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The Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (“FSSR”) are regulations that were made by Scottish Ministers under the powers contained in the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005¹, and further build upon the requirements of that act. Please refer to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 for the equivalent legislation for England & Wales.

The Regulations finished their period of public consultation in November 2005, were laid before the Scottish Parliament on 7^th September 2005 and took effect from 1^st October 2006, along with part 3 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 (all other parts of the Act having already been brought into force on 2^nd August 2005).

This document aims to highlight some of the key parts of the Regulations and is broken down into the following sections:

• Relevant Premises
• Legal Duty Holder(s)
• Third-Party Fire-Safety Services and ‘safety Assistance’
• Definition of Competency
• Risk Assessments
• Provision & Maintenance of Fire Fighting Equipment
• Employee Training, ‘Fire Marshals/Wardens’
• Means of Escape & Emergency Lighting
• Signage
• Provision & Maintenance of Fire Alarm Systems
• Information for Employees, Contractors & the Parents of Children Employees
• Fire Log Books and Other Records
• Offences
• Timescale
• General

Throughout, references to the pertinent legislation have been included as footnotes. The reader is referred to the full text of the Regulations (available here from the Government’s Official UK legislation site) for full details.

Relevant Premises

‘Relevant premises’ are, broadly speaking, the vast majority of premises, including:

• shops, offices, factories & warehouses;
• pubs, clubs and restaurants;
• schools, sports centres, community halls & places of worship;
• hotels, hostels, hospitals and care homes;
• communal areas in shared housing (including houses in multiple occupation (“HMO”) requiring a licence); and
• tents and other moveable structures,

but excluding domestic premises².

Legal Duty Holder(s)

Throughout the Regulations, reference is made to a “person with duties”. A relevant employer is always a legal duty holder in this context, as is a person that “has control to any extent of relevant premises” (including as occupier, not just as owner)³. For shorthand, we’ll refer to this person (or persons) simply as the legal duty holder.

Please note that that the term ‘person’ is a legal term in this context and, in addition to referring to an individual, it may equally refer to an incorporated company, a partnership, etc.

The nature of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, from which the Regulations originate, is such that responsibility is hard to avoid - indeed there may be many people (individuals, companies or otherwise) that all have some responsibilities under the Act. It is perfectly conceivable that a company-landlord, his owners, his key employees, a company-tenant and the tenant’s owners and key employees may all be in jeopardy if the Regulations are not adhered to (see Offences, below).

Third-Party Fire-Safety Services and ‘Safety Assistance’

The Regulations stipulate that the legal duty holder must nominate one or more competent persons to assist in the undertaking of fire safety measures⁴. Of course, in a great many cases, such competent persons will, by necessity, be external third parties that provide fire safety services (such as Anderstore).

In this respect, it is essential to note that it is the duty of the legal duty holder to ensure that any such third party is competent (as set out below). If the legal duty holder failed to nominate third-parties meeting these competency requirements, the legal duty holder would be in breach of the Regulations.

Definition of Competency

The definition of competency is of key importance in the Regulations.

The Regulations define competency as having “sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities” to enable the task in question to be properly undertaken⁵.

Risk Assessments

The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 requires the legal duty holder to undertake a fire risk assessment⁶. These Regulations expand on these requirements and state that the legal duty holder must also ensure that:

• the significant findings of the assessment together with all measures taken or to be taken must be recorded where there are five or more people employed⁷.
• the fire risk assessment must be reviewed regularly and, additionally, whenever there is reason to suspect that it is no longer valid or where there has been a significant change⁸.

See also Fire Log Books and Other Records below regarding he legal duty holder's obligations⁹ regarding the keeping of other records.

Provision & Maintenance of Fire Fighting Equipment

The Regulations require that the legal duty holder ensures that:

• the “relevant premises are…equipped with appropriate means for fighting fire”¹⁰; and
• any such equipment is “subject to a suitable system of maintenance and are maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair”¹¹.

The British Standard BS 5306-8 lays down appropriate levels for the provision of portable fire extinguishers and the British Standard BS 5306-3 lays down a suitable system for their maintenance.

Normally, the legal duty holder would be required under the Regulations to ensure the above measures were properly implemented through the use of a nominated third party (such as Anderstore) that satisfies the above competency requirements.

Employee Training, & ‘Fire Marshals/Wardens’

The Regulations require the legal duty holder to ensure that fire safety training for all employees:

• is adequate, suitable and sufficient¹²;
• is provided to employees on starting¹³;
• is provided where there are new or increased risks¹⁴;
• repeated “periodically” where appropriate¹⁵.

