People escape to fire exit door
How long should it take to evacuate your premises in the event of a fire?
Fire safety practitioners are often asked, particularly after a fire drill, how long it should take to evacuate the premises.
What, on the face of it, appears to be a simple question has quite a complex answer, particularly in view of the UK’s risk-based fire safety regime.
Those responsible for fire safety need to know what would be deemed to be a safe evacuation time and the factors that influence this.
Legislation, such as the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRFSO), does not prescribe any evacuation times. Rather, the RRFSO states that “in the event of danger, it must be possible for persons to evacuate the premises as quickly and as safely as possible”.
The reason for this is that, unlike fire certification arrangements under the old regime, where each certificate was building specific, the RRFSO applies to a wide range of buildings, therefore making it impossible to prescribe evacuation times.
Guidance to the RRFSO does contain further information on evacuation times. For example, guidance for office environments notes that “escape routes in a building should be designed so that people can escape quickly enough to ensure they are not placed in any danger from fire”.
The key phrase here is “should be designed”. This clearly indicates that designers of buildings need to consider the design of the means of escape as part of the overall design of the property so that occupants can move to a place of reasonable and/or total safety before the conditions in the property become untenable.
Certainly, designers should be following the requirements of the respective Building Regulations and associated guidance such as that contained in Approved Document B: Fire safety, BS9999:2017 Fire Safety in the Design, Management and Use of Buildings and BS ISO 20414:2020 Fire Safety Engineering. Verification and Validation Protocol for Building Fire Evacuation Models.
It is key that the fire safety practitioner responsible for fire evacuation in a property as occupied has access to and can share necessary information in relation to the design of the means of escape are provided.
Although this information will not provide an exact evacuation time, it will enable:
This information is particularly important given the current emphasis on the “golden thread” of information approach for buildings that is recommended following a review into the Grenfell fire.
Human behaviour
It is widely recognised that up to two-thirds of actual evacuation time consists of occupants delaying when the evacuation signal is given.
These factors are built into what are known as the:
For safe evacuation to occur, the ASET must be significantly longer than the RSET. There are a number of factors that will affect the RSET and ASET. These include the time:
In theory the fire safety practitioner should be able to rely on the RSET and ASET and be confident that the evacuation time will be within this scope.
However, there are many factors that may affect the RSET and ASET in “real world” conditions, not least:
If occupants are unable to evacuate in a timely manner this could result in a breach of relevant fire safety legislation and increase the risk of injury or death.
PAS 79-1:2020 Fire Risk Assessment. Premises Other Than Housing. Code of Practice, notes that “an assessment should be made of the likely consequences of fire”.
The assessment should “understand that all persons within the premises should be able to reach a place of ultimate safety before life threatening conditions arise; either unaided or with the assistance of staff — without FRS assistance (RSET versus ASET)”.
In assessing this aspect, the fire risk assessor may consider a number of inputs into the process including:
These could then be used to determine (usually in a qualitative manner) whether the ASET/RSET requirements are being met or whether real-life evacuation takes longer, creating a situation where occupants may be at risk of harm.
Green exit sign
UK fire safety legislation requires that, where necessary, emergency routes and exits must be indicated with signs where the use of signs will aid evacuation.
In the event of a fire, a building must have adequate emergency escape routes and final exits that enable occupiers to effectively evacuate the building, leading them to a place of safety.
There are very few exceptions where escape route signage would not be necessary. However, to ensure such signage meets the basic criteria of aiding evacuation, the system design, along with type and location of signs must be given thought and consideration.
It is well recognised that building occupiers usually leave the premises by the same way that they enter — or at least by routes which are familiar to them. To ensure all means of escape are utilised when required, a well-planned signage system needs to provide information on all the escape routes and emergency exits that are available.
BS 9999:2017 Fire Safety in the Design, Management and Use of Buildings. Code of Practice notes that “fire safety signs and signing systems form an integral part of the overall fire safety strategy of a building and are fundamental to the communication of good fire safety management information”.
More importantly, BS 9999 continues, “clearly visible and unambiguous signage is essential for speedy escape, particularly in buildings where many of the occupants might be unfamiliar with the building layout”.
There are requirements under UK fire safety legislation where necessary for emergency routes and exits to be “indicated” by signs. The phrase “where necessary” is important and indicates that the fire risk assessment completed for the premises will influence the signage system needs.
