Fire Risk Assessments Nationwide

First Secretary of State ("the Secretary of State") consulted[1]—(i) such organisations as appeared to him to be representative of interests substantially affected by his proposals for the regulatory refor fire safety order;(ii) the statutory bodies, and such organisations as appeared to him to be representative of those bodies, to whose functions his proposals relate;(iii) the Law Commission;(iv) the National Assembly for Wales; and(v) such other persons as he considered appropriate;(b) as a result of that consultation it appeared to the Secretary of State that it was appropriate to vary part of his proposals;(c) following the consultation mentioned in recital (a) the Secretary of State considered it appropriate to proceed with the making of the regulatory refor fire safety order;(d) a document containing the Secretary of State's proposals was laid before Parliament as required by section 6 of the Regulatory Reform Act 2001[2] and the period for Parliamentary consideration under section 8 of that Act expired;(e)

The Secretary of State had regard to the representations made during that period and in particular to the 11th Report of the Regulatory Reform Committee of the House of Commons[3] and to the 27th Report of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee of the House of Lords[4];(f) a draft of the regulatory refor fire safety order was laid before Parliament with a statement giving details of those representations and the changes to the Secretary of State's proposals in the light of them;(g) the draft was approved by resolution of each House of Parliament;(h) the regulatory refor fire safety order modifies a function of the National Assembly for Wales and the Assembly has agreed that it be made;(i) the Secretary of State is of the opinion that the regulatory refor fire safety order does not remove any necessary protection or prevent any person from continuing to exercise any right or freedom which he might reasonably expect to continue to exercise; and (j) the regulatory refor fire safety order creates burdens affecting persons in the carrying on of certain activities, and the Secretary of State is of the opinion that—(i) the provisions of the regulatory refor fire safety order, taken as a whole, strike a fair balance between the public interest and the interests of the persons affected by the burdens being created; and(ii) the extent to which the regulatory refor fire safety order removes or reduces one or more burdens, or has other beneficial effects for persons affected by the burdens imposed by the existing law, makes it desirable for the regulatory refor fire safety order to be made;Now therefore the First Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 1 of the Regulatory Reform Act 2001, hereby makes the following Order:

Citation, commencement and extent(1) This Order may be cited as the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and shall come into force in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3).(2) This article and article 52(1)(a) shall come into force on the day after the day on which the regulatory refor fire safety order is made.(3) The remaining provisions of the regulatory refor fire safety order shall come into force on 1st April 2006.

This Order extends to England and Wales only. In the regulatory refor fire safety order "alterations notice" has the meaning given by article 29;"approved classification and labelling guide" means the Approved Guide to the Classification and Labelling of Dangerous Substances and Dangerous Preparations (5th edition)[5] approved by the Health and Safety Commission on 16th April 2002;"the CHIP Regulations" means the Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply) Regulations 2002[6];"dangerous substance" means a substance or preparation which meets the criteria in the approved classification and labelling guide for classification as a substance or preparation which is explosive, oxidising, extremely flammable, highly flammable or flammable, whether or not that substance or preparation is classified under the CHIP Regulations; a substance or preparation which because of its physico-chemical or chemical properties and the way it is used or is present in or on premises creates a risk; and any dust, whether in the form of solid particles or fibrous materials or otherwise, which can form an explosive mixture with air or an explosive atmosphere;"domestic premises" means premises occupied as a private dwelling (including any garden, yard, garage, outhouse, or other appurtenance of such premises which is not used in common by the occupants of more than one such dwelling); "employee" means a person who is or is treated as an employee for the purposes of the Health and Safety at Work etc.

Act 1974[8] and related expressions are to be construed accordingly;"enforcement notice" has the meaning given by article 30;"enforcing authority" has the meaning given by article 25;"explosive atmosphere" means a mixture, under atmospheric conditions, of air and one or more dangerous substances in the form of gases, vapours, mists or dusts in which, after ignition has occurred, combustion spreads to the entire unburned mixture;"fire and rescue authority" means a fire and rescue authority under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004[9];"fire inspector" means an inspector or assistant inspector appointed under section 28 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004; "general fire precautions" has the meaning given by article 4; "hazard", in relation to a dangerous substance, means the physico-chemical or chemical property of that substance which has the potential to give rise to fire affecting the safety of a person, and references in the regulatory refor fire safety order to "hazardous" are to be construed accordingly;"inspector" means an inspector appointed under article 26 or a fire inspector.

