Free checklist

Moving into new premises: the first 30 days, on one sheet

A move is when the fire plan, the assembly point and the roll call all quietly stop matching the building. This sheet is what usually needs redoing in the first week and the first month, each line with the regulation or guidance it comes from.

Or read it first

One A4 sheet. Free, with no form to fill in. General information for England and Wales, not legal advice.

1. The first week

☐New building, extension or change of use: fire safety information received from whoever did the building work, and your acknowledgement notice signed and returnedBuilding Regs reg 38
☐A fire risk assessment for these premises, not the old ones, and a written record of itFire Safety Order art 9(1), (6)
☐Evacuation plan for the new layout: escape routes, exits, emergency lighting, and a safe meeting pointGOV.UK evacuation plan
☐Enough fire marshals named for the new building, its shifts and its floorsFire Safety Order art 15(1)(b)
☐Special arrangements for anyone who needs help to get out, often written up as a personal evacuation planGOV.UK mobility needs
☐Employers’ liability insurance certificate displayed at the new site, or available electronically to all staffELCI Regs reg 5
☐Health and safety law poster up where staff can read it, or the leaflet given to each personHSIE Regs reg 4
☐Your insurer told about the move, if your policy asks for it (most do: check the wording)Policy condition

2. By the end of the first month

☐Every member of staff shown the new escape routes and assembly point: fire safety training has to be adapted to new or changed risksFire Safety Order art 21(2)(c)
☐First timed fire drill in the new building, recorded, with visitors and contractors in the countGOV.UK drills guidance
☐Visitors, contractors and drivers sign in and out, so the roll call in that drill is completeGood practice
☐General risk assessments reviewed for the new layout, machinery positions and traffic routes; recorded if you employ five or moreMHSW Regs reg 3(3), (6)
☐Written health and safety policy updated with the new address and arrangements (not needed under five employees)HSWA s 2(3)
☐Accident book at the new site: required at factory premises, and anywhere 10 or more people normally work at the same timeSS (C&P) Regs reg 25(3)
☐Moved extraction (LEV): examined and tested at least every 14 months, and worth checking after reinstallationCOSHH reg 9(2)(a)
☐Older building: ask the landlord or previous occupier for the asbestos register before anyone drills, cuts or fixes to the fabricHSE duty to manage

General information about published law and guidance, England and Wales, not legal advice. Sources and full wording: noonelite.com/moving-into-new-premises-checklist.

Being straight with you

What this sheet does not do

This is general information about published law and guidance, not legal, fire safety or insurance advice. Your fire risk assessment, your other risk assessments and your policy wording decide what applies to you.
It covers England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own fire safety law. The building regulation 38 handover notice applies in England from 1 October 2023 and in Wales from 1 July 2026.
The sign-in line is marked good practice. GOV.UK asks for at least one drill a year; doing the first one early in a new building is how you find out whether the plan on paper works in the building you are in.
Telling your insurer is a condition in most commercial policies, not a legal duty. The line is on the sheet because a claim is the wrong time to find out.
We are not fire risk assessors or health and safety consultants. We make visitor and contractor sign-in kiosks with a live roll call, which is why the roll call lines are here.

A fire drill record for that first drill How a roll call goes wrong, and the list that does not need fetching Still building? The client’s CDM checklist All the free templates

Sources

Check any of this yourself

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 9The assessment, its review, and the record of every assessment or review (as amended from 1 October 2023).
Fire Safety Order, article 15Procedures including safety drills, and enough competent persons to carry out an evacuation.
Fire Safety Order, article 21Training, including that it is “adapted to take account of any new or changed risks” (21(2)(c)).
GOV.UK, fire safety in the workplaceWhat the evacuation plan must show, mobility needs, and at least one drill a year, recorded.
Building Regulations 2010, regulation 38Fire safety information at completion, and the acknowledgement notice (England and Wales).
Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Regulations 1998, regulation 5Display of the certificate at each place of business (as made).
Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) (Amendment) Regulations 2008Regulation 2(3): electronic access for every relevant employee also satisfies the display duty.
Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations 1989, regulation 4The approved poster or leaflet.
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3Review on significant change; record where five or more are employed.
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 2The written policy statement, section 2(3); fewer than five employees are excepted by SI 1975/1584.
Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979, regulation 25Paragraph (3): the accident book.
HSE, the duty to manage asbestosThe asbestos register and who holds the duty.
COSHH 2002, regulation 9Local exhaust ventilation examined and tested at least once every 14 months.

Read on legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK on 9 November 2026, latest available text.

Before you ask

Questions people ask after a move

Do I need a new fire risk assessment when we move premises?

Article 9(1) of the Fire Safety Order requires a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the people on the premises, and the assessment you had was of other premises. Article 9(3) also requires a review when premises undergo significant changes, extensions or conversions. Since 1 October 2023, article 9(6) requires a record of every assessment or review, whatever the number of employees.

Is a personal emergency evacuation plan a legal requirement at work?

The term does not appear in the Fire Safety Order. GOV.UK’s workplace fire safety guidance says the evacuation plan should make special arrangements for people with mobility needs, for example people to help wheelchair users downstairs, and the fire risk assessment has to consider the people especially at risk. A written personal plan is the usual way sites show they have done that.

What should the builder hand over when a new unit is finished?

In England and Wales, regulation 38 of the Building Regulations 2010 requires the person carrying out the work to give fire safety information to the responsible person, and the responsible person now signs a notice acknowledging it (England since 1 October 2023, Wales since 1 July 2026). If more than one contractor worked on the project, you should also receive the health and safety file. Our client checklist covers the build itself.

Also asked of sites like yours

The other things somebody may ask you to evidence

Each of these is a page about one standard, one duty or one visitor, written the same way as this one: what it actually asks for, what an iPad at reception records towards it, and where it does not help.

If it helps

A roll call that matches the new building

Fifteen minutes on the phone if you want to see the kiosk’s live roll call and fire drill record. If the sheets are doing the job in the new place, keep using them.

Book a 15 minute call

We will say so on the call.

Would rather email? [email protected]