BS 5499-4:2019 Safety Signs. Code of Practice for Escape Route Signing explores this further and recommends that, before designing an escape route signage system, various factors need to be considered (in the risk assessment) including the:
Of interest, competency criteria for fire risk assessors notes that assessors should have “an awareness of the provisions for and maintenance of, evacuation signage” but does not expand on this further to stipulate if assessors are capable of designing a system.
Having determined the need for escape route signage, the responsible person must then determine who will design the system.
Where required, depending on the complexity of the signage system required, the responsible person may have to seek competent assistance either in-house or externally to undertake the task in accordance with Article 18 (or its equivalent) of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Wherever responsibility for signage system design rests, there are several principles that should be taken into consideration at the planning stage, such as the following.
Taking the above into account, BS 5499-4 then makes recommendations as to several factors that need to be evaluated at the planning stage to meet the above principles. This includes:
The latter point is addressed further in BS 5499-4 as this will influence whether the escape route signage system is illuminated externally (eg by the emergency lighting system) or internally.
In respect of the sign design, BS 5499-4 states that “an escape route sign is a combination sign consisting of the emergency exit sign in BS EN ISO 7010 and should be accompanied by a supplementary safe condition direction arrow and supplementary text”.
However, it is worth noting that Health and Safety Executive guidance contained in L64 states that “if there are fire safety signs still in use which contain symbols or pictograms which conform to the requirements of BS 5499 “they will meet the requirements of the regulations, provided they continue to fulfil their purpose effectively”.
Position and zones of influence
Having determined signage requirements and design, the person responsible for the escape route signage system will need to consider the position of the signs, mounting height, and the necessary dimensions.
There are a number of basic rules to be followed when locating signs that are detailed in various documents, as follows.
In respect of the latter point, L64 states that signs are, in principle, to be installed at a suitable height and in a position appropriate to the line of sight, taking account of any obstacles and in a well-lit, easily accessible and visible location.
This is what is known as the signs’ “required zone of influence” which is defined in BS 5499-10 as the “space in which the safety message intended to be conveyed by a safety sign is effective”.
The zone of influence of any particular safety sign will be determined by the signs’ location, size and position. This may require a certain amount of calculation being undertaken in terms of viewing distances in particular of escape route signage. BS 5499-4 details how to achieve this.
In terms of mounting, the general requirements are that:
The use of escape route signage requires thought and consideration, particularly in terms of its need, the type of sign to be used, its location and effectiveness, and the ability of those close by to understand its meaning.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires means of escape to be identified with escape route signs where necessary. The risk assessment will be the starting point for any signage requirement identification.
Regulation 5 of the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 requires employers to provide employees with suitable and sufficient instruction and training in the meaning of safety signs and the measures to be taken in connection with safety signs. This should be provided at induction and periodically thereafter.
Schedule 1 of the 1996 Regulations and accompanying guidance requires that signage must be cleaned, maintained, checked, repaired, and if necessary, replaced on a regular basis to ensure that they retain their intrinsic and/or functional qualities.
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Fire exit door and fire extinguish equipment
Focus on fire door inspections and maintenance regimes has intensified recently following updates to fire safety regulations, especially in multi-occupied residential buildings. Fire doors are an essential passive fire protection measure that must perform as intended in the event of a fire so as to prevent the spread of fire and smoke.
However, they are often the most used and abused passive fire protection measure in a fire compartment. As such, it is essential that the organisation responsible for fire safety legislation has in place an appropriate inspection and maintenance regime.
Article 17 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires (where necessary) that the responsible person must ensure that “any facilities, equipment and devices provided in respect of the premises under this Order […] are subject to a suitable system of maintenance and are maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair.”
With reference to Article 17, guidance from the National Fire Chiefs Council notes that this Article will apply to fire doors and as such should be “subject to a suitable system of maintenance: they must be regularly checked and properly maintained (including inspection and testing by a competent person, as necessary) at suitable intervals and any faults found rectified as quickly as possible.”
Best practice in the form of BS8214: Timber-based Fire Door Assemblies. Code of Practice, notes that fire doors do deteriorate since they are used in locations along pedestrian transit routes where they might be subject to significant damage or normal wear and tear due to repeated operation and abuse.
