Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPS)

The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 will be coming into effect on 6th April 2026 with the aim to improve the fire safety and evacuation of residents in specified residential buildings in England who would have difficulties evacuating a building by themselves in the event of a fire (relevant residents). This may be due to a physical mobility issue, some other disability such as having a sight or hearing impairment, or a cognitive condition. The Regulations also mandate building emergency evacuation plans in these buildings.

What buildings do these regulations relate to?

The Regulations apply to all buildings that contain two or more sets of domestic premises, and which is either (a) at least 18 metres above ground level or have at least seven storeys; or (b) is more than 11 metres in height above ground level that has simultaneous evacuation strategies in place.

What will they require?

  • The responsible person of a relevant premises will need to identify those residents with mobility or other impairments and create a person centred fire risk assessment with the consent of the resident to support their evacuation.
  • A written Emergency Evacuation Statement should be created for each relevant resident with their consent specifying what they should do in the event of a fire
  • The Responsible Person will need to review the person centred fire risk assessment with the resident every 12 months or where amendments or updates are identified e.g. where the condition of the resident has changed
  • With the residents explicit consent, the responsible person will need to share the relevant residents details with the Fire Service including:
  • The Resident’s Flat Number
  • The Resident’s Floor Number
  • Basic information regarding the degree of assistance that the resident may require to evacuate the building
  • Whether the resident has an emergency evacuation statement

This information can be shared with the Fire Service by storing the information in a secure premises information box accessible to the Fire Service when they attend an incident, or when they inspect a premises. This box needs to hold current and accurate premises information, including those which relate to the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022.

Additionally the Responsible Person of a building in scope of the Regulations must prepare a separate building emergency evacuation plan, share this plan with their local Fire and Rescue Authority and – in the event the building has a secure information box – place a copy of the plan in the box. This must be reviewed every 12 months, or as and when updates or amendments are made to the evacuation plan.

These new regulations are subject to the residents consent, GDPR and Data Protection regulations. We are not allowed to share this information with others and the data is held to support response to operational incidents. A resident or their relevant representative is free to withdraw their consent for this shared information at any time.