New fire safety regulations will come into force on 6 April, which aim to improve evacuation arrangements for residents who may need extra support leaving a building during a fire.  

The new measures introduce a process called Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans which apply to certain multi‑occupied residential buildings in England and place new legal duties on building owners, landlords and managing agents. 

According to Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, under the new regulations, responsible persons must use reasonable endeavours to: 

• Identify residents who may have difficulty evacuating without assistance due to a physical or cognitive impairment 
• Offer those residents a person-centred fire risk assessment 
• Agree an emergency evacuation statement, where the resident wishes 
• Develop and maintain a building-wide emergency evacuation plan 

If a resident consents, building owners can share a small amount of essential information with fire and rescue services. 

This could include flat number, floor number and a basic overview of assistance they may need.  

This will not include medical and personal information, and the fire and rescue service are keen for people to know that they "have now established the secure systems and processes required to receive this information and use it effectively in an emergency response. 

"Participation is voluntary, and residents can withdraw consent at any time. 

"Fire and rescue services are not responsible for carrying out assessments, creating evacuation statements or deciding mitigation measures.  

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"These remain the duty of building owners and managers." 

The regulations apply to residential buildings in England that are: 

• 18 metres or seven storeys or higher, or 
• Over 11 metres where a simultaneous evacuation strategy is in place. 

Matt White, Technical Fire Safety Lead for Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "These changes are an important step towards ensuring everyone feels safe in their own home, especially those who might need extra support in an emergency.  

"They set out much clearer expectations for building owners and managers, and we welcome that. 

"While the responsibility for putting these arrangements in place sits with building owners, landlords or managers, we're ready to receive information—with residents' consent—and to use it to help us respond as effectively as possible if a fire does occur. 

"If any resident believes they may benefit from these new arrangements, we would encourage them to speak to their building owner or managing agent. 

 "Our role is to use the limited information we're given to support our crews on the ground and to continue working with partners to help keep our communities safe." 

Click the link to find out more.  

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