"licensing authority" has the meaning given by article 42(3);"normal ship-board activities" include the repair of a ship, save repair when carried out in dry dock;"owner" means the person for the time being receiving the rackrent of the premises in connection with which the word is used, whether on his own account or as agent or trustee for another person, or who would so receive the rackrent if the premises were let at a rackrent;"personal protective equipment" means all equipment which is intended to be worn or held by a person in or on premises and which protects that person against one or more risks to his safety, and any addition or accessory designed to meet that objective

"place of safety" in relation to premises, means a safe area beyond the premises."premises" includes any place and, in particular, includes—(a) any workplace;(b) any vehicle, vessel, aircraft or hovercraft;(c) any installation on land (including the foreshore and other land intermittently covered by water), and any other installation (whether floating, or resting on the seabed or the subsoil thereof, or resting on other land covered with water or the subsoil thereof); and(d) any tent or movable structure;"preparation" means a mixture or solution of two or more substances.

"preventive and protective measures" means the measures which have been identified by the responsible person in consequence of a risk assessment as the general fire precautions he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed on him by or under the regulatory refor fire safety order;"prohibition notice" has the meaning given by article 31;"public road" means a highway maintainable at public expense within the meaning of section 329 of the Highways Act 1980[10];"rackrent" in relation to premises, means a rent that is not less than two-thirds of the rent at which the property might reasonably be expected to be let from year to year, free from all usual tenant's rates and taxes, and deducting from it the probable average cost of the repairs, insurance and other expenses (if any) necessary to maintain the property in a state to command such rent.

"the relevant local authority", in relation to premises, means—(a) if the premises are in Greater London but are not in the City of London, the London Borough in the area of which the premises are situated;(b) if the premises are in the City of London, the Common Council of the City of London;(c) if the premises are in England in a metropolitan county, the district council in the area of which the premises are situated;(d) if the premises are in England but are not in Greater London or a metropolitan county—(i) the county council in the area of which the premises are situated; or(ii) if there is no county council in the area of which the premises are situated, the district council in that area;(e) if the premises are in Wales, the county council or county borough council in the area of which the premises are situated

"relevant persons" means any person (including the responsible person) who is or may be lawfully on the premises; and(b) any person in the immediate vicinity of the premises who is at risk from a fire on the premises, but does not include a fire-fighter who is carrying out his duties in relation to a function of a fire and rescue authority under section 7, 8 or 9 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (fire-fighting, road traffic accidents and other emergencies), other than in relation to a function under section 7(2)(d), 8(2)(d) or 9(3)(d) of that Act.

"responsible person" has the meaning given by article 3;"risk" means the risk to the safety of persons from fire;"risk assessment" means the assessment required by article 9(1);"safety" means the safety of persons in respect of harm caused by fire; and "safe" shall be interpreted accordingly; "safety data sheet" means a safety data sheet within the meaning of regulation 5 of the CHIP Regulations;"ship" includes every description of vessel used in navigation;"special, technical and organisational measures" include—(a) technical means of supervision;(b) connecting devices;(c) control and protection systems;(d) engineering controls and solutions;(e) equipment;(f) materials;(g) protective systems; and(h) warning and other communication systems;"substance" means any natural or artificial substance whether in solid or liquid form or in the form of a gas or vapour.

"visiting force" means any such body, contingent, or detachment of the forces of any country as is a visiting force for the purposes of any of the provisions of the Visiting Forces Act 1952.

"workplace" means any premises or parts of premises, not being domestic premises, used for the purposes of an employer's undertaking and which are made available to an employee of the employer as a place of work and includes—(a) any place within the premises to which such employee has access while at work; and(b) any room, lobby, corridor, staircase, road, or other place—(i) used as a means of access to or egress from that place of work; or(ii) where facilities are provided for use in connection with that place of work,other than a public road.

Meaning of "responsible person""responsible person" means in relation to a workplace, the employer, if the workplace is to any extent under his control;(b) in relation to any premises not falling within paragraph (a)—(i) the person who has control of the premises (as occupier or otherwise) in connection with the carrying on by him of a trade, business or other undertaking (for profit or not); (ii) the owner, where the person in control of the premises does not have control in connection with the carrying on by that person of a trade, business or other undertaking.

Meaning of "general fire precautions" "general fire precautions" in relation to premises means, measures to reduce the risk of fire on the premises and the risk of the spread of fire on the premises;measures in relation to the means of escape from the premises; measures for securing that, at all material times, the means of escape can be safely and effectively used;(d) measures in relation to the means for fighting fires on the premises;(e) measures in relation to the means for detecting fire on the premises and giving warning in case of fire on the premises; and measures in relation to the arrangements for action to be taken in the event of fire on the premises, including measures relating to the instruction and training of employees; and(ii) measures to mitigate the effects of the fire.

