The concept of the 'responsible person' is central to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, and understanding who bears this responsibility is essential for ensuring that fire safety duties are properly fulfilled.

In a workplace, the responsible person is the employer — the person or organisation that employs people to work in the premises. The employer's fire safety duties extend beyond their own employees to cover anyone else who might be affected by a fire in the premises — visitors, customers, contractors, and people in neighbouring premises who could be put at risk.

In a non-workplace setting, the responsible person is the person who has control of the premises in connection with the carrying on of a trade, business or other undertaking, whether for profit or not. In practice, this typically means the owner, landlord or managing agent of a building. Where a building has multiple occupiers, each occupier is the responsible person for their own area, and responsibility for common areas — stairwells, corridors, entrance lobbies — typically falls on the landlord or managing agent.

It is possible — and common — for there to be more than one responsible person for a premises. In a multi-tenanted commercial building, for example, each tenant is the responsible person for their own occupied area, while the landlord is responsible for the common parts. Where there are multiple responsible persons, they have a duty to co-ordinate their fire safety arrangements and share relevant fire safety information with each other.

The responsible person cannot delegate their legal duties entirely to someone else, but they can and should appoint a 'competent person' to assist them in meeting those duties — someone with the knowledge, skills and experience to advise on fire safety, carry out fire risk assessments, and implement fire safety measures. This is where a fire safety consultant like LESH can play an important supporting role.

If you are unsure who bears the responsibility for fire safety in your premises — particularly in a multi-occupancy or shared building — please contact LESH for advice. Getting this right is fundamental to ensuring that fire safety duties are properly allocated and fulfilled.

Also see our H&S support packages which can also include your annual fire risk assessment