The Legal Framework: What Property Managers Must Know

Fire safety for managed residential blocks is governed by an interlocking set of legislation that has been significantly updated since 2021. Understanding how these pieces fit together is the starting point for compliance — and for maintaining valid insurance cover.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) remains the cornerstone. It applies to the common parts of all residential buildings and requires the responsible person to carry out a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, implement fire safety measures, and keep that assessment under regular review. Since October 2023, full written documentation of the fire risk assessment — including an action plan and the name of any assessor appointed — is mandatory for all premises, regardless of size or the number of employees on site.

Built on top of the FSO, three more recent pieces of legislation have added material new obligations specifically affecting managed blocks:

Who Is the Responsible Person?

The concept of the responsible person is central to the fire safety framework. Under the FSO, the responsible person for a multi-occupied residential building is the person who has control of the common parts — typically the freeholder, the Residents’ Management Company (RMC), or the managing agent acting on their behalf. Where a managing agent has been appointed with full management control, they are likely to be the responsible person in practice, even if the freeholder nominally holds that title.

This matters enormously for liability. The responsible person is legally accountable for ensuring the fire risk assessment is suitable and sufficient, for implementing the fire safety measures it identifies, and for ensuring those measures are maintained. Failure to meet these duties carries serious consequences — enforcement notices, prohibition orders (which can close a building immediately), unlimited fines, and up to two years’ imprisonment for the most serious breaches.

Under the Building Safety Act 2022, buildings over 18 metres or seven storeys have an additional layer of accountability: the Principal Accountable Person, who must register the building with the Building Safety Regulator, maintain a safety case report, and uphold the golden thread of building information. Where a managing agent is the principal accountable person, the obligations — and the personal exposure — are significantly greater.

Fire Risk Assessments: Getting Them Right

The fire risk assessment (FRA) is the document that drives all other fire safety activity in a managed block. It must be carried out by a competent person, cover all areas of the building including communal spaces, plant rooms, roof voids, and bin stores, and be reviewed at regular intervals or whenever there has been a significant change — a refurbishment, a change in occupancy, a fire incident, or a change in relevant legislation.

The Building Safety Act 2022 added a specific requirement that where a responsible person appoints someone to carry out the fire risk assessment, that person must be competent. The Act defines competence in terms of skills, knowledge, and experience. In practice, this means that an FRA carried out by a person with no relevant qualifications or demonstrable experience is unlikely to be considered suitable and sufficient — and an insurer who becomes aware of this following a fire incident will treat it as relevant to their claim assessment.

Since October 2023, the written documentation requirement covers not just the risk assessment itself but the fire safety action plan — the documented programme of how identified risks will be addressed — and the name and organisation of the assessor. This record must be made available to leaseholders and residents on request.

Five Fire Safety Compliance Gaps That Can Void Your Insurance

EWS1 Forms and the Insurance Market

The External Wall System 1 (EWS1) form was introduced following the Grenfell Tower fire as a mechanism for assessing the fire risk presented by a building’s external wall construction — particularly where combustible cladding materials such as aluminium composite material (ACM) or high-pressure laminate (HPL) are present. The form is completed by a qualified fire engineer or assessor who confirms whether the external wall system meets current safety standards or whether remediation is required.

For property managers, the EWS1 has become central to the insurance process for any block with cladding or external wall systems that may be of concern. Buildings that fail the EWS1 assessment — rated B2 or with a recommendation for urgent remediation — can face dramatically increased premiums, restricted cover, or in some cases, insurers declining to offer a policy at standard terms at all. The insurance market has, in effect, made the EWS1 a de facto pre-condition for obtaining standard buildings insurance cover on affected blocks.

It is important to note that the EWS1 is not a permanent document. Where a building’s external wall system changes — due to refurbishment, replacement cladding, or additional fire safety works — the assessment may need to be updated. Managing agents should treat the EWS1 as a live document that must be kept current and disclosed accurately at each policy renewal.

How Fire Safety Non-Compliance Affects Insurance Claims

The connection between fire safety compliance and insurance cover is direct and consequential. Insurers assess fire risk at the point of underwriting — and they expect the information provided to accurately reflect the building’s compliance status. Where non-compliance is discovered following a fire incident, insurers have several grounds on which to challenge a claim.

The most common is material non-disclosure under the Insurance Act 2015. If a managing agent was aware of a failing fire door programme, an overdue fire risk assessment, or an unresolved cladding issue and did not disclose this at renewal, the insurer can reduce the claim settlement proportionately — or, in cases of deliberate or reckless non-disclosure, void the policy from inception.

The second ground is policy conditions. Most commercial buildings policies contain conditions requiring the insured to maintain the property in a good state of repair, to comply with all relevant statutory obligations, and to notify the insurer of any material changes in risk. A fire door inspection programme that has not been carried out, or a fire risk assessment that has not been reviewed following a major refurbishment, can be treated as a breach of these conditions — particularly where the non-compliance is found to have contributed to the fire spreading.

Fire Safety Compliance Checklist for Property Managers

• Confirm who is the responsible person — establish whether that is the freeholder, the RMC, or your agency, and document that confirmation in your management agreement.
• Ensure a current, documented FRA is in place — carried out by a competent assessor, covering all areas of the building, with a written action plan and assessor details recorded as required since October 2023.
• Review the FRA after any significant change — major works, changes in occupancy, fire incidents, or relevant legislative updates all trigger a review obligation.
• Implement fire door inspection schedules — quarterly checks of communal fire doors and annual checks of flat entrance doors for all buildings over 11 metres. Maintain a written record of every check and every defect remediated.
• Establish EWS1 status for all blocks with cladding — where an assessment is required, obtain it, keep it current, and disclose it accurately to insurers at renewal.
• Register Higher Risk Buildings with the BSR — if any building in your portfolio is over 18 metres or seven storeys, confirm registration with the Building Safety Regulator and maintain the golden thread of building information.
• Implement PEEP arrangements where required — for buildings over 18 metres, identify residents who may need a Personalised Emergency Evacuation Plan and put those plans in place in compliance with the April 2026 regulations.
• Disclose compliance status accurately at renewal — any known fire safety deficiencies, ongoing remediation works, or absent documentation must be disclosed to your insurer at each renewal as a matter of the duty of fair presentation.

Sources: Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005; Fire Safety Act 2021; Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022; Building Safety Act 2022; Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 (in force 6 April 2026); BS 9991:2024 Fire Safety in the Design, Management and Use of Residential Buildings; RICS EWS1 guidance; Insurance Act 2015. This guide is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal or insurance advice. Always consult a qualified adviser for guidance specific to your buildings and circumstances.