The precautions referred to in paragraph (1) do not include special, technical or organisational measures required to be taken or observed in any workplace in connection with the carrying on of any work process, where those measures —(a) are designed to prevent or reduce the likelihood of fire arising from such a work process or reduce its intensity; and(b) are required to be taken or observed to ensure compliance with any requirement of the relevant statutory provisions within the meaning given by section 53(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc 1974.

"work process" means all aspects of work involving, or in connection with—(a) the use of plant or machinery; or(b) the use or storage of any dangerous substance.

Duties under the regulatory refor fire safety order Where the premises are a workplace, the responsible person must ensure that any duty imposed by articles 8 to 22 or by regulations made under article 24 is complied with in respect of those premises. Where the premises are not a workplace, the responsible person must ensure that any duty imposed by articles 8 to 22 or by regulations made under article 24 is complied with in respect of those premises, so far as the requirements relate to matters within his control.

Any duty imposed by articles 8 to 22 or by regulations made under article 24 on the responsible person in respect of premises shall also be imposed on every person, other than the responsible person referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2), who has, to any extent, control of those premises so far as the requirements relate to matters within his control. Where a person has, by virtue of any contract or tenancy, an obligation of any extent in relation to—(a) the maintenance or repair of any premises, including anything in or on premises; or(b) the safety of any premises, that person is to be treated, for the purposes of paragraph (3), as being a person who has control of the premises to the extent that his obligation so extends (5) Articles 8 to 22 and any regulations made under article 24 only require the taking or observance of general fire precautions in respect of relevant persons Application to premises 6.

This Order does not apply in relation to domestic premises, except to the extent an offshore installation within the meaning of regulation 3 of the Offshore Installation and Pipeline Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995, a ship, in respect of the normal ship-board activities of a ship's crew which are carried out solely by the crew under the direction of the master, fields, woods or other land forming part of an agricultural or forestry undertaking but which is not inside a building and is situated away from the undertaking's main buildings;(e) an aircraft, locomotive or rolling stock, trailer or semi-trailer used as a means of transport or a vehicle for which a licence is in force under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 or a vehicle exempted from duty under that Act, a mine within the meaning of section 180 of the Mines and Quarries Act 1954, other than any building on the surface at a mine, a borehole site to which the Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations 1995.

Duty to take general fire precautions, the responsible person must take such general fire precautions as will ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of any of his employees in relation to relevant persons who are not his employees, take such general fire precautions as may reasonably be required in the circumstances of the case to ensure that the premises are safe.

The responsible person must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed for the purpose of identifying the general fire precautions he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed on him by or under the regulatory refor fire safety order.

Where a dangerous substance is or is liable to be present in or on the premises, the risk assessment must include consideration of the matters set out in Part 1 of Schedule Any such assessment must be reviewed by the responsible person regularly so as to keep it up to date and particularly if there is reason to suspect that it is no longer valid or there has been a significant change in the matters to which it relates including when the premises, special, technical and organisational measures, or organisation of the work undergo significant changes, extensions, or conversions,and where changes to an assessment are required as a result of any such review, the responsible person must make them.

The responsible person must record the information where he employs five or more employees, a licence under an enactment is in force in relation to the premises or an alterations notice requiring this is in force in relation to the premises. The prescribed information is the significant findings of the assessment, including the measures which have been or will be taken by the responsible person pursuant to the regulatory refor fire safety order and any group of persons identified by the assessment as being especially at risk.

No new work activity involving a dangerous substance may commence unless the risk assessment has been made and the measures required by or under the regulatory refor fire safety order have been implemented.Principles of prevention to be applied. Where the responsible person implements any preventive and protective measures he must do so on the basis of the principles specified in Part 3 of Schedule 1.

The responsible person must make and give effect to such arrangements as are appropriate, having regard to the size of his undertaking and the nature of its activities, for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of the preventive and protective measures. The responsible person must record the arrangements where he employs five or more employees a licence under an enactment is in force in relation to the premises or an alterations notice requiring a record to be made of those arrangements is in force in relation to the premises.

