In April 2026, new fire safety regulations changed the way high rise residential buildings prepare for emergencies. The introduction of Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (RPEEPs) placed greater responsibility on building owners, landlords and Responsible Persons to identify residents who may need assistance evacuating during a fire and ensure plans were in place to support them.
The changes formed part of wider fire safety reforms following the Grenfell Tower tragedy and were designed to improve protection for vulnerable residents living in multi occupied residential buildings.
What are RPEEPs?
Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans are personalised evacuation arrangements for residents who may struggle to leave a building independently during an emergency due to physical or cognitive impairments.
Under the new regulations, Responsible Persons must take reasonable steps to identify residents who may require support. They must then offer a personalised fire risk assessment and, where appropriate, agree an evacuation statement tailored to that resident’s needs.
The regulations also require a building wide evacuation strategy to be created and maintained.
Which buildings are affected?
The regulations apply to multi occupied residential buildings in England that are:
- 18 metres or seven storeys and above
- Or buildings over 11 metres where a simultaneous evacuation strategy is in place
This means a significant number of residential developments, apartment blocks and mixed use buildings will need to review existing fire safety procedures and documentation.
Passive fire protection still plays a critical role
Evacuation planning is only one part of the wider fire safety picture.
Even the most detailed evacuation strategy relies on effective passive fire protection measures working exactly as intended. Fire compartmentation, compliant fire doors, cavity barriers and correctly installed fire stopping systems all help contain smoke and flames long enough to protect escape routes and support safe evacuation.
Where compartmentation has been compromised through poor workmanship, service penetrations or ageing materials, evacuation strategies become far more difficult to manage safely.
At Ember Fire Consultants Ltd, we regularly support residential developments with:
- Fire compartmentation
- Fire door installations and remedials
- Passive fire project management
- Compliance reporting
- Ongoing fire safety support for landlords and managing agents
As legislation continues to evolve, building owners are increasingly expected to demonstrate not only that systems exist, but that they are properly maintained, documented and capable of performing during a real incident.
A more proactive era of fire safety
The direction of travel is clear. Fire safety is becoming more resident focused, more evidence based and more accountable.
The introduction of RPEEPs reinforces the importance of understanding how buildings operate in practice, not just on paper. For Responsible Persons, this means reviewing evacuation procedures alongside the physical condition of the building itself.
Because in a fire, safe evacuation depends on far more than an alarm sounding. It depends on every layer of protection doing its job.
