Residential PEEPs: Guidance for Responsible Persons and other resources

This comprehensive MHCLG guidance, produced following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, outlines requirements for ‘Responsible Persons’ to improve the fire safety and evacuation of ‘relevant residents’ of specified residential buildings in England who would have difficulties evacuating the residential building by themselves in the event of a fire. 

A Responsible Persons (RP) is typically a building owner or manager, or an employer, landlord, Residents Management Company or Right to Manage (as set out under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (opens new window) - the ‘Fire Safety Order’) tasked to improve the fire safety and evacuation of disabled or vulnerable residents. The RP must also use reasonable endeavours to identify their ‘relevant residents’. This should include: at the point where a new resident moves in; every twelve months thereafter as an annual reminder to all residents; and when an individual makes an approach.

For the purpose of these Regulations, a ‘relevant resident is someone for whom their domestic premises in the building is their only or principal residence, and who would have difficulty evacuating a building without assistance in the event of a fire. This may be due to a physical mobility or a cognitive condition. For example, a person who habitually needs a wheelchair, a blind person, a person who is unable to go down several flights of steps or has other mobility difficulties, or a person who due to a cognitive condition may have difficulties understanding what to do in the event of a fire (for example, a learning disability or cognitive condition such as dementia).

The guidance explains how the Regulations apply to:

a) all buildings in England that are high-rise residential buildings, that is, buildings containing two or more sets of domestic premises (‘multi-residential’) that are at least 18 metres above ground level or have at least 7 storeys), and

b) all multi-residential buildings more than 11 metres in height above ground level (typically a building height of 5 storeys or more) that have simultaneous evacuation strategies in place.

Accompanying this guidance, MHCLG have also produced a useful factsheet (opens new window) which offers a useful summary of what is expected under the regulations. In addition, a toolkit (opens new window) provides real-life examples of initiatives put in place by RPs at scale, and is intended to help other RPs in considering interventions and strategies within the Residential PEEPs’ process.