Require building floor plans for fire services
Grenfell Tower Inquiry · Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 1 Report · Issued 30 October 2019 · Addressed to: UK Government
Government responseUK Government: Accepted in part (Jan 2020)
DeliveryHome Office says completed (Feb 2025)
Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, 33.12a
The owner and manager of every high-rise residential building be required by law to provide their local fire and rescue services with up-to-date plans in both paper and electronic form of every floor of the building identifying the location of key fire safety systems.
Grenfell Tower Inquiry, Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 1 Report · 30 Oct 2019 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
AI-generated evidence summary
In February 2025, the Home Office reported that implementation of this recommendation was complete, following the entry into force of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 in January 2023 (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department explained that these regulations require the responsible person for a high-rise residential building to prepare floor plans showing the location of lifts and key fire-fighting equipment, submit them electronically to their local fire and rescue service, and place hard copies in an on-site secure information box (Home Office, Feb 2025).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026.
Government response
●UK Government · Accepted in part · 21 Jan 2020
Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s Phase 1 report was exhaustive in detail and made a series of findings and recommendations relevant to government. As the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government made clear at the time of publication, the Government accepted in principle all these recommendations. This includes new duties on building owners and managers to: issue information to Fire and Rescue Services, ensure there are premises information boxes, carry out regular inspections of lifts and fire doors, equip buildings with the facilities for Fire and Rescue Services to send evacuation signals and ensure building floor numbers are clearly marked.
Extract from: Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 Report: Government Response
Delivery
●Home Office says completed · 26 Feb 2025
Status: complete
In 2020 the then Government consulted on its proposals to implement this recommendation in its Fire Safety Consultation and responded to the consultation in 2021 ).
On 18 May 2022, regulations were laid under Article 24 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 to implement this recommendation. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 came into force on 23 January 2023.
Under the Regulations, the responsible person for a high-rise residential building must prepare a plan for each floor of the building. This plan should show, alongside the layout of the relevant floor, the location of all lifts and main fire-fighting equipment for the building. Where the layout for two or more floors are identical, the responsible person can produce a single plan (as long as they clearly indicate the floors to which that plan relates). The responsible person must send these plans electronically to their local fire and rescue service.
In addition to this plan, the responsible person for a high-rise residential building must, under the Regulations, prepare an additional hard copy single page building plan to show the environs of the building, as well as the location of fire-fighting facilities and information useful to the fire and rescue service.
Also under the Regulations, the responsible person for a high-rise residential building must install a secure information box in or on the premises. This secure information box should contain hard copies of the building floor plans, the single page building plan and the UK contact details of the responsible person and any other individual the responsible person considers appropriate.
In addition to this, the then Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) (now Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)) consulted on the proposal to recommend secure information boxes in new blocks of flats through an update to Building Regulation guidance document Approved Document B (ADB). MHCLG announced on 1 June 2022 that it had amended ADB so that secure information boxes will now have to be installed in all new residential buildings over 11 metres.
From: Progress against the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 recommendations, February 2025
Earlier statements on delivery (0)
●Home Office · 16 Sep 2024
Status: Complete
In 2020 the then Government consulted on its proposals to implement this recommendation in its Fire Safety Consultation and responded to the consultation in 2021 ( link ).
On 18 May 2022, regulations were laid under Article 24 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 to implement this recommendation. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 came into force on 23 January 2023.
Under the Regulations, the responsible person for a high-rise residential building must prepare a plan for each floor of the building. This plan should show, alongside the layout of the relevant floor, the location of all lifts and main fire-fighting equipment for the building. Where the layout for two or more floors are identical, the responsible person can produce a single plan (as long as they clearly indicate the floors to which that plan relates). The responsible person must send these plans electronically to their local fire and rescue service.
In addition to this plan, the responsible person for a high-rise residential building must, under the Regulations, prepare an additional hard copy single page building plan to show the environs of the building, as well as the location of fire-fighting facilities and information useful to the fire and rescue service.
Also under the Regulations, the responsible person for a high-rise residential building must install a secure information box in or on the premises. This secure information box should contain hard copies of the building floor plans, the single page building plan and the UK contact details of the responsible person and any other individual the responsible person considers appropriate.
In addition to this, the then Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) (now Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)) consulted on the proposal to recommend secure information boxes in new blocks of flats through an update to Building Regulation guidance document Approved Document B (ADB). MHCLG announced on 1 June 2022 that it had amended ADB so that secure information boxes will now have to be installed in all new residential buildings over 11 metres.
From: Progress against the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 recommendations, September 2024
●Home Office · 5 Feb 2024
Status: Complete
The Government consulted on its proposals to implement this recommendation in its Fire Safety Consultation (carried out in 2020). The Government responded to the consultation in 2021 ( link ).
On 18 May 2022 the Government laid regulations under Article 24 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 to implement this recommendation. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 came into force on 23 January 2023.
Under the Regulations, the responsible person for a high-rise residential building must prepare a plan for each floor of the building. This plan should show, alongside the layout of the relevant floor, the location of all lifts and main fire-fighting equipment for the building. Where the layout for two or more floors are identical, the responsible person can produce a single plan (as long as they clearly indicate the floors to which that plan relates). The responsible person must send these plans electronically to their local fire and rescue service.
In addition to this plan, the responsible person for a high-rise residential building must, under the Regulations, prepare an additional hard copy single page building plan to show the environs of the building, as well as the location of fire-fighting facilities and information useful to the fire and rescue service.
Also, under the Regulations, the responsible person for a high-rise residential building must install a secure information box in or on the premises. This secure information box should contain hard copies of the building floor plans, the single page building plan and the UK contact details of the responsible person and any other individual the responsible person considers appropriate.
In addition to this, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) consulted on the proposal to recommend secure information boxes in new blocks of flats through an update to Building Regulation guidance document Approved Document B (ADB). DLUHC announced on 1 June 2022 that it had amended ADB so that secure information boxes will now have to be installed in all new residential buildings over 11 metres.
From: Progress against the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 recommendations, February 2024
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