GUIDES · THE RESPONSIBLE PERSON
Who is the responsible person for fire safety?
A plain-English guide to the responsible person by Daniel Storr, Founder & Managing Director · Last reviewed 11 September 2026
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the responsible person is whoever controls a non-domestic premises or the common parts of a residential building. That is usually the employer, owner, landlord or managing agent. They must carry out and maintain a fire risk assessment, put the necessary fire precautions in place, keep them up, and hold the records to prove it.
Who it actually is
The term comes from Article 3 of the Fire Safety Order 2005. In a workplace, the responsible person is normally the employer. Where premises are not a workplace, or where more than one party has a stake, it is whoever has control. That could be the owner, the landlord, the managing agent, or an occupier with control over part of the building. In blocks of flats, someone is the responsible person for the common parts: the corridors, stairs, plant rooms and communal doors. The flats themselves are private. Importantly, there can be more than one responsible person for the same building, and the law expects them to co-operate. Not sure whether that is you? If you have any control over the premises or its fire safety arrangements, at least some of these duties fall to you. The government’s own guidance on fire safety responsibilities sets this out.
What the law requires the responsible person to do
The Fire Safety Order sets out a clear set of duties. In plain terms, the responsible person must:
- Carry out a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, and keep it under review.
- Put general fire precautions in place: means of escape, detection and warning, firefighting equipment and signage.
- Maintain those precautions. Fire doors, alarms and escape routes do not look after themselves. They have to be checked and kept working.
- Keep records and provide information to residents, employees and, where relevant, the fire and rescue service.
The fire risk assessment is the document everything else hangs off. It identifies what needs doing, and the responsible person is accountable for acting on it.
What the 2022 Regulations added
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 gave responsible persons of higher-risk residential buildings specific, dated duties around fire doors. In buildings over 11 metres, that means quarterly checks of fire doors in the communal areas and annual checks of flat entrance doors, with records kept. It is no longer enough to say the doors were fine when they went in. You have to show they have been checked since.
The evidence file the responsible person must hold
One theme runs through all of this: you have to be able to prove it. A fire safety case is only as strong as the documentation behind it. That means the fire risk assessment, the fire door inspection reports, the records of remedial work and the maintenance logs. This is exactly why we photograph, measure and record every inspection and every repair, door by door. What you file is not just a tidy door. It is the evidence the responsible person is required to hold.
How fire doors fit in
Fire doors are one of the most heavily scrutinised parts of the responsible person’s duties, and one of the most common failure points at inspection. If the doors in your building are your responsibility, the practical steps are simple. Get them inspected by a competent person, act on the findings, keep them maintained, and hold the records. We can help with all four: see fire door inspections, repairs and remedials, and maintenance. For the bigger picture on the law itself, our legislation and standards hub explains how it all fits together.
The responsible person: common questions
Can the responsible person delegate the duties?
You can appoint competent people to help, such as a fire risk assessor or a fire door inspector, and you should. However, the legal duty stays with the responsible person. Choose contractors who give you records you can rely on.
Is a leaseholder the responsible person for their own flat door?
Usually not for the common parts, but the position depends on the lease. Many leases make the leaseholder responsible for maintaining their flat entrance door while the freeholder or managing agent must inspect it. Our guide on who pays for fire doors covers the detail.
What happens if the duties are not met?
The fire and rescue authority can serve enforcement, alterations or prohibition notices. Serious breaches are criminal offences and can lead to unlimited fines or imprisonment. Since October 2023 the fire risk assessment must be recorded in full, so a missing record is itself a breach.