The office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) announced on 12 January 2006, that the coming into force of Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 will be delayed. The decision to delay the legislation is intended to allow businesses and fire safety experts more time to get to grips with the new fire safety regime and the accompanying guidance which affects all non-domestic premises in England and Wales.
The ODPM fire safety minister issued a statement explaining the reason for the delay:
"During the passage of the Order it was of concern to the House that business and enforcers should have adequate time to familiarise themselves with the new regime and the guidance that will accompany it and that the coming into force date should, so far as is practicable, be timed to coincide as closely as possible with reform of fire safety laws in Scotland.
Despite extensive work with stakeholders it is clear that all the guidance documents will not be ready for a full 12 week gap between publication and coming into force on 1 April 2006.
In light of the commitments we have given to the House and our commitment to ensuring this reform is properly backed, we have therefore concluded that the coming into force of the substantive provisions of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order should be put back".
The new legislation (which incorporates most of the existing fire safety legislation) places a greater emphasis on fire prevention in all non-domestic premises, including the voluntary sector and self-employed people who have business premises outside of their homes.
In particular the new legislation will repeal the Fire Precautions Act 1971 and revoke the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997.
At the time of writing, a date for the coming into force of the new legislations has yet to be announced. Guidance notes setting out what is required to comply with the new legislation and to assist in carrying out fire risk assessments will be available in advance of the changes coming into force.
For more information on the guidance notes click here.
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Law-Now information is for general purposes and guidance only. The information and opinions expressed in all Law-Now articles are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional or legal advice. All Law-Now information relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its original publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments.
The original publication date for this article was 02/02/2006.
