In line with new fire safety regulations, we are helping residents with personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs).
What are PEEPs?
A PEEP is a personal emergency evacuation plan for residents who cannot evacuate by themselves in case of an emergency.
Residential PEEPs need to be in place as part of the 2025 Fire Safety Regulations which are designed to improve the fire safety of disabled and vulnerable people in taller buildings. This means we must identify residents who may struggle to evacuate because of a physical or cognitive impairments.
We currently have 257 buildings that are in scope for this regulation that are either over 18m (or 7 storeys) with a stay put or simultaneous evacuation plan, or 11-18m with a simultaneous evacuation plan.
What we’ve done
We have written to all residents in these buildings to let us know if they need help in an evacuation so we can carry out a person centred fire risk assessment (PCFRA) and work with them on an Emergency Evacuation Statement – this is a plan for residents who can’t self-evacuate.
We will be distributing hangers for their doors to remind them to reach out to us.
We’ve also updated the fire safety page on our website to include further information and frequently asked questions. We are calling residents with known service adjustments, and door knocking in relevant buildings.
What this means for residents
If a resident tells us they might need help leaving their property in an emergency we’ll offer a PCFRA so we can understand their individual needs.
Once that assessment is done we’ll then work with the resident to create an Emergency Evacuation Statement to set out the support that the resident needs and what they must do.
With the resident’s consent this will then be shared with the local fire service so they know where to find and assist those residents who need help. The plan will be reviewed once a year to make sure it stays accurate and up to date.
A new team to manage residential PEEPs
For buildings in scope of these regulations, we’re creating a new team using dedicated government funding. This team will be called the Resident Safety Support team and will sit within my Building Safety Regulation team.
We’re still recruiting into that team and aim to be fully staffed by April.
There’s a dedicated inbox for residents and staff to use in order to make a referral for a PEEP. The team will also be logging all PEEP related contact on Workwise, so you’ll know if there is a resident with a PEEP in place on your patch.
More information
If you have any questions and want further information, you can get in touch with the team at residentsafetysupport@nhg.org.uk.
