Fire safety checklist for landlords and responsible persons

A practical starting point for landlords and responsible persons. This is a self-check to help you spot obvious issues before a professional assessment.

What this checklist is not

It is a general template and it must be adapted to your premises. It does not replace a fire risk assessment, which is a legal requirement under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Article 9 of the Order requires the responsible person to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks, and to have it carried out by someone competent to do it. Working through the questions below does not discharge that duty, however carefully it is done. A completed checklist is a prompt for the conversation you then have with an assessor — not a record that the assessment has happened.

Nothing here is premises-specific advice. Buildings differ, and the question that matters in yours may not be on this list.

Means of escape

• Escape routes are clear, unobstructed, and adequately wide.
• Final exit doors open easily from the inside without a key.
• Escape routes have emergency lighting where needed.
• Travel distances to a place of safety are reasonable.

Fire doors and compartmentation

• Fire doors are fitted with intumescent strips and, where required, cold smoke seals.
• Fire doors close fully onto the frame and are not wedged open.
• Gaps around fire doors are within tolerance (around 3 mm).
• Penetrations through walls and floors for services and cables are properly fire-stopped.

Detection and warning

• Smoke or heat detection is provided appropriate to the building.
• The fire alarm, if fitted, is tested regularly and records are kept.
• Occupants know how the alarm sounds and what to do.

Firefighting and signage

• Appropriate fire extinguishers are provided, serviced and accessible.
• Fire action notices and escape signage are displayed and legible.
• Emergency lighting is tested and maintained.

Management and records

• A current fire risk assessment is in place and acted upon.
• Remedial actions have owners and target dates.
• Testing, servicing and training records are kept up to date.
• Occupants and residents have clear fire safety information.

If something here is not right

A checklist tells you that a question is worth asking; it does not tell you how serious the answer is. A wedged-open fire door in a single-storey office and the same door on the only escape stair of a residential block are not the same finding, and the difference is exactly the judgement an assessment exists to make.