What Are the Requirements for Fire Evacuation Plans in UK Buildings?

Summary

An emergency plan for fire is not simply a floor plan with arrows pointing to the exit. It is a documented set of decisions and procedures that describe exactly what happens when a fire is detected — who does what, in what order, and how the building is safely evacuated. For complex buildings, it is a detailed operational document. For a small low-risk office, it can be concise, but it must still cover the key elements required by the RRO.

The choice of evacuation strategy is one of the most consequential decisions in the emergency plan. For commercial buildings, simultaneous evacuation (everyone leaves immediately on alarm) is typically the default. For purpose-built blocks of flats, stay-put has historically been standard. For large complex buildings — hospitals, shopping centres, high-rise offices — phased evacuation may be used. These strategies have profoundly different implications for alarm systems, exit capacity, staff training, and the building's fire strategy.

The post-Grenfell landscape has shifted thinking on stay-put strategies. NFCC guidance has become more cautious about stay-put in buildings with compromised compartmentation or combustible cladding, and the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 have imposed new documentation and communication requirements on responsible persons in higher-risk residential buildings.

Key Facts

• Legal basis — Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, Article 15 (Emergency procedures)
• Who must have one — Every responsible person for non-domestic premises; residential blocks (common areas)
• Written requirement — Must be in writing; shared with all employees and relevant persons
• Three strategies — Simultaneous evacuation, stay-put (defend in place), phased evacuation
• Simultaneous evacuation — All occupants evacuate immediately on alarm; default for most commercial premises
• Stay-put — Residents remain in their flats unless directly affected; traditional strategy for purpose-built flats with good compartmentation
• Phased evacuation — Floors evacuate in sequence (usually the fire floor first, then adjacent floors); used in high-rise offices and complex buildings
• PEEPs — Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans for individuals who cannot self-evacuate; legally required where there are known people who need assistance
• IEEPs — Individual Emergency Evacuation Plans (sometimes used interchangeably with PEEP but specifically for those whose needs are assessed but not yet met)
• BS 9999:2017 — Code of practice for fire safety including evacuation strategy selection
• Assembly points — Must be designated, communicated to all occupants, and of sufficient capacity
• Fire wardens/marshals — Nominated persons with specific duties; must be trained; typically 1 per floor or zone
• Drills — Recommended at least annually for workplaces; more frequently for high-risk premises; mandatory for some premises types
• High-rise residential — Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require written evacuation instructions to residents and wayfinding signage

Quick Reference Table

Detailed Guidance

Article 15 Requirements

Article 15 of the RRO requires the responsible person to:

"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."

In practice this means:

• Nominating a sufficient number of competent persons to implement the procedures (fire wardens/marshals)
• Ensuring that no employee is given access to any area restricted for safety reasons unless they have received adequate instructions
• Making arrangements for the implementation of the emergency plan when employees of outside undertakings are present

The emergency plan must address:

1. The action to be taken by any person who discovers a fire
2. How the fire alarm is raised and who calls the fire service
3. The evacuation procedure and route for each part of the building
4. Assembly points and how to account for all persons
5. The role of fire wardens and their specific duties
6. Arrangements for assisting people who may need help evacuating
7. Any specific actions required for particular areas (e.g., shutting off gas, securing hazardous materials)
8. How the building is confirmed to be clear

Simultaneous Evacuation

Simultaneous evacuation means that when the fire alarm activates, every person in the building leaves immediately by the nearest available escape route and assembles at the designated assembly point. This is the simplest strategy and is default for most commercial premises.

Key requirements for simultaneous evacuation:

• The alarm system must be audible throughout the entire building
• Escape routes must be of sufficient width to allow simultaneous egress of all occupants without dangerous congestion
• Travel distances from any point to a place of safety must meet ADB requirements (typically 18m from a dead end, 45m to a stairwell or exit where a choice of routes exists, with variation by occupancy)
• The assembly point must be of sufficient size and at a safe distance from the building
• A procedure for accounting for all persons must be in place (register, visitor log, mustering system)

Stay-Put Strategy

Stay-put (sometimes called "defend in place" in non-residential contexts) is the standard strategy for purpose-built blocks of flats with good fire compartmentation. The principle: each flat is a compartment that resists fire spread for at least 60 minutes. Residents are safer staying in their flats than evacuating through common areas that may be smoke-affected.

