Fire safety responsible person: duties for small venues

If you run a pub, café, village hall, church, gym or salon, fire safety law will usually treat you (or the organisation you act for) as the responsible person. The role sits with whoever has control of the premises.

This is a practical guide to who that person is, what the law asks you to do, and how to keep records a fire officer can actually read. It is guidance, not legal advice. Where something depends on your layout, occupancy or kit, use your fire risk assessment or a competent professional.

Who the responsible person is

Article 3 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 names the responsible person. In a workplace it is the employer, if the premises are under their control. Otherwise it is the person who has control of the premises in connection with carrying on a trade, business or other undertaking. In some shared or multi-occupied buildings it can also be the owner.

For a small venue that usually means:

• the operator or licensee of a pub or bar
• the owner-manager of a café, restaurant, shop, gym or salon
• the committee, trustees or church council of a hall, church or community centre (the organisation, not every volunteer on the rota)

The GOV.UK workplace fire safety guide and the Fire Safety Order cover England and Wales. Scotland has the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and Northern Ireland has the Fire and Rescue Services (NI) Order 2006.

You can ask a duty manager, caretaker or contractor to do the tests. You can get help from a competent person. You cannot pass the legal role to someone else and forget about it. If a check is missed, it is still yours.

What the law actually asks you to do

The Order does not hand you a printed weekly checklist. It requires you to take general fire precautions so far as is reasonably practicable, then sets out the main pieces.

GOV.UK groups the work like this:

1. Make a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment and review it when something significant changes.
2. Put in place, and keep working, the precautions that assessment says you need: detection, warning, extinguishers, escape routes, emergency lighting and signs.
3. Plan what people do if there is a fire.
4. Give staff (and anyone else who needs it) information, instruction and training.
5. Maintain the kit and cooperate with anyone else who shares the building.

The assessment is the foundation. Article 9 requires you to assess the risks to people on or near the premises, and to review the assessment if you have reason to think it is no longer valid, or after a significant change. You may do it yourself if you are competent, or pay someone else. The findings still belong to you.

Every responsible person must record the assessment and its significant findings, and anyone especially at risk. They must also record their fire safety arrangements.

The records that show you did it

A fire officer, licensing officer or insurer will usually ask for the same pack: the fire risk assessment, test and maintenance records, drill records, training records, and contractor certificates.

The Order requires you to record the assessment findings and your fire safety arrangements in all cases. It never uses the words “log book”. A log book is simply how most small venues show that equipment is being maintained in efficient working order and good repair.

Duty in the Order	What you typically keep
Fire risk assessment (article 9)	The assessment, significant findings, review date
Maintenance (article 17)	Alarm, lighting, extinguisher and fire door checks, plus service certificates
Information and training (articles 19 and 21)	Who was briefed, when, and on what
Emergency procedures (article 15)	The plan, and records of drills
Cooperation (article 22)	How you work with other occupiers or hirers

How often you test is not listed in the Order. It comes from the standards your assessment and installer point you to. GOV.UK’s workplace fire safety guide says you must carry out regular checks to make sure fire alarm systems are working and equipment is maintained. For small premises in England, use Making your small non-domestic premises safe from fire. If you are unsure what “regularly” means in your building, that is a question for your fire risk assessment.

Typical log entries include weekly alarm tests (and which call point you used), monthly emergency lighting tests and the annual duration test, routine checks of extinguishers, fire doors, routes and signs, false alarms and faults, contractor visits, drills, and staff training.

A paper book works until the person who fills it in leaves. You need to show what was done, by whom, and when.

You cannot do every check yourself

In a small venue you will not be on every shift. The weekly alarm test still needs to happen. Other people can carry out the work. You stay responsible for making sure it is done and written down.

That is the gap a digital fire safety log book is for. Muster is built for the person who is the responsible person and does not have a compliance department. Staff scan a QR sticker on the fire alarm panel with their own phone camera, enter the venue PIN and tap OK. The weekly test is logged with their name, the time and the call point.

Muster builds a check schedule from what is in your building, reminds you before something is overdue, tracks faults from report to fix, and stores contractor visits, drills and training. When someone asks to see the file, you can print an inspection pack of the records they usually want.

None of that replaces the fire risk assessment, the physical kit, or people who know the exits. It stops the record from being the thing that fails when you are not in.

Staff, drills and anyone who shares the building

Article 19 and article 21 require you to give employees information and adequate safety training: how to raise the alarm, what to do if they find a fire, and the escape routes. Brief new starters when they arrive, and refresh everyone when the risks change.

You also need procedures for serious and imminent danger (article 15): in practice, your evacuation plan. Rehearse it and record who took part. GOV.UK’s workplace fire safety guide says you should hold at least one drill a year and record it. Your assessment may set a different frequency.

If you share the building, or a hall lets to several groups, article 22 requires cooperation and coordination with the other responsible persons. Put that in writing so it survives a change of committee or tenant.

Martyn’s Law does not replace fire safety

Martyn’s Law is the short name for the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025. It is a separate duty, with main requirements expected to come into force in spring 2027, and it does not take away the Fire Safety Order. The standard tier is expected to cover qualifying premises in the 200-799 range, the enhanced tier from 800. If you run a hall, church or larger pub, check which side of 200 you sit on with the free tier checker. Existing in-scope premises will have three months from the start date to notify the SIA, and 28 days to report later changes.

What to do this week

Write down who the responsible person is, put your hands on the current fire risk assessment, and look at last month’s tests, drills and training (names and dates, not just ticks). If the building has changed, get the assessment reviewed: that needs professional judgement.

If you want the record in one place, with reminders and a pack you can print for a visit, set up your venue in Muster’s fire safety log book. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial.