, then at least 12 months thereafter), or sooner if material building changes occur.
With regard to enforcement, it is important to be mindful that Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) conduct spot checks of Secure Information Boxes. If non-compliance is found, standard prohibition and enforcement powers under the FSO will apply.
These rules apply to England only; Wales and Scotland have separate legislative frameworks.
Changes to fire safety testing standards – BS 476 being phased out
The national BS 476 fire testing classification system is being withdrawn in favour of the BS EN 13501 European classification system.
This change aligns UK fire testing with European protocols and allows for broader and more consistent performance data across a wider range of fire types.
The transition from BS 476 commenced around March 2025 for reaction-to-fire aspects. Full removal of BS 476 references for fire resistance is set for September 2029.
Anyone with responsibility for specifying materials or maintaining compliance documentation should take note of this shift, given the need for materials to be assessed and recorded against the correct standard.
To avoid any compliance gaps, Responsible Persons and specifiers are advised to update their materials specification records now, instead of waiting for the 2029 deadline.
BS 9991:2024 – updated residential fire safety design standard
This code of practice covers fire safety requirements for the design, management, and use of residential buildings, including apartment blocks, student accommodation, and care homes.
Key updates to BS 9991:2024 encompass:
- Clearer height limits for single-staircase buildings, particularly relevant to social housing and housing-association developments.
- Enhanced recommendations for evacuation lifts in taller buildings.
- Revised height thresholds for the installation of sprinkler systems.
- Altered smoke ventilation guidance.
- Stronger consideration of vulnerable occupants, directly aligned with the RPEEP duties set out above.
Adherence to BS 9991:2024 can support or achieve compliance with Approved Document B 2026, where designs are implemented faithfully. This is an important practical point for dutyholders managing new-build or refurbishment projects.
What’s still to come
- September 2026: mandatory second staircases for all new residential buildings over 18 metres in height. This already influences planning for projects in the pipeline, with transitional arrangements for earlier approvals.
- September 2029: the full withdrawal of BS 476 classifications. This is the hard deadline for completing the transition to BS EN 13501 across all fire performance testing and documentation.
- Wales, July 2026: Building Regulations changes are set to introduce parallel higher-risk building duties. These will include a gateway approval process, golden thread information requirements, and strengthened fire safety information duties. This will be relevant for any organisation operating across England and Wales.
What responsible persons should be doing now
- Auditing to determine the specific buildings for which they are responsible that fall within the RPEEP scope.
- Reviewing existing fire risk assessments against the updated FSO duties (the post-October 2023 amendments) and BS 9991:2024 to identify any gaps.
- Establishing resident identification and engagement processes for RPEEP obligations; early engagement is key due to the consent element.
- Updating materials specifications documentation to reflect BS EN 13501; RPs should be moving proactively, instead of waiting for the 2029 deadline.
- Confirming that Secure Information Boxes are populated and current with all the necessary documents. These boxes now serve dual duty, given their importance under both the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and the 2025 RPEEP Regulations.
- Verifying that fire door inspection records meet the cadence required in accordance with the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022.
- Flagging the mandatory second-staircase requirement to any clients or colleagues with new residential development in the pipeline.
Conclusion: fire safety regulations need to be regarded as a collective
It is crucial to recognise that fire safety regulation in the UK is now a progressively tightened, cumulative framework rather than a set of isolated rules.
Responsible Persons who treat each regulation in isolation risk missing how they interconnect. For example, the Secure Information Box now sits at the centre of both the 2022 operational duties and the 2026 RPEEP framework.
The broad direction of travel is clear: greater documentation, more resident-focused personalisation, and heightened accountability for individual building managers.
How Vision Pro Software supports fire safety compliance
The fire risk assessment and compliance platform under the Vision Pro Software banner has been designed for exactly the kind of environment that Responsible Persons face in the UK right now.
This cloud-based package allows for robust audit trails, centralised document management, automated review reminders, and reviews to handle the volume and cadence of obligations that RPEEPs, modified FSO duties, BS 9991:2024, and the wider Building Safety framework have created.
Through the streamlining of identification, record-keeping, and reporting processes that Vision Pro Software facilitates, Responsible Persons can move from reactive compliance to proactive and evidence-based fire safety management.
Please don’t hesitate to enquire to the Vision Pro Software team today, to learn more about the feature-set and functionality of our tool and to request a demo.
