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P1-30

Require evacuation plans for high-rise buildings

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)

DeliveryMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says completed (Sep 2026)Home Office says in progress (Feb 2025)

Recommendation, 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

AI-generated evidence summary

The Inquiry recommended legally requiring high-rise residential building owners to maintain and share evacuation plans. In September 2026, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government stated that the recommendation was complete and fully discharged (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Sep 2026). In February 2026, the department reported that regulations laid in July 2025 mandate Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) and require sharing vulnerable residents' information with fire and rescue services (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Feb 2026). While its updates described these provisions for vulnerable residents, placing evacuation plans in on-premises information boxes is not mentioned in the sources (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Feb 2026; Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Sep 2026).

AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 1 Oct 2026.

Government response

●UK Government · Accepted in part · 21 Jan 2020

Words of: HM Government (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government), Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 Report: Government Response, January 2020 (published on GOV.UK 21 January 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

Site note: This is the government's response to the Phase 1 report (CP 209, 21 January 2020). It is organised by theme, not by recommendation, and states its position once, in its introduction: "the Government accepted in principle all these recommendations", meaning the recommendations "relevant to government". Where the row shows a passage from a themed section, that is the section on this recommendation's subject; where it shows the introduction, the response has no passage on this recommendation's subject. The status on a recommendation addressed to government is the introduction's. Where the recommendation is addressed to building owners, the emergency services or the National Police Air Service, the response describes work without stating acceptance, and the row is marked noted.

Site note: The source gives this passage once, for the introduction, on every recommendation relevant to government whose subject the response does not take up in a themed section. The same words are recorded on P1-5, P1-6, P1-8, P1-9, P1-30, P1-32, P1-33 and P1-36.

Delivery

●Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says completed · 10 Sep 2026

These recommendations are now complete and has been fully discharged.

From: Progress report September 2026: vulnerable people and phase 1 recommendations (part of Grenfell Tower Inquiry Government Progress Report: September 2026)

Site note: This is the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's progress report of September 2026 on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations. Where the passage describes work by another body, such as the National Fire Chiefs Council, London Fire Brigade, fire and rescue services, the British Standards Institution or the Cabinet Office, it is the Ministry's account of that body's progress, and the row is filed under the Ministry.

Site note: The source gives this passage once, for its recommendations 59 and 61 (Phase 1 recommendations 33.22.C and 33.22.F) together. The same words are recorded on P1-30 and P1-33.

●Home Office says in progress · 26 Feb 2025

Status: in progress

The government will lay new Residential PEEPs (RPEEPs) secondary legislation later in 2025 which will also include mandating building-level evacuation plans for all high-rise residential buildings, and for those medium-rise residential buildings with a simultaneous evacuation plan in place. Together, these measures will mandate that the building owner/manager engages with their vulnerable residents, considers how to improve their fire safety and evacuation, enables all residents to be clear on what they should do in the event of a fire, and give fire and rescue services information in case they need to support their evacuation.

From: Progress against the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 recommendations, February 2025

Site note: This is the Home Office's thematic update on progress against the Phase 1 recommendations. Its introduction says it includes updates from the relevant government departments and assurances received from the National Fire Chiefs Council, London Fire Brigade and other emergency services on their progress. The status line and the passage are the Home Office's compilation of what those bodies reported to it; where the passage gives a status for fire and rescue services and a separate one for London Fire Brigade, both are shown as printed.

Earlier statements on delivery (0)

●Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government · 25 Feb 2026

The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 were laid on 4 July 2025. This mandates Residential PEEPs in high-rise and higher-risk residential buildings.

Under the regulations, residents with disabilities or impairments will have a person-centred fire risk assessment to identify equipment and adjustments to aid their fire safety, evacuation and a ‘Residential PEEPs statement’ recording what they should do in a fire. Fire and rescue services will also receive information on vulnerable residents in case they need to support their evacuation. The resident’s consent is required throughout the process. Further information on why we are doing this and what the regulations mean in practice can be found in the Residential PEEPs: Factsheet.

These recommendations are now complete and have been fully discharged.

From: Annual Report February 2026: vulnerable people and Phase 1 (part of Grenfell Tower Inquiry Government Annual Report: February 2026)

Site note: This is the annex of the government's Phase 2 annual report (CP 1512, published 25 February 2026) as GOV.UK publishes it, one page per theme: the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's account. Where the passage describes work by another body, such as the National Fire Chiefs Council, London Fire Brigade, the British Standards Institution, the Health and Safety Executive or the Cabinet Office, it is the report's account of that body's progress, and the row is filed under the Ministry. The status is what the passage says: completed only where it says the recommendation is complete or closed.

Site note: The source gives this passage once, for its recommendations 59 and 61 (Phase 1 recommendations 33.22.C and 33.22.F) together. The same words are recorded on P1-30 and P1-33.

●Home Office · 16 Sep 2024

Status: In Progress

The Home Office will bring forward proposals in Autumn 2024 so that Responsible Persons under the scope of the Residential PEEPs proposals (see update on recs 33.22e and 33.22f) will be required to prepare a separate building level evacuation plan and share this with their local Fire and Rescue Service.

At a minimum, this plan should include the Instructions to Residents (required under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022), and if there are arrangements made for vulnerable residents via the Residential PEEPs proposals.

From: Progress against the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 recommendations, September 2024

Site note: This is the Home Office's thematic update on progress against the Phase 1 recommendations. Its introduction says it includes updates from the relevant government departments and assurances received from the National Fire Chiefs Council, London Fire Brigade and other emergency services on their progress. The status line and the passage are the Home Office's compilation of what those bodies reported to it; where the passage gives a status for fire and rescue services and a separate one for London Fire Brigade, both are shown as printed.

●Home Office · 5 Feb 2024

Status: In progress

The Government consulted on its proposals to address this recommendation in its Fire Safety consultation (carried out in 2020) and again in the Emergency Evacuation Information Sharing Plus (EEIS+) consultation in 2022. The Government is in the process of producing its formal response to the EEIS+ consultation which will lay out, in more detail, how this recommendation will be addressed. Details of the draft proposals, as consulted upon, can be found here .

From: Progress against the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 recommendations, February 2024

Site note: This is the Home Office's thematic update on progress against the Phase 1 recommendations. Its introduction says it includes updates from the relevant government departments and assurances received from the National Fire Chiefs Council, London Fire Brigade and other emergency services on their progress. The status line and the passage are the Home Office's compilation of what those bodies reported to it; where the passage gives a status for fire and rescue services and a separate one for London Fire Brigade, both are shown as printed.

How this page is built

The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.