New fire safety rules, Regulatory Reform Order (RRO), affecting all non-domestic premises in England and Wales come into force on 1 October 2006.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, made in June 2005, is the biggest overhaul of fire safety legislation in decades.

Originally, the RRO was due to come into force in April 2006 but in January the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced that it would be deferring unitl 1 October to give business and stakeholders more time to prepare.

Announcing the new date in a written statement, the ODPM Minister responsible for fire safety Jim Fitzpatrick said on March 6th 2006:

“The Government’s over-riding aim is to save more people from death and injury by reducing risk and preventing fires.

The RRO has rationalised existing general fire safety legislation, for example, fire certificates will cease to have any legal status and will be replaced by a comprehensive fire risk assessment undertaken by a competent person. The new fire legislation will encompass fire precautions and other fire safety duties required to protect people in case of a fire in non-domestic/commercial premises (Source: DCLG).