Care Homes and the Fire Safety Squeeze: What Has Changed and What Is Coming
A guide for care home operators and managers across the South Coast
If you manage or operate a care home anywhere along the South Coast, there is a good chance that fire safety compliance has become noticeably more demanding over the past couple of years, and the pace of change shows no sign of slowing down.
The period since the Grenfell Tower Inquiry published its findings has produced a sustained wave of legislative and regulatory updates, many of which have direct implications for residential care settings. Some of these changes are already in force. Others take effect this year. And while each individual update may seem manageable in isolation, the cumulative effect on care home operators is significant, particularly for those who are already stretched thin by CQC requirements, staffing pressures, and the day-to-day demands of caring for vulnerable residents.
This article sets out the key changes that have already landed, the ones that are on the way, and what care home managers should be doing now to stay ahead of them rather than scrambling to catch up after an inspection or, worse, an incident.
Sprinklers in new care homes: already in force
Since 2 March 2025, all newly constructed care homes in England have been required to install automatic fire sprinkler systems, regardless of the building’s height. This requirement, introduced through amendments to Approved Document B of the Building Regulations, reflects a recognition that care home residents are among the most vulnerable people in any fire scenario, and that traditional detection and alarm systems alone may not provide sufficient protection for occupants who cannot self-evacuate.
For operators planning new builds or major refurbishments, this is a cost that now needs to be factored into project budgets from the outset, not treated as an optional extra. It is worth noting that while the mandate applies to new construction, existing care homes are not exempt from scrutiny. Fire risk assessors are increasingly likely to recommend sprinkler installation as a risk mitigation measure in older buildings, particularly where compartmentation is poor or evacuation times are long, and insurers are beginning to reflect this in their underwriting.
Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans: April 2026
The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 come into force on 6 April 2026, introducing a legal requirement for person-centred fire risk assessments and tailored evacuation plans for vulnerable residents in certain residential buildings. While the regulations are primarily aimed at high-rise and higher-risk residential buildings rather than care homes directly, the underlying principle of individualised evacuation planning is already a firm expectation in care settings, and CQC inspectors and fire and rescue services have been asking to see documented PEEPs for some time.
What the new regulations do is sharpen the focus considerably. A generic evacuation procedure pinned to the noticeboard in the staff room is no longer sufficient, if it ever was. Inspectors want to see that each resident has a documented plan reflecting their specific mobility, cognitive, and sensory needs, and that staff have been trained to implement those plans under realistic conditions.
For care home operators, the practical implications are significant. PEEPs need to be created for every resident, reviewed whenever a resident’s needs change, and integrated into the broader fire risk assessment for the building. Staff need to understand not just that PEEPs exist, but what their role is in executing them, which means regular, documented training and, ideally, practical drills that go beyond simply activating the alarm and walking to the assembly point.
BS 9991:2024: care homes now in scope
The 2024 update to BS 9991, the fire safety standard for the design, management, and use of residential buildings, has extended its scope to include residential care homes for the first time. This is a significant development because it means that the standard now sets specific provisions for addressing the fire safety risks associated with vulnerable residents in care settings.
For existing care homes, this does not create an immediate legal obligation to retrofit to the new standard, but it does establish a benchmark against which fire risk assessors, building control, and insurers will increasingly measure compliance. If your building was designed and built to earlier standards, it is worth understanding where the gaps lie, particularly around compartmentation, means of escape, detection systems, and the adequacy of emergency lighting in corridors and stairwells.
The AFFF extinguisher ban
A smaller but practically important change: since 4 July 2025, Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) fire extinguishers have been banned in the UK due to the environmental and health risks associated with PFAS chemicals. If your care home still has AFFF extinguishers on site, they need to be replaced with compliant alternatives and disposed of through an accredited route. This is a straightforward piece of compliance that should not be overlooked simply because it seems minor compared to the larger regulatory shifts.
Fire doors and compartmentation: the quiet pressure point
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 introduced specific requirements for the regular checking of fire doors in residential buildings, including self-closing mechanisms and general condition. While these regulations were primarily targeted at blocks of flats, the principle is directly applicable to care homes, where fire doors are critical to the “defend in place” strategy that most care settings rely on.
In practice, fire door compliance is one of the areas where care homes most frequently fall short. Doors get propped open for convenience, self-closers are removed or disabled because residents find them difficult to manage, and damage accumulates over time without being repaired. Passive fire protection, including fire stopping around service penetrations and compartment walls, is similarly prone to degradation, particularly in older buildings that have been adapted and extended over the years.
The difficulty for care home managers is that fire door and compartmentation issues are not always visible. A door may look perfectly sound but have failed seals, incorrect glass, or a closer that does not meet the required force specification. Fire stopping behind walls and above ceilings may have been compromised during maintenance or refurbishment work without anyone realising. These are the kinds of issues that a competent fire risk assessment will identify, and that a fire and rescue service inspection will absolutely pick up on.
What care home operators should be doing now
The regulatory direction is clear: the bar for fire safety in care settings is rising, and the expectation is that operators will take a proactive rather than reactive approach.
In practical terms, that starts with ensuring your fire risk assessment is current, comprehensive, and carried out by someone with specific experience in care home environments. If it has not been reviewed since the BS 9991 update or the PEEPs regulations were published, it is overdue.
Beyond the fire risk assessment, operators should be reviewing and documenting PEEPs for every resident, auditing fire doors and passive fire protection across the building, confirming that fire alarm systems are properly maintained and provide adequate coverage for the current layout, checking that all extinguishers are compliant and that any AFFF units have been replaced, ensuring emergency lighting is tested and functional, and making sure that staff training covers not just fire awareness in general terms but the specific evacuation procedures for your building and your residents.
None of this is optional, and none of it is new in principle. What has changed is the level of regulatory scrutiny, the specificity of the standards being applied, and the willingness of enforcement bodies to take action where compliance falls short.
How Arundel Firecare can help
Arundel Firecare, Security and Electrical (formerly FireCare) provides the full range of fire safety services that care homes require, delivered through a single point of contact across Hampshire, Dorset, West Sussex, Wiltshire, Surrey, Berkshire, and beyond.
We can arrange a comprehensive fire risk assessment tailored to your care home through our specialist partners within the New Path Fire and Security Group, and we deliver the practical services that flow from it: fire alarm installation and maintenance to BS 5839, passive fire protection including fire door surveys and fire stopping, fire extinguisher supply and servicing (including AFFF replacement), emergency lighting installation and testing, and fire safety training for care home staff.
We are BAFE accredited for fire detection and alarm systems, NICEIC registered for electrical works, and SSAIB certified for security installations. We understand the particular pressures that care home operators face, and we work with you to build a compliance programme that is practical, proportionate, and audit-ready.
If your care home’s fire safety arrangements have not been reviewed in the light of the recent legislative changes, or if you are unsure whether your current provision meets the standards now being applied, we would welcome the opportunity to carry out a compliance review. There is no charge for an initial conversation, and no obligation.
Call us on 023 8026 9833 or visit firecareandsecurity.co.uk/contact-us.