General

It is important to understand that more than one piece of fire safety legislation and/or fire safety guidance can be applied to any individual premises. For instance take a school the The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 applies and there could be others. Fire Safety guidance documents including Guide 5 - Educational premises, Guide 1 - Offices and shops, Guide 6 - Small and medium places of assembly or Guide 7 - Large places of assembly may apply and if the school is a boarding school then Guide 3 - Sleeping accommodation could apply.

Legislation

Fire Safety in new and altered Educational Establishments including Schools and Colleges is subject to the Building Regulations and the guidence for fire matters are dealt with by Approved Document Part B Fire Safety. Within that document appendix G and H there is a list, of other guidence documents that may be relevant.

When premises are occupied fire precautions are controlled by The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. and this order lays down legal requirements, check them out at the above link.

Fire Safety Guide for England and Wales

The most appropriate guide for Educational Establishments including Schools and Colleges is likely to be Guide 5 - Educational premises and can be downloaded at the Department of Communities and Local Government web site. This guide is for all employers, head teachers, governors, vice-chancellors, occupiers and owners of educational premises.

It tells you what you have to do to comply with fire safety law, helps you to carry out a fire risk assessment and identify the general fire precautions you need to have in place. This guide is intended for premises where the main use of the building or part of the building is an educational premises. These include schools, colleges, universities, Sunday schools, academies, crèches, adult education centres, after-school clubs, outdoor education centres and music schools. It may also be suitable for the individual premises used for educational purposes within other, more complex premises used for different purposes, although consultation with the other managers will be necessary as part of an integrated risk assessment for the complex.

This guide is not intended for residential premises (e.g. university halls of residence) the guide for premises providing sleeping accommodation should be used in this case. If your premises are used for public entertainment or licensed, you may need to use one of the guides for places of assembly.

Also, where you handle and store flammable materials and substances, it will help you take account of these in your risk assessment and help you determine the necessary precautions to take to minimise the likelihood of them being involved in a fire.

It has been written to provide guidance for a responsible person, to help them to carry out a fire risk assessment in less complex premises. If you read the guide and decide that you are unable to apply the guidance, then you should seek expert advice of a competent person. More complex premises will probably need to be assessed by a person who has comprehensive training or experience in fire risk assessment. However, this guide can be used for multi-occupied buildings to address fire safety issues within their individual occupancies.