Additionally, the Regulations also requires the legal duty holder to nominate competent persons to “take measures for fire-fighting” and to further ensure that they are adequately trained¹⁶. Persons in these roles are often appropriately trained competent employees and are often referred to as ‘fire marshals’ or ‘fire wardens’.

Means of Escape & Emergency Lighting

The Regulations requires that the legal duty holder ensures that appropriate emergency routes and exits are provided and maintained¹⁷ and also requires that they “must be provided with emergency lighting of adequate intensity in the case of failure of their normal lighting”¹⁸.

Signage

The Regulations require that the legal duty holder ensures that signage must be used to indicate any “non-automatic fire-fighting equipment”¹⁹ and emergency routes and exits²⁰. Such signage must also meet the requirements of the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 which still also apply in Great Britain.

Provision & Maintenance of Fire Alarm Systems

The Regulations require that the legal duty holder ensures that:

• “relevant premises are…equipped with appropriate…means for giving warning in the event of fire”¹⁰; and
• any such equipment is required to be “subject to a suitable system of maintenance and are maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair”¹¹.

As a general rule, all but the very simplest, small, single-storey, open-plan premises with minimal risks, adequate exits, adequate exit routes and no special considerations (e.g. sleeping residents, noise) require some form of electrical fire detection and/or warning system.

The British Standard BS 5839-1:2002+A2:2008 lays down appropriate guidance for the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of such systems.

Normally, the legal duty holder would be required under the Regulations to ensure the above measures were properly implemented through the use of a nominated third party (such as Anderstore) that satisfies the above competency requirements.

Information for Employees, Contractors & the Parents of Children Employees

The Regulations require that the legal duty holder must ensure that certain relevant information is provided to employees, contractors & the parents of children-employees²¹. Depending upon the circumstances, this information includes details of risks, fire-safety measures, procedures, etc. so as to ensure safety.

Fire Log Books and Other Records

In addition to their other obligations, the legal duty holder must also typically keep further records in connection with fire safety arrangements made⁹, amongst other things. Further, it is of course prudent to record any relevant maintenance undertaken in order to be able to prove that the required maintenance has been undertaken (and noting that such records are a requirement for compliance with most relevant codes of practice, e.g. BS 5306-3, BS 5839, etc.).

in part, this is most typically achieved with the use of fire log books.

Offences

The offences in relation to these regulations are laid down in the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005²² with penalties extending up to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years and/or an unlimited fine²².

Timescale

The Regulations are already law, having taken full effect from 1^st October 2006. It is the duty of the legal duty holder to ensure full compliance with the Regulations.

General

More information on this subject can be found from the Scottish Government in their fire & rescue services section.

Click here for the full web-text of the Regulations, or here for the full print-version of the Regulations available from the Government’s Official UK legislation site.

Should you wish for any further information under this subject, please feel free to contact us.

Footnotes & References

1. Please refer to the ‘Power to Make Regulations’ section of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 page.
2. Please refer to the ‘Relevant Premises’ section of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 page.
3. Please refer to the ‘Legal Duty Holder’ section of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 page.
4. Part 3, section 17, paragraph (1) of the Regulations, although refer to paragraphs (5) and (6).
5. Part 1, section 2, paragraph (1) and Part 3, section 17, paragraphs (5) and (6).
6. Please refer to the ‘Risk Assessments’ section of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 page.
7. Part 2, section 8 of the Regulations.
8. Part 2, section 3 of the Regulations.
9. In accordance with part 3, section 10 of the Regulations.
10. Part 3, section 12, paragraph (1)(a) of the Regulations.
11. Part 3, section 16, paragraph (1) of the Regulations.
12. Part 3, section 20, paragraphs (1) and (2)(a) of the Regulations.
13. Part 3, section 20, paragraphs (1)(a) of the Regulations.
14. Part 3, section 20, paragraphs (1)(b) of the Regulations.
15. Part 3, section 20, paragraphs (2)(b) of the Regulations.
16. Part 3, section 12, paragraphs (3)(a) and (3)(b) of the Regulations.
17. Part 3, section 13 of the Regulations.
18. Part 3, section 13, paragraph (2)(h) of the Regulations.
19. Part 3, section 12, paragraph (1)(b) of the Regulations.
20. Part 3, section 13, paragraph (2)(g) of the Regulations.
21. Part 3, section 18 and 19 of the Regulations.
22. Please refer to the ‘Offences’ section of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 page.