Part 5: Other provisions about safety standards, etc. Fire safety Section 156: Amendment of Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 Background
To maintain a clear thread of information central to ensuring fire safety across the entirety of a building’s lifetime, the Fire Safety Consultation included a proposal to amend the FSO to require Responsible Persons to take reasonable steps to share all relevant fire safety information with subsequent Responsible Persons. 95% of respondents to the consultation agreed with this proposal. We are therefore seeking to amend the FSO to deliver this.
	A new Article 22A will apply to all premises under the FSO. All departing Responsible Persons of these premises must provide the relevant fire safety information specified in a new Article 22A(3) to incoming Responsible Persons before they depart. It is intended that this requirement will facilitate the preservation of relevant fire safety information between successive Responsible Persons across the lifetime of a building. This compliments the "Golden Thread" provision for Accountable Persons in the Building Safety Act.
Example
The departing Responsible Person must obtain and provide information to the incoming Responsible Person, in an auditable way, before they are no longer the Responsible Person. If the departing Responsible Person is not able to identify the incoming Responsible Person it is envisaged, they should ascertain the identity with the building owner and/or manager of the building and then provide the relevant fire safety information to the incoming Responsible Person, or, failing that, they should provide the relevant fire safety information to the owner of the building. The owner of the building, as Responsible Person, should then make arrangements to provide this information to the incoming Responsible Person.