The rules changed on 1 October 2023 and most small businesses here were never told.
Before 1 October 2023, a business in Wales with fewer than five employees did not have to record its fire risk assessment. After that date, every responsible person must record it in full, whatever the headcount, and must record their fire safety arrangements as well.
There was no letter, no campaign and no deadline notice. The change arrived through section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 and most people running two- and three-person businesses in Pembrokeshire still believe the old exemption applies to them. It is the single most common thing we correct on a first visit.
The employer, the person in control of the premises, or the owner. There can be more than one, and where there is, you are required to co-operate and co-ordinate.
Identify hazards and the people at risk, evaluate and reduce the risk, and decide what measures the building needs.
Since 1 October 2023 in Wales, regardless of the size of the business. The significant findings, the people identified as at risk, and the actions.
How you plan, organise, control, monitor and review the preventive and protective measures. In a small business this is a page. It still has to exist.
Review regularly and whenever anything significant changes. There is no fixed legal interval.
Employees, and where relevant other responsible persons and contractors, need the relevant information about the risks and the arrangements.
| What | Applies to | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 | All non-domestic premises and the common parts of residential buildings | 2006 |
| Section 156, Building Safety Act 2022 | The same premises in Wales: recording duty, arrangements, co-operation | 1 Oct 2023 |
| Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 fitness regulations | Inside rented dwellings: alarms, CO alarms, electrical condition | 1 Dec 2022 |
| DSEAR 2002 | Anywhere with flammable liquids, gases, vapours or combustible dust | 2002 |
| Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 | General workplace risk assessment, alongside fire | 1999 |
If your premises hold solvents, fuel, LPG or a combustible dust, the fire risk assessment on its own does not discharge your duty. DSEAR applies as well, and the two assessments should be written to agree with each other.
Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 came into force in Wales. It removed the exemption that let businesses with fewer than five employees keep their fire risk assessment unrecorded, required the assessment to be recorded in full, required the fire safety arrangements to be recorded, and strengthened the duty on responsible persons to co-operate and share information.
The underlying Fire Safety Order applies to both, but the two are diverging. Section 156 commenced on different dates and the Building Safety Act regime for higher-risk buildings differs. Welsh premises are also covered by Renting Homes (Wales) for rented dwellings, which has no English equivalent.
Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service. Pembrokeshire County Council enforce HMO licensing and housing standards, and Care Inspectorate Wales cover registered care settings. In practice more than one of them may ask to see the same document.
The Order carries unlimited fines and, for serious failures, imprisonment. In reality the far more common outcomes are an enforcement notice with a deadline, or an alterations notice, and the commercial cost of a prohibition notice restricting use of the premises.
No, they sit alongside it. Renting Homes (Wales) fitness requirements apply inside rented dwellings from 1 December 2022: interlinked mains-wired smoke alarms on every storey, carbon monoxide alarms where there is a fuel-burning appliance, and a five-yearly electrical condition report. The Fire Safety Order continues to apply to the common parts.
The question the whole Order turns on.
There is no expiry date. There is a duty to keep it current.
What Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service ask for.
Tell us the building and we will give you a price on the phone. Most assessments are booked within the week.