New fire safety rules affecting all non-domestic premises in England and Wales came into force on 1 October 2006. These rules will affect charity or voluntary organisations, including both premises owning and non-premises owning sports clubs. The rules will also cover:
Key changes to the previous rules - All existing fire legislation would be repealed or revoked
- Fire certificates would be abolished and no longer issued.
- Responsible person(s) would be responsible for fire safety. They must conduct a fire risk assessment regardless of the size of the risk.
- The identified responsible person would take full corporate liability.
- Extended scope of consideration now to include property safety, fire fighter safety and the environment around the site.
Building fire safety will now be solely risk assessment led, therefore all businesses, regardless of size or purpose, will have to conduce a comprehensive fire risk assessment.
The 'responsible person' is deemed to be the employer with control of the workplace. However, either failing that or in addition to, responsibilty may also fall to the:
- Person with overall management of the building.
- Occupier of the premises ‘Owner of the premises’.
It is vital that clubs who either lease their premises or hire premises are aware of the new rules. The Department for Communities and Local Government has published a series of guides providing information about the new framework and how to ensure your club is comlying. The guides can be accessed here.
