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.

Introduction

Fire Safety in new and altered Residential care premises are 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 Residential Care Premises is likely to be Guide 4 - Residential care premises and can be downloaded at the Department of Communities and Local Government web site. This guide is for all employers, managers, occupiers and owners of permanently staffed premises providing residential care where some or all of the residents might require assistance in the event of a fire for example where residents may not be able to make their way to a place of total safety unaided. 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. It applies to premises where the main use is the provision of residential care (where the primary purpose is to provide of personal and/or nursing care, not healthcare treatment). Typical residential care premises include those where care is provided for,

• the elderly or infirm
• children and young persons
• people with special needs such as those with learning difficulties or with mental
  or physical disabilities, and
• people with addictions.

This guide may also be suitable for individual residential care premises that are part of other multi-use complexes, although consultation with other people responsible will be necessary as part of an integrated risk assessment for the complex. The relevant parts of this guide can also be used as a basis for fire risk assessment in premises where care is provided on a non-residential basis, e.g. day care centres. The guide is not intended for use in,

• sheltered accommodation, where no care is provided
• premises where the primary use is healthcare treatment, e.g. hospitals (including private) and other healthcare premises; and
• single private dwellings where out-posted nursing care is provided.

The guide has been written to provide guidance for a responsible person, to help them to carry out a fire risk assessment in most residential care premises. If you read the guide and decide that you are unable to apply the guidance, then you should seek the expert advice of a competent person. Premises with very large numbers of residents (e.g. greater than 60), or with complicated layouts (e.g. a network of escape routes, or split levels), or those of greater than four storeys, or which form part of a multi-occupied complex, will probably need to be assessed by a competent person who has comprehensive training or experience in fire risk assessment. However this guide can be used for homes which are part of multi-occupied buildings to address fire safety issues within the individual occupancy.