What is a PEEP in fire safety? Personal emergency evacuation plans explained

What a PEEP is for

A building's fire risk assessment and evacuation plan cover everyone. A PEEP covers one person whose needs the general plan does not meet. GOV.UK tells responsible persons to consider "the needs of vulnerable people, for example the elderly, young children or those with disabilities" in their fire risk assessment, and to "make special arrangements for people with mobility needs, for example make sure there are people to help wheelchair users get downstairs if there's a fire".

Workplace PEEPs

GOV.UK describes workplace-style PEEPs as plans "intended to allow the evacuation of everyone in advance of Fire and Rescue Service attendance, typically through the use of on-site staff to support people's evacuation as required", sometimes with designated evacuation lifts. A useful workplace PEEP records:

• who the plan is for and where they normally work
• how they will be alerted to a fire
• the route out, and any refuge point where they wait safely
• who will help them, and any equipment needed, such as an evacuation chair
• how and when the plan is practised and reviewed

Residential PEEPs (England, from 6 April 2026)

The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 came into force on 6 April 2026, following recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. They apply to residential buildings with two or more flats that are at least 18 metres or seven storeys high, or more than 11 metres high with a simultaneous evacuation strategy. The responsible person must:

• use reasonable endeavours to identify residents who would have difficulty evacuating by themselves
• offer each of them a person-centred fire risk assessment
• discuss and put in place reasonable and proportionate measures to reduce the risks
• try to agree a written emergency evacuation statement setting out what the resident should do in a fire
• with the resident's explicit consent, share their flat number, floor, the help they may need and whether they have a statement with the local fire and rescue authority
• review all of this at least every 12 months
• prepare a building emergency evacuation plan and review it at least every 12 months

Taking part is the resident's choice. GOV.UK is clear that a resident cannot be compelled to engage with Residential PEEPs.

Who writes a PEEP

In a workplace, the responsible person (usually the employer) is accountable, working with the person concerned. The plan should be agreed with them, not written about them. In a residential building in scope of the 2025 Regulations, the responsible person is typically the building owner or manager.

The fire warden's part

PEEPs only work if the people named in them know what to do. Fire wardens are often the staff who check that people on PEEPs are being helped, take them to a refuge, or report their location to the fire and rescue service. The Lift College Fire Warden Training course is 2.5 hours in 6 short modules, with a CPD Standards Office accredited certificate the same day you pass.