BS8214 states that “it is important, therefore, for inspection, maintenance and repair of any damage to be undertaken on a regular basis if the required fire resistance is to be maintained.”
Determining needs
Having set out the legal and best practice requirements, the responsible person will need to determine how best to achieve compliance. Factors to consider will include:
When considering the above, there can be various influences on the decision-making process. These will include:
Clearly, to develop an inspection and maintenance regime, it is important to have an understanding of the fire doors within scope. Development of an inventory or asset register would be beneficial and can include:
The organisation should develop an appropriate document that clearly sets out the requirements of any inspection and maintenance regime. This could form part of an overall fire safety policy in smaller organisations or be a separate (ratified) “protocol” in larger organisations.
Perhaps the most problematic requirement is to determine the type and frequency of inspections. The organisation may decide to follow guidance such as that contained in BS9999: Fire Safety in the Design, Management and Use of Buildings. Code of Practice. This publication recommends the following.
If outsourcing, due diligence should be undertaken to seek assurance that prospective contractors have the necessary competency, for example through membership of appropriate professional bodies and validation to inspect to relevant standards (such as BM Trada Q mark or LPCB LPS 1197).
If undertaking in-house, there are a number of courses available that an organisation may wish to consider, depending on the inspection regime to be implemented (eg FDIS).
It is recognised that some minor works can be undertaken in-house without compromising the fire doors’ performance but other more intrusive works should be undertaken by appropriate competent persons/organisations who are validated to certify that the fire door will still meet its designed and tested performance specification.
Finally, it is important that all testing, inspection and maintenance activities are recorded and made available to relevant stakeholders.
In smaller organisations this could be as simple as having a spreadsheet but in larger organisations there are various off-the-shelf software packages that can be utilised.
To retain their operational integrity, fire door sets or assemblies must be tested, inspected and maintained to a standard and level that is commensurate with the premises’ fire risk profile and fire evacuation strategy.
Developing an appropriate regime will require consideration of various factors and will be subject to a number of influences.
The organisation may be asked to provide proof of its regime to enforcing authorities and other stakeholders.
As part of this, the organisation will need to provide proof of the regime that is in place, including the necessary competency of those given responsibility to implement the inspection and maintenance regime.
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If your business handles electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) — whether you’re a manufacturer, distributor, importer, or recycler — then it’s time to prepare for a significant regulatory shift.
From November 2025, the long-standing Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013 (WEEE 2013) will be replaced by a modernised framework: the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations (EEE Regulations).
Here’s what you need to know, and how your business can stay ahead of the curve.
🔄 Why the Change?
The current WEEE 2013 regulations have been in place for over a decade, and while they’ve served a purpose in reducing electronic waste, the landscape has changed dramatically. We now face:
The new EEE Regulations aim to better reflect today’s market and environmental priorities — shifting from just managing waste to designing out waste altogether.
🧾 What’s Changing?
✅ 1. Clearer Definitions of EEE
The new regulations will provide updated and expanded definitions of what counts as EEE — including smart devices, disposable e-cigarettes, batteries-included items, and solar-powered tech.
✅ 2. Wider Producer Responsibility
Producers and importers will face:
✅ 3. Focus on Repair, Reuse & Design
EEE producers will be expected to:
✅ 4. Online Marketplaces Included
The new EEE rules will hold online platforms accountable for ensuring sellers on their sites are compliant — closing a major loophole from the WEEE regime.
📅 What Should You Be Doing Now?
Even though the EEE regulations don’t formally begin until November 2025, you should start preparing now:
🔍 Audit Your Products
📊 Review Your Supply Chain
📝Update Internal Processes
🧠 Final Thoughts
The move from WEEE 2013 to the new EEE Regulations isn’t just a change in name — it’s a shift in mindset.
The emphasis is now on sustainability, circularity, and accountability. Businesses that adapt early will not only stay compliant but also build trust with customers and demonstrate genuine environmental responsibility.
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ISO 45001 is the global standard for managing health and safety in the workplace. It helps organisations of all sizes create safer, healthier environments by identifying risks, reducing hazards, and involving everyone — from leadership to frontline workers.
This isn’t just about ticking boxes. It’s about protecting people, improving wellbeing, and building a positive safety culture that benefits your business and your team.
Whether you’re a small business or a large company, ISO 45001 is a practical tool that shows your commitment to doing things right — and keeping people safe.
Contact us for further information.
