The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) (as amended) consolidates previous fire safety legislation and applies to non-domestic buildings in England and Wales.

The law requires the Responsible Person – anyone with control over premises – to conduct a fire risk assessment, implement fire safety precautions and ensure that people can escape safely in case of fire. The FSO was implemented on 1 October 2006, and has subsequently been amended by the Fire Safety Act 2021 and the Building Safety Act 2022.

This article from Reuben Bellis, identifies many offences that can be committed under the above legislation, identifies Responsible Persons and references the public register of enforcement notices hosted on the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) website. It should be noted that the NFCC is not responsible for the validity and accuracy of any data in the register. Any queries regarding the public register of enforcement notices should be directed to the relevant enforcing authority which issued the notice.

The reader should note that the FSO is only applicable to England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own legislation.

These include the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006, and the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 and the Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010, which set out the important duties the ‘duty holder’ or ‘appropriate person’ must fulfil and continue to maintain.

The Fire Safety Order 2005

There are 53 articles, arranged in five parts that make up the bulk of the FSO. Articles 8 to 23 and 37 are the primary articles to be concerned with in the majority of offences committed. These articles directly relate to the Responsible Persons’ duties, which if not carried out correctly will result in offences being committed and may result in enforcement action being taken.

Responsible Persons means:

•  in relation to a workplace, the employer, if the workplace is to any extent under his (or her) control;
• (b) in relation to any premises not falling within paragraph (a):
  • the person who has control of the premises (as occupier or otherwise) in connection with the carrying on by him (or her) of a trade, business or other undertaking (for profit or not); or
  • the owner, where the person in control of the premises does not have control in connection with the carrying on by that person of a trade, business or other undertaking.

Duties under the FSO

It’s worth reminding ourselves of the main duties placed on a Responsible Person under the Fire Safety Order 2005. Article 5 states:

• Where the premises are a workplace, the Responsible Person must ensure that any duty imposed by articles 8 to 22B or by regulations made under article 24 is complied with in respect of those premises.
• Where the premises are not a workplace, the Responsible Person must ensure that any duty imposed by articles 8 to 22B or by regulations made under article 24 is complied with in respect of those premises, so far as the requirements relate to matters within his (or her) control.
• Any duty imposed by articles 8 to 22B or by regulations made under article 24 on the Responsible Person in respect of premises shall also be imposed on every person, other than the Responsible Person referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2), who has, to any extent, control of those premises so far as the requirements relate to matters within his control.
• Where a person has, by virtue of any contract or tenancy, an obligation of any extent in relation to:
  • the maintenance or repair of any premises, including anything in or on premises; or
  • the safety of any premises, then that person is to be treated, for the purposes of paragraph (3), as being a person who has control of the premises to the extent that his obligation so extends.
• Articles 8 to 22B and any regulations made under article 24 only require the taking or observance of general fire precautions in respect of relevant persons.

Common offences

This article gives an outline of the most common examples of offences that are often committed. The example offences are described as written down on notices, court charges or the pages of local or national press.

More often these charges are linked to the business premises and the Responsible Person being found guilty of charges. Among other things, this can result in negative publicity, financial penalties and in some cases a prison sentence.

This paper relates to offences under the FSO as amended and updated. Other recently introduced legislation is also applicable, dependant on specific circumstances:

• The Fire Safety Act 2021 aims to prevent fires in multi-occupied residential buildings in England and Wales. It requires Responsible Persons to assess and reduce fire risks in buildings, including external walls, entrance doors and cladding.
• The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 impose requirements on Responsible Persons or others, including building owners and building managers, in relation to mitigating the risk to residents for specific premises.
• The Building Safety Act 2022 aims to improve the safety of buildings in England and Wales. In England, this applies to all buildings and specifically new or existing occupied buildings over 18m high or seven storeys or more, which contain at least two residential units. The design, refurbishment and construction requirements also apply to care homes and hospitals meeting the same height threshold. As said, this primary piece of legislation is applicable in Wales but is implemented differently by the Welsh government.
• The Building Safety (Description of Higher- Risk Building) (Design and Construction Phase) (Wales) Regulations 2023. e.g. Higher-Risk Building Wales Regulations, (effective 1 January 2024). This stipulates that HRBs in Wales are buildings at least 18m tall or with seven storeys. They must contain at least one residential unit, a hospital that has at least one bed intended for use by a person admitted to the premises for an overnight stay, a care home or a children’s home. This is a notable contrast to England’s requirement of two or more residential units.

Enforcement register analysis

Carrying out some rudimentary data analysis on the enforcement register on the NFCC website, for the period 1 January 2025 to the 12 September 2025, there were:

• 1,620 notices issued to various Responsible Persons for non-compliance with the FSO. These can be broken down into 545 prohibition notices. This is almost a third of all notices issued by fire authorities for the period 01/01/2025 to 12/09/2025.
• Enforcement notices counted for 892 actions taken, with the remainder of 183 being alterations notices. The majority of notices issued were still in force on the 12 September 2025.
• Leicestershire Fire Authority have issued notices on 198 occasions. This is the highest amount. These include 114 alterations notices, 59 enforcement notices and 25 prohibition notices.
• It is worth noting that London Fire Brigade publishes public notices on its own website and these do not appear on the NFCC public enforcement register. The author has not included any data in this paper on notices issued by London Fire Brigade.

Analysis

It is difficult to comprehend that in this ‘snapshot’ of enforcement notices, four out of 10 Responsible Persons did not have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment or, in some cases, any risk assessment (with 648 notices served under Article 9). Article 8 states: “The Responsible Person must take such general fire precautions as will ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of any of his employees; and in relation to relevant persons who are not his employees, take such general fire precautions as may reasonably be required in the circumstances of the case to ensure that the premises are safe.”

With 732 notices issued covering the period above, it is evident that those Responsible Persons have a disregard for the FSO. It is our opinion that at the very least a public campaign is called for in England and Wales, focusing on:

1. The fact that fires impact people, property and the environment
2. Reinforcing Responsible Persons duties
3. Raising awareness of the consequences of non-compliance

Where an offence under the FSO is committed by a body corporate and proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person purporting to act in any such capacity, he/she as well as the body corporate is guilty of that offence, and is liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

The highest fine you can receive in England and Wales is unlimited. The actual amount of the fine depends on the seriousness of the offence and is often tied to a percentage of the offender’s weekly income.

Custodial sentences can be imposed for non-compliance with a Regulatory Fire Safety Order, particularly in serious cases where it is deemed the failure has put people at risk of death or serious injury. Penalties can include up to two years in prison, unlimited fines or both.

How Cardinus can help

Navigating fire safety legislation and understanding your responsibilities under the Fire Safety Order can be complex. Cardinus has extensive experience supporting organisations with fire safety compliance and is well placed to help answer any questions arising from this article. To speak with a member of our team, please email [email protected] or call 0207 469 0262 for expert advice and practical support.