Fire safety duties for buildings under eighteen metres

Fire safety duties for buildings under eighteen metres come mainly from the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. A responsible person must carry out and record a fire risk assessment, act on it and give residents fire safety information. In England, blocks with storeys above eleven metres also need regular fire door checks.

Most residential blocks are under eighteen metres, so most are not higher risk buildings under the Building Safety Act 2022. The duties that do apply to them are less widely understood but just as real. They fall on whoever controls the common parts, whether that is a freeholder, a landlord or a residents’ management company.

Who is the responsible person for fire safety in a block of flats?

The responsible person is usually the freeholder or landlord, or a residents’ management company where it controls the common parts. Where more than one party has control, each is responsible for the parts it controls and they must cooperate.

The Order applies to the common parts of a building containing two or more sets of domestic premises, not to the inside of individual flats. The Fire Safety Act 2021 amended article 6 of the Order to make clear that it also covers the structure, the external walls (including windows and balconies) and the entrance doors to individual flats. That matters: flat entrance doors are often owned by leaseholders but still fall within the fire risk assessment.

A managing agent or fire risk assessor can carry out much of the work, but the legal duty stays with the responsible person.

What does a fire risk assessment need to cover?

Article 9 of the Order requires a suitable and sufficient assessment of the fire risks in the parts of the building it covers. In England, since 1 October 2023, every responsible person must record the assessment and the fire safety arrangements in full.

The assessment looks at how a fire might start, how it could spread and how people would escape or be protected. In a block that means the escape routes, the separation between flats and common parts, fire doors, emergency lighting, any alarm system, signage and anything stored in corridors. It should also record the evacuation strategy, which in many purpose built blocks is to stay put unless the fire is in your own flat or you are told to leave.

The amendments made by section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 also require the responsible person to record who helped with the assessment and to use only someone competent to carry it out. The Order sets no fixed review date. The assessment must be reviewed regularly and whenever there is reason to think it is no longer valid, such as after alterations or a fire. An annual review is a sensible baseline.

How often should fire doors be checked in a block under eighteen metres?

It depends on height. In England, regulation 10 of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 requires buildings with storeys above eleven metres to have quarterly checks of communal fire doors and annual checks of flat entrance doors, the second on a best endeavours basis.

Below eleven metres there is no fixed frequency, but fire doors remain part of the fire risk assessment and must be kept in working order. Every block with two or more flats must give residents information about the importance of fire doors, including keeping them shut and not removing or disabling self closing devices.

A check is visual and practical: does the door close fully into its frame, are the seals and hinges intact, is any glazing sound and is there damage or alteration. Defects should be logged and repaired, not only noted.

What fire safety information must residents be given?

In England, residents of any block with two or more flats must be given fire safety instructions, including how to report a fire and what to do if one breaks out, together with information about fire doors. Since October 2023 they must also be told about the fire risks in the building and the measures in place to manage them.

The information should be given when someone moves in, after any significant change and again at least every twelve months. It should be in plain language. A notice in the common parts is a useful companion to a letter but not a substitute for one.

Do the same fire safety rules apply in Wales?

Partly. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies in Wales, so the core duties of the responsible person and the fire risk assessment are shared.

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 apply in England only. The detailed requirements for Welsh blocks should be checked against the Welsh Government’s current guidance rather than assumed to match the English position described here.

What this means for your block

Start with the fire risk assessment. It should be current, recorded in full, carried out by someone competent and reflect the building as it is now, including the flat entrance doors. Then check that the actions it lists have been completed, that door checks are running at the right frequency for the building’s height and that residents have been given the information they are entitled to.

Fire safety work belongs inside the building’s planned maintenance programme rather than alongside it. In blocks run by a residents’ management company, the responsible person is usually the company itself, which is one of the reasons our guide to what a residents’ management company director is responsible for treats fire safety as a board level matter.

Frequently asked questions

Is a block under eighteen metres a higher risk building?

Usually not. Under the Building Safety Act 2022 a building is higher risk if it is at least eighteen metres tall or has at least seven storeys and contains at least two residential units, so a seven storey block can qualify even if it is under eighteen metres.

What happens if a leaseholder will not allow a flat entrance door check?

The duty in buildings over eleven metres is to use best endeavours, so the responsible person should explain why the check matters, offer reasonable times and keep a record of each attempt. The lease may also contain rights of access for inspection.

How often should a fire risk assessment be reviewed?

Regularly and whenever there is reason to think it is no longer valid, such as after building work or a fire. The Order sets no fixed interval, but annual review is a sensible baseline for most blocks.

This article describes the position as at October 2026 and is general information rather than legal advice. Anyone making a decision about their own building should take proper advice on it.