Fire safety documents checklist: what every block of flats should hold

How to use this fire safety documents checklist

Work through the sections that apply to your building's height. For each item, ask: do we have it, is it current, and does it match the building? A document that exists but describes a different building is a gap.

Every block of flats

• Fire risk assessment of the common parts – current, recorded in full, naming the assessor, with an action tracker
• Fire strategy – original, as-built or retrospective
• Evacuation strategy clearly stated – stay put or simultaneous – and reflected in notices
• Fire safety information for residents (how to report a fire, what to do) – on moving in and at least annually
• Fire door information for residents – keep doors shut, don't tamper with self-closers, report faults
• Fire alarm and detection servicing records, where a system is installed
• Emergency lighting testing and servicing records
• Electrical inspection records for the common parts
• Records for any other fire safety systems – smoke control, sprinklers, dry risers, fire dampers
• External wall information – an FRAEW or a clear record of why one isn't needed
• Compartmentation evidence – survey reports and remedial records where available
• Contractor and works records for anything affecting fire safety
• Lease and management agreement clarity on who is responsible for flat entrance doors

Over 11 metres – add

• Communal fire door checks at least every three months, with records
• Flat entrance door checks at least annually, with records of attempts to gain access – see fire door inspection requirements
• Residential PEEPs records and a building emergency evacuation plan, where the building operates simultaneous evacuation – see residential PEEPs

18 metres or 7 storeys and above – add

• Secure information box, with the responsible person's details and hard copies of plans
• Floor plans and a single-page building plan, sent electronically to the fire service – see premises information box requirements
• External wall record shared with the fire service
• Monthly checks of lifts and key firefighting equipment, with fault reports where not fixed within 24 hours
• Wayfinding signage for floors and flats
• Residential PEEPs and the building emergency evacuation plan

Higher-risk buildings – add

• Registration with the Building Safety Regulator and key building information
• Identification of the principal accountable person and any other accountable persons
• Assessment of building safety risks – fire spread and structural failure
• Safety case report and any building assessment certificate correspondence
• Mandatory occurrence reporting system
• Resident engagement strategy and complaints process
• Golden thread of information, held digitally – see the golden thread
• Structural survey information

Keeping it current

• Hold everything in one place, with an owner and review date for each item.
• Update after any change – works, remediation, a new evacuation strategy, a new managing agent.
• Check consistency – the FRA, fire strategy, FRAEW and safety case should agree with each other.
• Plan ahead for transactions – buyers' and lenders' advisers will ask for most of this list. See fire safety due diligence.

What regulators, insurers and buyers ask for first

In our experience, these are the documents people ask for first – so make sure they're current and easy to find:

1. The fire risk assessment and the status of its actions
2. The fire strategy, or confirmation of the evacuation strategy
3. The FRAEW and any EWS1 form
4. Fire door and compartmentation records
5. For higher-risk buildings, registration, the safety case report and regulator correspondence

If you've found gaps, our fire risk assessments, retrospective fire strategies and Building Safety Act support can fill them, starting with a short gap analysis.

Sources

• NFCC – Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 FAQs
• GOV.UK – Residential PEEPs: guidance for responsible persons
• GOV.UK – Fact sheet: fire doors (regulation 10)

This guide is general information based on the law and guidance in England as at 8 November 2026. It isn't legal advice – for advice on a specific building, get in touch.