# The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, Article 50: Guidance

Extent: E+W

(1) The Secretary of State must ensure that such guidance, as he considers appropriate, is available to assist responsible persons in the discharge of the duties imposed by articles 8 to 22B and by regulations made under article 24.
(1A) Where in any proceedings it is alleged that a person has contravened a provision of articles 8 to 22B or of regulations made under article 24 ...—
(a) proof of a failure to comply with any applicable ... guidance may be relied on as tending to establish that there was such a contravention, and
(b) proof of compliance with any applicable ... guidance may be relied on as tending to establish that there was no such contravention.
(2) In relation to the duty in paragraph (1), the guidance may, from time to time, be revised.
(2A) Before revising or withdrawing any risk based guidance in relation to relevant buildings the Secretary of State must consult such persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
(3) The Secretary of State shall be treated as having discharged his duty under paragraph (1) where—
(a) guidance has been made available before this article comes into force; and
(b) he considers that the guidance is appropriate for the purpose mentioned in paragraph (1).
(4) In this article—
“relevant building” means a building in England containing two or more sets of domestic premises;
“risk based guidance” means guidance under paragraph (1) about how a person who is subject to the duties mentioned there in relation to more than one set of premises is to prioritise the discharge of those duties in respect of the different premises by reference to risk.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1541/article/50 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/regulatory-reform-fire-safety-order-2005/article-50
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.