Residential PEEPs Are Here — A Practical Guide for Fire Risk Assessors

The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 came into force on 6 April 2026. Most of the guidance published so far is aimed at responsible persons — landlords, managing agents, housing associations. That's understandable; they carry the legal duties.

But if you carry out fire risk assessments in residential buildings, what you need to check during a housing FRA has expanded significantly. This article breaks down what the regulations mean for your assessments — and why we see them as an exciting opportunity to expand what you offer your clients between site visits.

Which Buildings Are in Scope?

The regulations apply to residential buildings in England containing two or more domestic premises that meet at least one of the following:

• 18 metres or above in height, or at least seven storeys
• Over 11 metres in height with a simultaneous evacuation strategy in place

That second category is important. It pulls in a significant number of medium-rise blocks — particularly those where a stay-put policy has been replaced with simultaneous evacuation due to cladding concerns or other fire safety issues. If your client manages buildings in that 11–18 metre range, check whether they've correctly identified which ones now fall in scope.

What Must the Responsible Person Do?

The regulations place a series of duties on the responsible person (RP). In summary, they must:

1. Identify relevant residents — anyone whose ability to self-evacuate is compromised by a physical or cognitive impairment or condition
2. Offer a person-centred fire risk assessment (PCFRA) to each relevant resident, and carry one out if the resident requests it
3. Implement reasonable and proportionate mitigating measures based on what the PCFRA finds
4. Agree an emergency evacuation statement with the resident — a written record of what they should do in the event of a fire
5. Share limited information with the local fire and rescue service, but only with the resident's explicit consent
6. Prepare a building emergency evacuation plan covering all occupants, reviewed at least every 12 months
7. Review each PCFRA and evacuation statement at least annually, or sooner if circumstances change

A resident can decline to engage with the process entirely. That's their right. But the RP must record that they made the offer and document the outcome either way.

What Does This Mean for Your FRA?

Here's where it gets practical.

When you assess a building that falls within scope, you now need to evaluate whether the RP has adequate arrangements in place for the Residential PEEPs process. That means going beyond the physical fire precautions and looking at the management systems behind them.

During your assessment, consider:

• Has the RP identified which of their buildings fall in scope?
• Do they have a process for identifying relevant residents — and are they using reasonable endeavours to do so?
• Have PCFRAs been offered to those residents? How many have been completed?
• Where PCFRAs have been completed, have the findings been acted on? Are mitigating measures in place?
• Are emergency evacuation statements documented and up to date?
• Does the building emergency evacuation plan reflect what the PCFRAs have found?
• Is there a review cycle in place, and is it being followed?
• Where residents have consented to information sharing, has that information been passed to the local FRS and placed in the secure information box?

None of this replaces the core assessment of physical fire precautions — it sits alongside it. But it means the fire safety management section of your FRA now carries substantially more weight in residential settings.

The PCFRA: Not Your Job, But Your Problem

The PCFRA is designed to be conducted by someone who regularly engages with the resident — typically the building manager or a housing officer — with the resident's direct involvement and consent.

Some RPs will already have structured processes in place — particularly larger housing associations who've been preparing since the EEIS+ consultation. But many, especially smaller managing agents and private landlords, will be starting from scratch. They may ask you what a good PCFRA looks like, whether their process is adequate, and how the outputs should feed into the building's overall fire safety arrangements.

That advisory role — helping the RP get their PCFRA process right, then validating the outputs during your FRA — is where assessors add serious value under the new regulations. It's also a natural reason to stay engaged with your clients between annual visits, building deeper client relationships and giving them a reason to keep coming back to you.

Data Sharing and Consent

The regulations require the RP to share certain information with the local fire and rescue authority — but only with the resident's explicit consent. The information shared is deliberately minimal: location within the building, indicative level of assistance needed, and whether an emergency evacuation statement is in place.

No medical details. No diagnosis. Just enough for the FRS to plan an operational response.

For your FRA, you'll want to check that the RP has a clear consent process, that they're recording consent decisions properly, and that the information reaching the FRS and the secure information box is current. This is GDPR special category data territory — health-related information about identifiable individuals — so your RP clients need to take data handling seriously.

How FireCheckr Helps

This is exactly the kind of ongoing, between-visits compliance work that falls apart when it lives in email chains and filing cabinets.

The FireCheckr Customer Portal gives assessors and their clients a shared workspace for managing PCFRAs between site visits. Your RP clients can manage the Residential PEEPs process through a structured digital workflow — and you can see the status of that work when you arrive to carry out the FRA, without chasing paperwork.

It keeps the RP engaged, keeps you informed, and keeps the evidence trail intact for when the fire and rescue service comes asking. It's all delivered under your consultancy's branding, helping you stand out in a competitive market.

Want to learn more about FireCheckr's Customer Portal? Book a call with our team to find out how FireCheckr can support your housing FRA clients through Residential PEEPs.