When stay-put is appropriate:

• The building has been purpose-built with adequate compartmentation (fire-resistant structure and flat entrance doors)
• The compartmentation has been verified as being in good condition
• The fire strategy for the building is based on simultaneous evacuation only for occupants directly affected by the fire
• Automatic fire detection and suppression (if fitted) is operational

When stay-put must be reviewed or abandoned:

• Compartmentation is found to be significantly deficient
• Combustible external cladding creates a risk of fire spreading beyond the compartment of origin
• The building's fire detection system is absent or inadequate
• A fire occurs that demonstrates the strategy is not working

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require responsible persons for multi-occupied residential buildings to prominently display information to residents about the evacuation strategy for the building, including in each flat and in common areas.

Phased Evacuation

Phased evacuation is used in large, complex buildings where simultaneous evacuation of all occupants would be impractical or would cause dangerous stairwell overcrowding. It is typically used in high-rise offices, large hotels, and major shopping centres.

Typical phased evacuation sequence:

1. Fire floor evacuates immediately on alarm
2. Adjacent floors (one above and one below) evacuate at or shortly after the fire floor
3. All other floors remain in place initially, on alert, ready to evacuate if instructed
4. Remaining floors evacuate progressively if the fire is not contained

Phased evacuation requires:

• A voice alarm system (not just a bell or tone alarm) that can address individual floors or zones separately
• A fire alarm control panel with zone-based output
• A central control point (fire command centre) from which trained personnel manage the evacuation
• A written phased evacuation protocol detailing the specific sequence
• Regular training for fire wardens on their role in each phase
• BS 5839-1 fire alarm system designed for phased evacuation

Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs)

Any person who cannot self-evacuate unaided — due to a mobility impairment, sensory impairment, cognitive impairment, or temporary condition — must have a PEEP. The RRO does not use this exact term but Article 15's requirement for arrangements for people with mobility or sensory impairments creates the obligation.

A PEEP is an individualised plan that documents:

• The person's specific needs and mobility/sensory capabilities
• The routes they can use and those they cannot
• Who will assist them during evacuation
• What equipment is available (evacuation chairs, evacuation lifts, refuges)
• The communication method to confirm they have evacuated or are in a refuge

Refuges: Many buildings have designated refuge areas — fire-rated spaces adjacent to stairwells where people who cannot use the stairs can wait for assistance from the fire service. A refuge is not a place of safety; it is a place of temporary shelter with two-way communication to the fire control point. A PEEP must specify what the person should do in the refuge and how the fire service will be alerted to their location.

IEEPs (Individual Emergency Evacuation Plans): Where a person's needs have been identified but the assistance arrangements are not yet in place, an IEEP documents the interim position. The responsible person cannot simply defer PEEP preparation — they must implement appropriate arrangements as a matter of urgency.

Visitors with mobility impairments: The responsible person must have a procedure for identifying and assisting visiting members of the public who may need help evacuating. Visitor sign-in procedures, reception staff training, and designated assistance points all contribute to this.

Fire Wardens (Marshals)

Fire wardens (also called fire marshals) are nominated employees with specific duties in a fire emergency. The responsible person must appoint a sufficient number, taking into account the size and use of the premises and the nature of the fire risks.

Typical fire warden duties:

• Checking their designated area is evacuated and all doors are closed on evacuation
• Assisting people who need help (or directing them to a refuge if they cannot use the stairs)
• Confirming the area is clear and reporting to the assembly point marshal
• Preventing people from re-entering the building
• Meeting the fire service and providing information on the layout and any people who may remain inside

Fire wardens must receive training appropriate to their duties. Induction is not sufficient; training should include practical elements such as floor-clearing drills, use of evacuation equipment, communication with the fire service, and use of fire extinguishers (to the extent they are expected to use them).

Signage Requirements

BS 5499 and the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 require that escape routes and fire safety features are clearly signposted. Signage must:

• Use the ISO 7010 pictograms (green running man pointing towards exit) — text-only signs are no longer acceptable for new installations
• Be located so that the next sign is visible from each sign along the escape route
• Have sufficient luminance to be visible in normal conditions; emergency lighting must illuminate signs in the event of power failure
• Be supplemented by direction arrows where the escape route is not obvious

For higher-risk residential buildings, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require wayfinding signage (floor identification, direction to stairwells) to be posted in common areas to assist the fire service in the building.

Drills and Testing

Regular drills test whether the emergency plan works in practice and ensure that employees and occupants are familiar with the procedures. For most workplaces, at least one full evacuation drill per year is recommended. Higher-risk premises (hospitals, care homes, schools) should conduct more frequent drills.

