Fire safety law and offences in Scotland

Produced in partnership with Katherine Metcalfe of Pinsent Masons
Practice notes

Fire safety law and offences in Scotland

Produced in partnership with Katherine Metcalfe of Pinsent Masons

Practice notes
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Fire and building safety are devolved matters. The fire safety regime in Scotland for non-domestic premises is contained primarily within Part 3 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 (F(S)A 2005) and the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006, SSI 2006/456, which govern the safe use of non-domestic premises. Non-domestic premises include:

  1. all workplaces and commercial premises

  2. all premises to which the public have access

  3. all types of houses in multiple occupation

The common parts of non-domestic premises are not within the scope of fire safety legislation in Scotland. This is a key difference from England where equivalent legislation, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, applies to the common parts of residential buildings.

Building regulations impose fire safety standards for new buildings. Building regulations requirements in relation to fire safety are outside the scope of this Practice Note.

Fire safety in Scotland following the Grenfell Tower fire

Neither the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022), which received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022 and will introduce a radical

Katherine Metcalfe
Katherine Metcalfe

Partner, Pinsent Masons


Katherine is a litigator specialising in advice on health and safety, fire safety and environmental matters. Katherine works across the infrastructure, energy and real estate sectors. She is at the forefront of the firm's thought leadership on building and fire safety, advising clients on regulatory change occasioned by the Hackitt review of building regulations and fire safety. Having spent two years heading up the in-house legal team at the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Katherine is uniquely placed to guide clients through the complexities of fire safety regulation across the UK. More broadly, Katherine has a wealth of experience in health and safety, environmental and fire safety law. For well over a decade, Katherine has provided pragmatic and down-to-earth advice to the firm's clients, including key players and household names, not only on immediate incident response, internal investigation, and investigations by regulators, but also on how to avoid an incident occurring in the first place. She frequently appears in courts and tribunals defending organisations charged with regulatory offences, representing their interests at Fatal Accident Inquiries and appealing enforcement action. She is a regular speaker at health and safety and fire safety events and provides training and advice on preventative measures.

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