What happens if I am not compliant with fire safety registration?

The results of not having an up-to-date fire risk assessment

Fire authorities will be the main agency responsible for enforcing all fire safety legislation in non-domestic premises. They will target their resources and inspections at those premises that present the highest risk. All fire authorities will continue to look into complaints about fire safety, carry out investigations after fires where poor fire safety management is discovered and may carry out targeted inspections.

If you do not meet the statutory requirements, the fire authority will provide practical advice or, if the risk is serious, a formal notice. Except in the most serious cases, the fire authority will work with you to achieve a satisfactory level of fire safety.

If there is a very serious risk to life, the fire authority can issue a notice preventing the premises being used for certain things (such as sleeping), or preventing people from using all or part of the premises.

Ultimately, the fire authority can report the matter for prosecution.

In all cases, you will have a right of appeal, both informally and formally. An informal appeal, normally to a more experienced fire safety manager, can sometimes identify a different way of meeting the order. If this is not successful, you can appeal formally to a magistrate. You can also agree with the enforcing authority to ask for a formal decision from the Secretary of State on a solution if you cannot agree about technical issues.

Copyright © 2024 Epoq Group Ltd. All trademarks acknowledged, all rights reserved

This website is operated by Epoq Legal Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 3707955, whose registered office is at 2 Imperial Place, Maxwell Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, WD6 1JN. Epoq Legal Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA number 645296).

Our use of cookies

We use necessary cookies to make our site work. We would also like to set some optional cookies. We won't set these optional cookies unless you enable them. Please choose whether this site may use optional cookies by selecting 'On' or 'Off' for each category below. Using this tool will set a cookie on your device to remember your preferences.

For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our Cookie notice.

Necessary cookies

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.

Functionality cookies

We'd like to set cookies to provide you with a better customer experience. For more information on these cookies, please see our cookie notice.