Elimination or reduction of risks from dangerous substances. Where a dangerous substance is present in or on the premises, the responsible person must ensure that risk to relevant persons related to the presence of the substance is either eliminated or reduced so far as is reasonably practicable. In complying with his duty the responsible person must, so far as is reasonably practicable, replace a dangerous substance, or the use of a dangerous substance, with a substance or process which either eliminates or reduces the risk to relevant persons. Where it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate risk he responsible person must, so far as is reasonably practicable, apply measures consistent with the risk assessment and appropriate to the nature of the activity or operation, including the measures to control the risk, and mitigate the detrimental effects of a fire.

The responsible person must arrange for the safe handling, storage and transport of dangerous substances and waste containing dangerous substances, ensure that any conditions necessary pursuant to the regulatory refor fire safety order for ensuring the elimination or reduction of risk are maintained.

Where necessary (whether due to the features of the premises, the activity carried on there, any hazard present or any other relevant circumstances) in order to safeguard the safety of relevant persons, the responsible person must ensure that the premises are, to the extent that it is appropriate, equipped with appropriate fire-fighting equipment and with fire detectors and alarms, any non-automatic fire-fighting equipment so provided is easily accessible, simple to use and indicated by signs.

What is appropriate is to be determined having regard to the dimensions and use of the premises, the equipment contained on the premises, the physical and chemical properties of the substances likely to be present and the maximum number of persons who may be present at any one time. The responsible person must, where necessary take measures for fire-fighting in the premises, adapted to the nature of the activities carried on there and the size of the undertaking and of the premises concerned, nominate competent persons to implement those measures and ensure that the number of such persons, their training and the equipment available to them are adequate, taking into account the size of, and the specific hazards involved in, the premises concerned; and arrange any necessary contacts with external emergency services, particularly as regards fire-fighting, rescue work, first-aid and emergency medical care.A person is to be regarded as competent where he has sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities to enable him properly to implement the measures.

Where necessary in order to safeguard the safety of relevant persons, the responsible person must ensure that routes to emergency exits from premises and the exits themselves are kept clear at all times. The following requirements must be complied with in respect of premises where necessary (whether due to the features of the premises, the activity carried on there, any hazard present or any other relevant circumstances) in order to safeguard the safety of relevant persons emergency routes and exits must lead as directly as possible to a place of safety, in the event of danger, it must be possible for persons to evacuate the premises as quickly and as safely as possible, the number, distribution and dimensions of emergency routes and exits must be adequate having regard to the use, equipment and dimensions of the premises and the maximum number of persons who may be present there at any one time, emergency doors must open in the direction of escape, sliding or revolving doors must not be used for exits specifically intended as emergency exits, emergency doors must not be so locked or fastened that they cannot be easily and immediately opened by any person who may require to use them in an emergency, emergency routes and exits must be indicated by signs and emergency routes and exits requiring illumination must be provided with emergency lighting of adequate intensity in the case of failure of their normal lighting.

The responsible person must establish and, where necessary, give effect to appropriate procedures, including safety drills, to be followed in the event of serious and imminent danger to relevant persons nominate a sufficient number of competent persons to implement those procedures in so far as they relate to the evacuation of relevant persons from the premises, and ensure that no relevant person has access to any area to which it is necessary to restrict access on grounds of safety, unless the person concerned has received adequate safety instruction.

Without prejudice to the procedures referred to must so far as is practicable, require any relevant persons who are exposed to serious and imminent danger to be informed of the nature of the hazard and of the steps taken or to be taken to protect them from it, enable the persons concerned (if necessary by taking appropriate steps in the absence of guidance or instruction and in the light of their knowledge and the technical means at their disposal) to stop work and immediately proceed to a place of safety in the event of their being exposed to serious, imminent and unavoidable danger, and save in exceptional cases for reasons duly substantiated (which cases and reasons must be specified in those procedures), require the persons concerned to be prevented from resuming work in any situation where there is still a serious and imminent danger.

A person is to be regarded as competent for the purposes where he has sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities to enable him properly to implement the evacuation procedures referred to in that paragraph. Additional emergency measures in respect of dangerous substances. In order to safeguard the safety of relevant persons arising from an accident, incident or emergency related to the presence of a dangerous substance in or on the premises, the responsible person must ensure that information on emergency arrangements is available, including details of relevant work hazards and hazard identification arrangements and specific hazards likely to arise at the time of an accident, incident or emergency, suitable warning and other communication systems are established to enable an appropriate response, including remedial actions and rescue operations, to be made immediately when such an event occurs, where necessary, before any explosion conditions are reached, visual or audible warnings are given and relevant persons withdrawn, and where the risk assessment indicates it is necessary, escape facilities are provided and maintained to ensure that, in the event of danger, relevant persons can leave endangered places promptly and safely.