A drill should be:

• Announced in advance (initially) or unannounced to test realistic response
• Timed — from alarm activation to all personnel accounted for at the assembly point
• Debriefed — identify problems, update the emergency plan if procedures need changing
• Recorded — date, time, number of persons, time taken, any issues

For residential buildings, drills are more difficult — residents cannot be required to participate. Responsible persons can and should communicate the evacuation strategy to residents in writing and provide information on what to do if the alarm sounds, but physical drills of the full residential evacuation are rarely carried out outside of trial exercises.

Documentation

The emergency plan should be a live document, updated whenever there is a change to the building, its use, or its occupancy. It should be:

• Readily available for inspection by the fire and rescue authority
• Shared with all employees (including part-time and temporary staff)
• Provided to contractors and their employees working on site
• Stored in the building for reference by the fire service on arrival

For multi-occupied buildings, the responsible person for common areas should share the plan with all employers and residents' representatives, and coordinate emergency plans where different parts of the building have different occupants.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a small office with 5 staff need a written emergency plan?

Yes. The RRO's requirement for a written emergency plan (Article 15) applies regardless of premises size and is separate from the documented fire risk assessment requirement (which applies when there are 5 or more employees). Even for a two-person office, while the risk assessment may not need to be written, good practice dictates a written emergency plan that is shared with all staff. For larger premises, both are required.

How do we handle a stay-put strategy when residents keep evacuating on alarm?

False alarm fatigue is a significant problem in residential blocks where the alarm sounds frequently. Residents who have been evacuated multiple times by false alarms learn to ignore the alarm. Responsible persons must balance reducing false alarms (by improving detection technology and maintenance) with reinforcing that the strategy for their specific building may require evacuation. For buildings where the compartmentation has been assessed as adequate, the written information to residents should clearly explain that the strategy is stay-put except where their own flat is directly affected. Where the strategy has been changed to simultaneous evacuation, clear written instruction and potentially a waking watch or common alarm is needed.

Are PEEPs required for external visitors?

The responsibility extends to any person who might be present in the premises, including visitors. For most commercial buildings, a generic visitor evacuation procedure (reception staff assist, refuges identified, fire service informed) will be adequate. Where a known visitor with specific mobility or sensory needs is expected, a tailored PEEP for that visit should be prepared. The reception sign-in process should identify any assistance needs.

What is the difference between a fire action notice and an emergency plan?

A fire action notice is the brief notice posted by fire alarm call points and exits, giving immediate instructions (e.g., "On hearing the alarm, leave the building by the nearest exit. Do not use the lift. Go to the assembly point"). It is not the same as the full emergency plan, which is a detailed documented set of procedures. Both are required. The fire action notice gives immediate visual instruction; the emergency plan documents the full arrangements in a form that can be audited, updated, and used to train staff.

Regulations & Standards

• Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (Article 15) — Emergency procedures; nominated persons; assistance for those needing help

• Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 — Signage requirements for escape routes

• Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 — Written evacuation information for residents; wayfinding signage in common areas of multi-occupied residential buildings

• BS 9999:2017 — Code of practice for fire safety in design, management and use of buildings; evacuation strategy selection

• BS 5839-1:2017 — Fire detection and alarm systems; design, installation, commissioning and maintenance including phased evacuation systems

• BS 5499-10:2014 — Guidance for the selection and use of safety signs and graphical symbols

• BS 8300:2018 — Design of buildings and their approaches to meet the needs of disabled people (references PEEP and evacuation provision for disabled persons)

• NFCC Simultaneous Evacuation Guidance (2022) — Stay-put vs simultaneous evacuation decision framework

• GOV.UK — Fire safety in the workplace — Overview of RRO duties including emergency planning

• Home Office fire safety guides — Sector-specific guides including evacuation strategy guidance

• NFCC Simultaneous Evacuation Guidance — Guidance on stay-put vs simultaneous evacuation for residential buildings

• Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 — guidance — GOV.UK guidance for responsible persons in multi-occupied residential buildings

• BS 9999:2017 — BSI — Code of practice for fire safety in buildings

• fire safety order — Detailed breakdown of the RRO's requirements

• fire risk assessment — How evacuation strategy is determined through the risk assessment process

• waking watch requirements — When stay-put is abandoned and waking watch required

• passive fire protection — How compartmentation underpins stay-put evacuation strategies