knowledge article
What Is a Responsible Person?
The responsible person is the individual or organisation with duties under the fire-safety legislation for the premises; more than one responsible person may need to cooperate.
Discuss your requirementsGuidance designed to be read.
What to check
- who employs people or controls the premises.
- owner, landlord, occupier and managing roles.
- shared areas and contractual interfaces.
- names, contact details and cooperation arrangements.
Plan the next decision
Identify legal duties from the actual control of the premises, not from a job title alone. A contractor supports defined work but does not automatically take over the responsible person’s duties.
Define the person who can authorise work, the access conditions and the outcome required. Where the subject affects safety, security or compliance, use the competent assessment and premises-specific information required for that system.
Records and follow-up
Keep the instruction, findings, action taken, completion evidence and any open recommendation with its owner and due date.
Questions to ask
What information should I provide?
Give the property, exact asset or area, symptoms or trigger, previous findings and current restrictions. Include relevant drawings, manuals or reports where available.
Does this guide set a universal maintenance interval?
No. The applicable duty, risk assessment, system design, recognised guidance, manufacturer instructions and actual condition determine the property-specific requirement.
What should completion information show?
It should identify the work or assessment performed, findings, results, defects and outstanding action clearly enough for the responsible person to decide what happens next.
Source
See current official guidance. Apply it to the actual premises and recheck current requirements before relying on time-sensitive details.