What are the duties of the Responsible Person for a fire alarm system?

Direct answer

For most non-domestic premises in England and Wales, the Responsible Person (often the employer, owner or occupier) has legal duties under fire safety law to make and record a fire risk assessment, to provide fire detection and alarm equipment where the assessment shows it is necessary and to the extent that it is appropriate, and to keep whatever is provided under a suitable system of maintenance and in efficient working order. In practice this means arranging routine testing and periodic servicing, keeping a fire log book, acting on faults, and using competent people for design, installation and maintenance to a recognised standard such as BS 5839-1. Confirm your exact legal duties against current fire safety legislation and the recommendations of BS 5839-1 for your premises.

Applies to

Products / Models: General guidance (any fire detection and alarm system)
Firmware / Version: Not applicable
Region: UK (England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland impose equivalent duties under their own legislation, using different terms; see References.)
Standards: BS 5839-1; relevant fire safety legislation

Who is the Responsible Person

Typically the employer (for a workplace), or the person who has control of the premises in connection with a trade, business or other undertaking, or the owner (Article 3). Managing agents, landlords and contractors are not the responsible person by definition, but Article 5(3) places the same duties on any person who has control of the premises to any extent, and Article 5(4) extends this to anyone with a contractual obligation for maintenance, repair or safety.
For some premises there may be more than one Responsible Person who must cooperate.

Statutory duties (England and Wales)

These duties come from the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, as amended on 1 October 2023 by section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022. Failing to comply, where the failure puts people at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire, is a criminal offence under Article 32.

Make a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, review it regularly, and record it (Articles 9(1), 9(3) and 9(6)).
Where necessary to safeguard the safety of relevant persons, equip the premises with appropriate fire detectors and alarms, to the extent that it is appropriate (Article 13(1)(a)).
Where necessary to safeguard the safety of relevant persons, keep the premises and any fire safety equipment provided under a suitable system of maintenance, and maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair (Article 17(1)).
Appoint one or more competent persons to assist in undertaking the preventive and protective measures (Article 18(1)).
Where more than one responsible person shares the premises, take reasonably practicable steps to identify them, give them your name and a UK address for service, tell them which part of the premises you consider yourself responsible for and keep a record of that, and co-operate and co-ordinate with them (Article 22).

What BS 5839-1 recommends

BS 5839-1 is a code of practice, not legislation. It uses "should", not "must". Following it is one recognised way of demonstrating that the statutory duties above have been met.

Operate a manual call point during normal working hours every week, using a different call point each week, and record the result and the call point used in the system logbook. See How to carry out the weekly fire alarm test.
Keep a system logbook recording tests, faults, false alarms and all maintenance. See What should be recorded in the fire alarm log book?.
Arrange periodic inspection and servicing by a competent person, with no more than six months between successive visits. See How often should a fire alarm system be serviced?.
Appoint a single, named member of the premises management to supervise the system, and check the control panel at least once every 24 hours for faults.

When to contact technical support

For advice on maintaining or servicing a Hochiki system installed at your premises.
For help understanding fault indications shown on your panel.

Safety note

This article is general guidance for Hochiki Europe products. Design, installation, commissioning, maintenance and modification of fire detection and alarm systems should be carried out by, or under the responsibility of, a competent person in accordance with the applicable standards (for example BS 5839-1 in the UK). Statutory requirements imposed by the relevant enforcing authority also apply. Always refer to the current product manual and data sheet for the exact model before carrying out any work.

References

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (England and Wales) — legislation.gov.uk
Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, Part 3, and the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006 — Act (legislation.gov.uk), Regulations (legislation.gov.uk)
Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, Part 3, and the Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 — Order (legislation.gov.uk)
BS 5839-1 (current edition) — Fire detection and fire alarm systems for buildings. Code of practice for design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of systems in non-domestic premises

Last reviewed: 2026-10-21 — Reviewed by: Hochiki Europe Technical Support