What is the Fire Safety Order?
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, often called the Fire Safety Order or RRO, is the main fire safety framework for most non-domestic premises in England and Wales. It replaced the former fire certificate approach with ongoing duties based on risk assessment, precautions and maintenance. A certificate or software status is not a general declaration that a building is safe.
The Order can also apply to common parts of blocks of flats. The exact scope depends on the premises and who controls them. Government guidance for responsible persons explains how the duties work in practice.
Who is responsible?
Article 3 identifies the responsible person. This is usually the employer for a workplace under its control, or the person who controls other relevant premises in connection with a trade, business or undertaking. More than one person can have duties in a shared building; Article 22 covers cooperation and coordination.
An assessor or maintenance contractor can help carry out work. The responsible person still needs to understand the findings and act on them.
Risk assessment and maintenance
Article 9 requires a suitable and sufficient assessment of fire risks and review when it may no longer be valid or significant changes occur. The recording duties were expanded by the Building Safety Act 2022, section 156. The assessment should inform the precautions and actions needed at that premises.
Article 17 requires a suitable system of maintenance for fire safety facilities, equipment and devices. What is suitable depends on the building, risk assessment, equipment and relevant guidance. Keep evidence that checks, servicing and remedial work were completed.
Are all fire doors checked every six months?
There is no single six-month statutory interval for every fire door in every building. The responsible person needs a suitable maintenance and checking regime under the Fire Safety Order and the fire risk assessment.
A separate England-specific rule applies to certain multi-occupied residential buildings. Under regulation 10 of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, responsible persons for buildings above 11 metres must make best endeavours to check flat entrance fire doors at least every 12 months and check communal fire doors at least every three months. The government’s regulation 10 fact sheet explains the scope and practical approach. These England-specific checks should not be presented as a universal rule for workplaces or every residential building.
What should an inspection record show?
For a door, identify the building, location and door; record the date, person carrying out the check, observed condition, photographs where useful, defects, the action owner and follow-up. A competent assessment should determine what findings mean and what remedial work is needed. A record system helps retain this evidence, but it cannot decide whether the door meets the applicable requirements.
CertFlow can organise fire safety inspection records, photographs, due work and remedial actions. Ask to see the workflow in a live demo using your building and inspection criteria.