Who Is the “Responsible Person” for Fire Safety in a Commercial Building?
- For a workplace, the responsible person is the employer. Otherwise it is whoever has control of the premises: the owner, landlord, occupier or managing agent.
- In a multi-let building there are usually several responsible persons: the landlord for common parts and each tenant for their own demise. The Order requires them to cooperate.
- The duty cannot be contracted out. You can appoint competent people to help, but the responsibility stays with you.
- The role covers the assessment, the fire safety arrangements, equipment, training and keeping it all under review.
“Someone deals with that” is the most dangerous sentence in commercial fire safety. The Fire Safety Order is precise about who carries the duty, and when a fire service audit or a prosecution happens, it is that person, not a vague corporate “we”, who answers. Here is how the law defines the responsible person, how it plays out in the common situations, and what the role actually requires.
The legal definition
Article 3 of the Fire Safety Order defines the responsible person as, for a workplace, the employer if the workplace is to any extent under their control; and in any other case, the person who has control of the premises in connection with a trade, business or other undertaking, or the owner where the premises are not under anyone else’s control. The test is control, not job title.
General information, not legal advice.
If you are an employer
If you employ people in the premises, you are the responsible person for the parts you control, full stop. It does not matter that you rent rather than own, or that the building has a managing agent. Your lease may give the landlord duties for the structure and common areas, but your own floor, unit or office is yours to assess and manage.
If you are a landlord or owner
You are the responsible person for the parts you control: typically the common parts of a multi-let building (entrance, stairs, corridors, plant rooms) and any vacant units. If you let a whole building to a single tenant on a full repairing lease, control usually passes to the tenant, but check the lease, because responsibility for the structure, fire doors or alarm system can be split.
If you are a managing agent
A managing agent who has control of common parts on the owner’s behalf can be a responsible person in their own right, alongside the owner. Agents who assume they are merely administrators have been prosecuted. If you manage a building, be clear in writing who is doing what.
Discharge the duty properly
Match with competent fire risk assessors for your premises or common parts. No-obligation quotes.
Shared buildings: more than one responsible person
Most commercial buildings have several responsible persons at once, and the Order expects them to cooperate and coordinate. The landlord must ensure the common escape routes work; each tenant must ensure their own area does not compromise them. A fit-out that blocks a stair, or a propped-open fire door in a tenant’s unit, is everyone’s problem. Our guide to multi-let buildings goes into the split in detail.
What the role actually involves
- Carrying out and recording a suitable and sufficient Fire Risk Assessment, and reviewing it.
- Putting in place fire safety arrangements: escape routes, signage, emergency lighting, detection and alarms, fire-fighting equipment.
- Maintaining that equipment, including annual extinguisher servicing.
- Training staff and appointing competent people to assist.
- Cooperating with other responsible persons in the building.
You can delegate the work, not the duty
Appointing a competent assessor, a fire warden or a facilities contractor is sensible and often necessary. It does not transfer the legal responsibility. If the assessor produces a poor assessment, the responsible person is still the one the fire service writes to. Choose competent help, check their work, and keep the records.
Sources & further reading
- Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 3 — the definition of the responsible person
- Fire safety in the workplace: your responsibilities (GOV.UK) — who is responsible and what they must do
External links open in a new tab. ComSurv is a matching service, not a firm of surveyors, and is not affiliated with these organisations. This article is general information, not legal, surveying or valuation advice; take advice on your specific situation.
