Fire Safety in Places of Assembly (Ease of Escape) Regulations

Consultation is open

The Fire Safety in Places of Assembly (Ease of Escape) Regulations, 1985 (SI No. 249) in Ireland defines certain fire safety precautions related to escape routes and exit doors that must be taken by those who have control of specified places of assembly. These Regulations, originally rooted in the Fire Services Act 1981, define under Section 18(2) for the Act, duties for persons having control over premises and provide that a person in a place of assembly shall not prevent or obstruct the person in control from complying with the Regulations.

These regulations have been adopted since 1985 and are currently used daily by Fire Authorities across the country as part of their fire safety management inspections of places of public assembly.

This public consultation is taking place as a result of the decision of the NDFEM Management Board (December 2023) to review existing Guides and Codes of Practice with respect to fire safety in various contexts. The Code of Practice for the Management of Fire Safety in places of Assembly (1989) is the first of these Guides/Codes of Practice that requires public consultation.

The Ease of Escape Regulations are central to, and contained in, the Code of Practice for the Management of Fire Safety in places of Assembly (1989). The proposed revision of S.I. No.249 is the first step in the revision of this Code of Practice. A separate public consultation on the Code of Practice for the Management of Fire Safety in places of Assembly (1989) will follow upon completion of this current review.

Because of the following considerations, it is opportune to review the provisions of the 1985 Regulations:

• The passage of time of over 40 years since the original S.I. 249 was enacted and the need to keep regulations relevant and up to date
• Changes and expansion in the types of use of assembly buildings
• The considerable developments and changes in the building regulations
• Revision of other Departmental guidance documents and codes of practice
• Development in building materials
• The development of technologies in respect of access and egress of buildings
• To maintain and enhance occupant safety in places of assembly

This proposed revised S.I. will provide for the updating of the ongoing management of places of assembly with respect to fire safety. It will provide for clarity and consistency of approach in making reasonable provisions for occupant safety nationally. It will compliment and provide updated guidance to the existing suite of guidance documents published by the Department.

Chains padlocks and other removable fastenings

Current Legislation

Part 4 (iii) of the current regulations from 1985 provide that all chains, padlocks and other removable fastenings for securing doors, gates or other like barriers are permitted once they are then removed while the place is in actual use as a place of assembly.

Proposed Change

It is proposed that chains, padlocks, and other removable fastenings used to secure doors or gates on escape routes will be prohibited at all times under the new regulations.

Roller Shutter Doors

This is a proposed new provision.

Currently, Section 6 (Escape Routes) of the Code of Practice for the Management of Fire Safety in Places of Assembly includes Provision 6.5, which states: "Roller shutter doors (if acceptable to the fire authority) should be locked in the open position before and while the public are on the premises." It is now proposed that roller shutter doors will be specifically addressed within the Ease of Escape Regulations.

It is proposed in the new regulations that Roller shutter doors will be prohibited across escape routes, including at final exit doors at all times. This would also require that any existing roller shutter doors will be need to be removed from across escape routes including at final exit doors.

New Place of Assembly Premises

A number of new premises will be included in the Regulations;

Precautions to be taken by persons having control

Current Legislation

Part 4 of the current regulations from 1985 stipulate that every person having control over a place of assembly shall take certain fire safety precautions while the place is in actual use as a place of assembly. These precautions are listed under Regulation 4 (i), (ii), (iv), and (v) in Fire Safety in Places of Assembly (Ease of Escape) Regulations, 1985

Proposed Change

It is proposed that that a number of these precautions will now be applicable while the place of assembly is occupied by any person (i.e. not only when it is in actual use as a place of assembly).

As a result, it is proposed that every person having control over a place of assembly shall take the following precautions that is to say, they shall ensure that, while the place of assembly is occupied by any person:

a) all escape routes are kept unobstructed and immediately available for use,

b) doors, gates and other like barriers across escape routes are not secured in such a manner that they cannot be easily and immediately opened by persons in the place of assembly,

c) no hanging or drape is placed across or along an escape route in a manner which would impede or obstruct escape,

d) no mirrors are placed across or along an escape route or adjacent to an exit in such a way as to confuse the direction of escape.

All correspondence regarding this public consultation should be sent to the following e-mail address: [email protected] by close of business on Friday, 24 April 2026 .

Your feedback will be recorded, collated, analysed, and evaluated to determine appropriate changes to the Ease of Escape Regulations. Please note that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage may publish a summary of the survey results and may also publish anonymised data from the responses received.

Please note that submissions received may be made available without personal information on the Department's website and may be shared, unless otherwise requested. In any event, all submissions received will be subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act and Data Protection legislation.

• Template for Submissions - Fire Safety in Places of Assembly (Ease of Escape) Regulations 1985
• Public Consultation - Fire Safety in Places of Assembly (Ease of Escape) Regulations
• Fire Safety in Places of Assembly (Ease of Escape) Regulations, 1985
• Privacy Statement
• Code of Practice for the Management of Fire Safety in Places of Assembly

All submissions and comments submitted to the Department for this purpose are subject to release under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014 and the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007-2014. Submissions are also subject to Data Protection legislation.

Personal, confidential or commercially sensitive information should not be included in your submission and it will be presumed that all information contained in your submission is releasable under the Freedom of Information Act 2014.

A privacy statement relating to any personal data that may be provided is available for download under the Documents heading.