A new piece of legislation came into force on 6 April 2026, placing significant new duties on building owners, landlords and managing agents across England.
The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 introduced Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans, commonly referred to as RPEEPs.
If you are responsible for a qualifying residential building, understanding what RPEEPs are and what they require of you is no longer optional. It is the law.
What Does RPEEP Stand For?
RPEEP stands for Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan.
It is a personalised fire evacuation plan for a resident who may be unable to leave their building without assistance in the event of a fire.
This might apply to someone with a physical mobility issue, a sensory impairment such as sight or hearing loss, or a cognitive condition.
It is worth noting that RPEEPs are distinct from the Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) that have been a legal requirement in workplaces since 2005.
Workplace PEEPs are well established; residential PEEPs are an entirely new statutory requirement, and one that has been a long time coming.
Why Were RPEEPs Introduced? The Grenfell Context
To understand why RPEEPs exist, it is essential to look back at the Grenfell Tower fire of 14 June 2017, Britain’s worst residential fire since World War II.
The blaze at the 24-storey tower block in west London claimed 72 lives, 18 of them children.
The human cost for disabled residents was particularly devastating.
Of the 37 disabled residents living in Grenfell Tower on the night of the fire, 15 lost their lives, a mortality rate of 41%.
According to Disability Rights UK, not a single one of those residents had an evacuation plan in place.
The Phase 1 Report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, published in October 2019, made clear that this was unacceptable.
It included three specific recommendations directly addressed by the RPEEP regulations:
- Recommendation 33.22(c): Building emergency evacuation plans should be prepared and maintained.
- Recommendation 33.22(e): Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans should be put in place for all residents who may struggle to self-evacuate.
- Recommendation 33.22(f): That relevant and up-to-date information about such residents be kept in a premises information box.
After years of consultation, legal challenges and pressure from disability groups, the government laid the regulations on 4 July 2025. They came into force on 6 April 2026.
Which Buildings Are Affected?
The regulations apply in England only and cover two categories of residential building:
- All multi-residential buildings (containing two or more sets of domestic premises) that are at least 18 metres above ground level or have at least seven storeys.
- All multi-residential buildings more than 11 metres in height where a simultaneous evacuation strategy is in place, meaning all residents are required to evacuate if a fire breaks out anywhere in the building.
If your building falls into either category, the regulations apply to you from 6 April 2026.
There are no exemptions for private landlords, housing associations, or management companies.
Who Is the Responsible Person?
The duties under the RPEEP regulations fall on what the legislation calls the “Responsible Person” (RP). This is typically the building owner, landlord or managing agent, whoever has whoever has control over the building or its common parts.
The Responsible Person is already a defined legal concept under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, so if you have existing fire safety responsibilities under that Order, it is very likely you also carry duties under the RPEEP regulations.
What Does the RPEEP Process Involve?
The RPEEP process is a suite of connected duties, not simply a form to be filled in.
At a high level, the Responsible Person must:
- Use reasonable endeavours to identify residents who may have difficulty evacuating without assistance (known as “relevant residents”).
- Offer each relevant resident a Person-Centred Fire Risk Assessment (PCFRA), typically a structured discussion to understand their particular risks.
- Where a resident accepts the offer, prepare an Emergency Evacuation Statement setting out what they should do in the event of a fire.
- With the resident’s explicit consent, share relevant information with the local Fire and Rescue Service to support their operational response.
- Review each RPEEP at least every 12 months, or sooner if the resident’s circumstances change.
- Prepare and maintain a Building Emergency Evacuation Plan (BEEP) for the whole building, reviewed annually and shared with the local Fire and Rescue Authority.
Crucially, resident participation is entirely voluntary. A resident cannot be compelled to engage with the RPEEP process, and may withdraw consent at any time. All information must be handled in accordance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Why Does This Matter Beyond Legal Compliance?
It is tempting to view RPEEPs as another compliance checkbox.
They are not.
They exist because, in the absence of personalised evacuation planning, vulnerable residents in high-rise buildings face a genuinely elevated risk of death in a fire.
The Grenfell Inquiry’s final Phase 2 Report, published in September 2024, concluded that all 72 deaths were avoidable. The residents of Grenfell Tower were, in the words of the inquiry’s chair Sir Martin Moore-Bick, badly failed by those responsible for their safety.
RPEEPs represent the government’s attempt to ensure that failure cannot be repeated.
Fire and Rescue Authorities, such as Fire and Rescue Services across England, have the power to inspect and enforce compliance. Under Article 30 of the Fire Safety Order, an enforcement notice can be served in the event of non-compliance. For high-rise residential buildings, failing to put an effective RPEEP process in place may also constitute a breach of the Building Safety Act 2022.
What Should You Do Now?
If your building is in scope, you should already be taking steps to comply. If you are unsure whether the regulations apply to you, or if you need support building a compliant RPEEP process, professional fire safety advice is essential.
At ESI Fire Safety, we work with building owners and managing agents to ensure full compliance with the latest fire safety legislation, including RPEEPs. Our team can help you identify relevant residents, carry out person-centred fire risk assessments, prepare emergency evacuation statements and build the documentation framework you need.
In our next article in this series, we look in detail at who exactly needs a RPEEP, including the precise legal definitions of which buildings and residents are in scope, and the responsibilities of the Responsible Person.
| Sources & References 1. Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 – GOV.UK (gov.uk/government/publications/residential-personal-emergency-evacuation-plans-residential-peeps) 2. Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 Report, October 2019 – Recommendations 33.22(c), (e) and (f) 3. Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report, September 2024 – GOV.UK 4. House of Commons Library: Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) in England, January 2026 5. Disability Rights UK: Almost half of Grenfell fire deaths were Disabled people and children 6. London Fire Brigade: RPEEPs guidance, April 2026 (london-fire.gov.uk) 7. Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service: RPEEP guidance, February 2026 |
