On 3 July 2026 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government updated its guidance on enforcement and sanctions for non-compliance under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Two things changed: MHCLG formally took over as lead organisation for the guidance, and a new section explains how Secretary of State determinations work.

If you are the responsible person for a block of flats, a care home, a school, a hotel or a commercial building, the second change matters to you.

What a determination is

Until now, if your fire and rescue authority told you to carry out remedial work you believed was disproportionate or technically wrong, your realistic options were to comply or to fight an enforcement notice after it landed. The updated guidance sets out a third route: where you and the enforcing authority genuinely disagree about what the Order requires, and both sides consent, the disputed question can be referred to the Secretary of State for a determination.

It is a technical dispute resolution process, not an appeal. Both sides put their case in writing, with evidence, and the determination settles the point.

Why the evidence requirement is the real story

The guidance is explicit that a determination runs on documentation: fire risk assessments, drawings, calculations, specifications and the correspondence trail. If you want to argue that your alternative approach achieves the same level of safety, you have to prove it on paper.

That cuts both ways. A building with a current fire risk assessment, a completed logbook, dated maintenance records and commissioning certificates can make that case. A building with a folder of gaps cannot, and the same gaps are exactly what turns an authority’s verbal advice into a statutory enforcement notice in the first place. The enforcement ladder in the guidance has not changed: informal advice for minor issues, then non-statutory letters, then enforcement, alterations or prohibition notices, with prosecution available where non-compliance puts people at risk of death or serious injury.

The direction of travel is not subtle. In June the First-tier Tribunal ordered developer Hollybrook (UK) Limited to pay £3.68 million towards fixing fire safety defects at a single east London block, Hallings Wharf Studios, after finding that all of its external wall systems posed a fire risk. Regulators and tribunals are holding dutyholders to what their paperwork can prove.

What to check this month

  • Is your fire risk assessment current, and are its actions closed out? Open FRA actions are the most common trigger for escalation.
  • Could you hand over your fire logbook today? Test records, false alarm log, maintenance visits, panel details and zone charts, all up to date.
  • Do your maintenance records name the standard? Fire detection and alarm servicing should be documented against BS 5839-1:2025, with certificates you can produce.
  • Is there a paper trail for past variations? If you ever agreed a departure from guidance with a fire authority or building control, find that correspondence now. It is exactly what a determination would ask for.

How Gemini helps

Gemini AMPM maintains fire detection and alarm systems to BS 5839-1:2025 under BAFE SP203-1 registration, closes out FRA remedial actions through our small works team, and delivers the documentation this guidance now makes decisive: commissioning certificates, logbook packs, compartmentation surveys and evidence-grade condition reports. If an enforcing authority has raised concerns about one of your buildings, call 0330 043 0080 and we will help you put the answer on paper. Our fire alarm service and maintenance page explains what documented compliance looks like visit by visit.