Require evacuation plans for high-rise buildings
Grenfell Tower Inquiry · Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 1 Report · Issued 30 October 2019 · Addressed to: UK Government
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, 33.22c
The owner and manager of every high-rise residential building be required by law to draw up and keep under regular review evacuation plans, copies of which are to be provided in electronic and paper form to their local fire and rescue service and placed in an information box on the premises.
Grenfell Tower Inquiry, Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 1 Report · 30 Oct 2019 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/797) were laid before Parliament on 4 July 2025, mandating residential evacuation plans in high-rise and higher-risk residential buildings (SI 2025/797, legislation.gov.uk).
- The government's dashboard states this recommendation is complete and has been fully discharged (Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Recommendations Dashboard, MHCLG, updated March 2026).
Response — verbatim from government
●UK Government
The government accepted in principle all Phase 1 recommendations directed at central government. The Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick presented the formal response to Parliament on 21 January 2020, committing to new duties on building owners and managers through the Fire Safety Bill and Building Safety Bill, including requirements for premises information boxes, floor plans, lift inspections, fire door checks, evacuation signage, and fire safety instructions to residents.
UK Government · 21 Jan 2020 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 1 Feb 2026 The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/797) were laid before Parliament on 4 July 2025 and come into force on 6 April 2026. The regulations mandate person-centred fire risk assessments and Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (RPEEPs) in high-rise and higher-risk residential buildings. This recommendation has been fully discharged. (Annual Report February 2026, Government Recommendation 59.) Source →
- 26 Feb 2025 In progress as of February 2025. The government has committed to introducing secondary legislation later in 2025 requiring building owners and managers to prepare and keep up-to-date evacuation plans for high-rise residential buildings. Progress is being monitored as part of MHCLG's Phase 2 progress reports. Source →
- 4 Jul 2025 · UK Parliament Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 laid 4 July 2025 by Alex Norris MP. Regulations come into force 6 April 2026. Requires building-level evacuation plans, personal emergency evacuation plans, and PEEP info in premises information boxes for high-rise buildings. View source → Reasonable Progress
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.