The responsible person must ensure that the information required is made available to relevant accident and emergency services to enable those services, whether internal or external to the premises, to prepare their own response procedures and precautionary measures displayed at the premises, unless the results of the risk assessment make this unnecessary.

In the event of a fire arising from an accident, incident or emergency related to the presence of a dangerous substance in or on the premises, the responsible person must ensure that immediate steps are taken to mitigate the effects of the fire restore the situation to normal, inform those relevant persons who may be affected and only those persons who are essential for the carrying out of repairs and other necessary work are permitted in the affected area and they are provided with appropriate personal protective equipment and protective clothing and any necessary specialised safety equipment and plant,which must be used until the situation is restored to normal.

Where necessary in order to safeguard the safety of relevant persons the responsible person must ensure that the premises and any facilities, equipment and devices provided in respect of the premises under the regulatory refor fire safety order. Where the premises form part of a building, the responsible person may make arrangements with the occupier of any other premises forming part of the building for the purpose of ensuring that the requirement applies even if the other premises are not premises to which the regulatory refor fire safety order applies.The occupier of the other premises must co-operate with the responsible person.

The responsible person must appoint one or more competent persons to assist him in undertaking the preventive and protective measures. Where the responsible person appoints persons he must make arrangements for ensuring adequate co-operation between them.The responsible person must ensure that the number of persons appointed the time available for them to fulfil their functions and the means at their disposal are adequate having regard to the size of the premises, the risks to which relevant persons are exposed and the distribution of those risks throughout the premises.

The responsible person must ensure that any person appointed by him who is not in his employment is informed of the factors known by him to affect, or suspected by him of affecting, the safety of any other person who may be affected by the conduct of his undertaking and has access to information, any such information about any person working in his undertaking who is employed by him under a fixed-term contract of employment, or employed in an employment business,as is necessary to enable that person properly to carry out the function specified in that A person is to be regarded as competent for the purposes of this article where he has sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities to enable him properly to assist in undertaking the preventive and protective measures.

The responsible person must ensure that the employer of any employees from an outside undertaking who are working in or on the premises is provided with comprehensible and relevant information on the risks to those employees and the preventive and protective measures taken by the responsible person. The responsible person must ensure that any person working in his undertaking who is not his employee is provided with appropriate instructions and comprehensible and relevant information regarding any risks to that person. The responsible person must ensure that the employer of any employees from an outside undertaking who are working in or on the premises is provided with sufficient information to enable that employer to identify any person nominated by the responsible person.

The responsible person must ensure that his employees are provided with adequate safety training at the time when they are first employed and on their being exposed to new or increased risks because of their being transferred or given a change of responsibilities within the responsible person's undertaking, the introduction of new work equipment into, or a change respecting work equipment already in use within, the responsible person's undertaking, the introduction of new technology into the responsible person's undertaking or the introduction of a new system of work into, or a change respecting a system of work already in use within, the responsible person's undertaking.

The training referred to must include suitable and sufficient instruction and training on the appropriate precautions and actions to be taken by the employee in order to safeguard himself and other relevant persons on the premises, be repeated periodically where appropriate, be adapted to take account of any new or changed risks to the safety of the employees concerned, be provided in a manner appropriate to the risk identified by the risk assessment and take place during working hours.

Where two or more responsible persons share, or have duties in respect of, premises (whether on a temporary or a permanent basis) each such person must co-operate with the other responsible person concerned so far as is necessary to enable them to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed on them (taking into account the nature of his activities) take all reasonable steps to co-ordinate the measures he takes to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed on him by or under the regulatory refor fire safety order with the measures the other responsible persons are taking to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed on them and take all reasonable steps to inform the other responsible persons concerned of the risks to relevant persons arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking.

Where two or more responsible persons share premises (whether on a temporary or a permanent basis) where an explosive atmosphere may occur, the responsible person who has overall responsibility for the premises must co-ordinate the implementation of all the measures required to protect relevant persons from any risk from the explosive atmosphere.

