Explanatory note

This Order supersedes the Fire Precautions (Factories, Offices, Shops and Railway Premises) Order 1976, which is revoked by article 3. It makes similar provision for the designation of those places of work in respect of which a fire certificate is required by section 1 of the Fire Precautions Act 1971 and for the exemption of certain premises from the requirement for a fire certificate, and it makes new provision for the purpose of enabling fire authorities to exempt premises from that requirement.

Article 4 of the Order designates generally the use of factory, office, shop and railway premises (as defined in article 2) in which persons are employed to work. Article 5 exempts from certification those premises in which the persons working there at any one time, including employees, self-employed persons and trainees, do not exceed the numbers specified in that article. Article 6 specifies the categories of premises which qualify for exemption by a fire authority from certification. It describes the premises by reference mainly to their situation within a building, either on the ground floor of the building or on the ground floor and the floor below or the floor above it, and in some cases by reference to the separation of one floor from another by fire-resisting construction. Under section 5A of the 1971 Act a fire authority may grant exemptions in respect of particular premises falling within the descriptions specified.

By virtue of article 7 the Order has no application to any railway premises to which regulations under the 1971 Act apply or to any premises covered by regulations made under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 which provide for the issue of fire certificates by the Health and Safety Executive (currently, the Fire Certificates (Special Premises) Regulations 1976 (S.I. 1976/2003)).