New Fire Safety & Energy Laws: Is your building compliant?
New fire safety rules affecting all non-domestic premises in England and Wales will come into force on 1 October 2006...
In June 2005 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) reviewed the existing fire safety law and implemented a number of changes through the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRO). The RRO was due to come into force in April 2006, but in January the Department for Communities & Local Government (DCLG), now responsible for the RRO, announced that it was deferring until 1 October 2006 to give business and stakeholders more time to prepare.
The law changes will affect:
- Those responsible for commercial buildings
- The Self-employed with business premises
- Charity & voluntary organisations
- Contractors with a degree of control over any premises
If any of the above applies to your premises you will need to act by 1 October 2006.
The new law will:
- Emphasise preventing fires and reducing risk.
- Make those responsible for business premises liable for the safety of everyone who uses their premises and those in the immediate vicinity
- Invalidate all existing fire certificates
- Make a Fire Risk Assessment a legal requirement
(Source: Dept. of Communities & Local Government)
Read more about the New Fire Safety Law and how it will affect your business click here