Every employee must, while at work take reasonable care for the safety of himself and of other relevant persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work as regards any duty or requirement imposed on his employer by or under any provision of the regulatory refor fire safety order, co-operate with him so far as is necessary to enable that duty or requirement to be performed or complied with inform his employer or any other employee with specific responsibility for the safety of his fellow employees of any work situation which a person with the first-mentioned employee's training and instruction would reasonably consider represented a serious and immediate danger to safety; and of any matter which a person with the first-mentioned employee's training and instruction would reasonably consider represented a shortcoming in the employer's protection arrangements for safety, in so far as that situation or matter either affects the safety of that first-mentioned employee or arises out of or in connection with his own activities at work, and has not previously been reported to his employer or to any other employee of that employer.

For the purposes of the regulatory reform fire safety order, "enforcing authority" means the fire and rescue authority for the area in which premises are, or are to be, situated, in any case not falling within any of sub-paragraphs the Health and Safety Executive in relation to any premises for which a licence is required in accordance with section 1 of the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 or for which a permit is required in accordance with section 2 of that Act, any premises which would, except for the fact that it is used by, or on behalf of, the Crown, be required to have a licence or permit in accordance with the provisions, a ship, including a ship belonging to Her Majesty which forms part of Her Majesty's Navy, which is in the course of construction, reconstruction or conversion or repair by persons who include persons other than the master and crew of the ship, any workplace which is or is on a construction site within the meaning of regulation 2 of the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 and to which those Regulations apply, other than construction sites referred to in regulation 33 of those Regulations.

The fire service maintained by the Secretary of State for Defence in relation to premises, other than premises occupied solely for the purposes of the armed forces of the Crown, premises occupied solely by any visiting force or an international headquarters or defence organisation designated for the purposes of the International Headquarters and Defence Organisations Act 1964 premises, other than premises which are situated within premises occupied solely for the purposes of the armed forces of the Crown but which are not themselves so occupied the relevant local authority in relation to premises which consist of a sports ground designated as requiring a safety certificate under section 1 of the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 (safety certificates for large sports stadia) a regulated stand within the meaning of section 26 of the Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act 1987 (safety certificates for stands at sports grounds) a fire inspector, or any person authorised by the Secretary of State to act for the purposes of the regulatory refor fire safety order, in relation to premises owned or occupied by the Crown, other than premises falling within premises in relation to which the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is the responsible person.

Every enforcing authority must enforce the provisions of the regulatory refor fire safety order and any regulations made under it in relation to premises for which it is the enforcing authority and for that purpose, except where a fire inspector or other person authorised by the Secretary of State is the enforcing authority, may appoint inspectors. In performing the duty imposed by the enforcing authority must have regard to such guidance as the Secretary of State may give it. A fire and rescue authority has power to arrange with the Health and Safety Commission or the Office of Rail Regulation for such of the authority's functions under the regulatory refor fire safety order as may be specified in the arrangements to be performed on its behalf by the Health and Safety Executive or the Office of Rail Regulation, as the case may be, (with or without payment) in relation to any particular workplace.

An inspector may do anything necessary for the purpose of carrying out the regulatory refor fire safety order and any regulations made under it into effect and in particular, so far as may be necessary for that purpose, shall have power to do at any reasonable time the following to enter any premises which he has reason to believe it is necessary for him to enter for the purpose mentioned above and to inspect the whole or part of the premises and anything in them, where such entry and inspection may be effected without the use of force to make such inquiry as may be necessary for any of the following purposes to ascertain, as regards any premises, whether the provisions of the regulatory refor fire safety order or any regulations made under it apply or have been complied with and to identify the responsible person in relation to the premises, to require the production of, or where the information is recorded in computerised form, the furnishing of extracts from, any records (including plans) which are required to be kept by virtue of any provision of the regulatory refor fire safety order or regulations made under it; or which it is necessary for him to see for the purposes of an examination or inspection under this article, and to inspect and take copies of, or of any entry in, the records; to require any person having responsibilities in relation to any premises (whether or not the responsible person) to give him such facilities and assistance with respect to any matters or things to which the responsibilities of that person extend as are necessary for the purpose of enabling the inspector to exercise any of the powers conferred on him.

The enforcing authority may serve on the responsible person a notice (in the regulatory refor fire safety order referred to as "an alterations notice") if the authority is of the opinion that the premises constitute a serious risk to relevant persons (whether due to the features of the premises, their use, any hazard present, or any other circumstances); or may constitute such a risk if a change is made to them or the use to which they are put. An alterations notice must state and specify the matters which in their opinion, constitute a risk to relevant persons or may constitute such a risk if a change is made to the premises or the use to which they are put. Where an alterations notice has been served in respect of premises, the responsible person must, before making any of the changes which may result in a significant increase in risk, notify the enforcing authority of the proposed changes.

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