A galvanised steel external fire escape staircase on a multi-storey care home — designed and installed by Continox

Why Care Homes Are Different from Every Other Building

The fundamental challenge of care home fire safety is that the standard assumption underlying all fire escape design — that building occupants will self-evacuate when the alarm sounds — does not apply. In a typical care home, a significant proportion of residents cannot walk unaided, cannot understand instructions due to dementia, cannot hear alarms, or are asleep and cannot be woken quickly. Some are bedbound. Some are connected to supplemental oxygen, which dramatically increases fire intensity.

This means the evacuation strategy cannot rely on staircases as the primary means of escape. Instead, care homes use progressive horizontal evacuation: when a fire is detected, residents are moved horizontally — along the same floor — through fire doors into an adjacent fire compartment that provides a temporary refuge. Vertical evacuation down staircases is the last resort, used only when horizontal evacuation has failed or the fire has spread beyond a single compartment.

The implication for staircase design is significant. Internal and external staircases in care homes must be wide enough to accommodate evacuation chairs and ski sheets operated by staff, have shallower gradients than domestic stairs, provide refuge areas at each landing, and be designed for use by people who are being carried or assisted rather than walking independently.

The Regulatory Framework — 5 Laws That Apply Simultaneously

1 Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO)

The primary fire safety legislation. The "responsible person" (usually the registered manager or provider) must carry out a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment of all common parts and implement its findings. The RRO is enforced by the local fire and rescue authority, and non-compliance can result in unlimited fines and up to two years imprisonment.

2 Approved Document B (Volume 2)

Part B governs fire safety design for all non-domestic buildings, including care homes (classified as purpose group 2a — "residential institutional"). It specifies compartmentation standards, fire resistance periods, means of escape, staircase provision, and fire door requirements. Care homes require higher fire resistance standards than standard commercial buildings.

3 BS 9991:2024

The 2024 revision of BS 9991 explicitly extends its scope to include residential care homes — a significant change from earlier editions. It provides specific guidance on fire safety design for care environments, including compartmentation for progressive horizontal evacuation, staircase widths for assisted evacuation, and refuge area specifications. This is now the primary technical standard for care home fire safety design.

4 HTM 05-02 (Healthcare premises)

Health Technical Memorandum 05-02 provides fire safety design guidance for healthcare premises. While primarily aimed at NHS facilities, it applies to care homes that are linked to healthcare services, particularly nursing homes providing clinical care. HTM 05-02 provides detailed guidance on progressive horizontal evacuation design.

5 CQC Registration and Inspection

The Care Quality Commission inspects fire safety as part of its "Safe" domain. CQC inspectors check fire risk assessments, evacuation plans, PEEPs, staff training records, fire door condition, alarm testing logs, and the physical condition of escape routes. Fire safety failures directly affect CQC ratings and can result in enforcement action, conditions on registration, or cancellation of registration.

Progressive Horizontal Evacuation — How It Works

Progressive horizontal evacuation (PHE) is the standard evacuation strategy for care homes. Rather than evacuating the entire building, PHE moves residents from the affected compartment to an adjacent fire compartment on the same floor. This avoids the need for vulnerable residents to navigate staircases — the most dangerous and time-consuming element of any evacuation.

Stage 1: Immediate zone

Staff move residents from the room or area where the fire has been detected to the nearest fire compartment boundary. Fire doors close (automatically or manually) to seal the affected compartment. This must be achievable within 2½ minutes of the alarm activating — a benchmark that requires adequate staffing, particularly at night.

Stage 2: Adjacent compartment

Residents shelter in the adjacent compartment while the fire service responds. The compartment's 30-minute (minimum) or 60-minute (ideal) fire resistance provides a temporary refuge. If the fire is contained within the original compartment, no further evacuation may be necessary.

Stage 3: Vertical evacuation (last resort)

If the fire spreads beyond the original compartment or the adjacent compartment is compromised, vertical evacuation via internal or external staircases becomes necessary. This is where staircase design becomes critical — the stairs must accommodate staff carrying or assisting residents who cannot walk, using evacuation chairs, ski sheets, or other aids.

Compartmentation Requirements — The Structural Foundation

Fire Detection — L1 Category Coverage

Care homes require Category L1 fire detection — the most comprehensive coverage level under BS 5839 Part 6. L1 means detectors in every room (except bathrooms and toilets), every corridor, every landing, every stairwell, every cupboard housing electrical intake, and every roof void. This exceeds the L2 requirement for HMOs and reflects the critical importance of early detection when residents cannot self-evacuate.

The alarm system must be Grade A (panel-controlled) for most care homes. Domestic Grade D alarms are not acceptable. The system must include smoke detectors in bedrooms and corridors, heat detectors in kitchens and laundries, manual call points at every final exit and stairwell entrance, and sounders throughout — supplemented by visual beacons for residents with hearing impairments.

Cost: Grade A, Category L1 fire alarm system for a typical 30-bed care home: £5,000–£10,000 installed, depending on building complexity and existing wiring.

External Fire Escape Staircases — When and Why

An external fire escape staircase is required when the building layout does not support adequate progressive horizontal evacuation — typically in the following situations. The building has only one fire compartment per floor (and adding compartment walls is not structurally feasible). The internal escape routes are compromised by the building layout — for example, where the staircase passes through a kitchen or utility area. The fire risk assessment identifies a need for an alternative vertical escape route. The building is being extended or converted, and the existing staircase provision does not meet current standards.

Care home staircase specifications

External fire escape staircases on care homes must be wider than standard commercial fire escapes to accommodate evacuation chairs and staff-assisted evacuation.

For detailed specifications and pricing on fire escape stairs and external staircases, see our dedicated product pages.

Galvanised fire escape — 1,200mm wide with refuge landings for care home use

Duplex finish — galvanised + powder coat for 40–60 year service life

Multi-landing design — refuge area at each floor for staged evacuation

1,100mm guarding — non-domestic standard for institutional buildings

PEEPs — Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans

Every resident in a care home who cannot self-evacuate must have a documented Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan. This is not optional — it is a regulatory requirement under the RRO and a CQC inspection standard. The PEEP must specify the resident's mobility level and cognitive awareness, the evacuation method appropriate for them (walking with assistance, evacuation chair, ski sheet, carry), the number of staff required to evacuate them, the route to be used, and any specific equipment needed.

PEEPs must be reviewed whenever a resident's condition changes, when the building layout is altered, or when staffing levels change — particularly night staffing, which is the critical period for care home fires. CQC inspectors routinely check whether PEEPs are in place, up to date, and understood by the staff on duty.

Fire Doors — The Care Home Challenge

Fire doors in care homes face a specific tension: they must be self-closing for fire safety, but residents with dementia, mobility impairments, or wheelchair dependence find self-closing doors difficult or impossible to operate. The solution is electromagnetic hold-open devices linked to the fire alarm system — the doors remain open during normal use but release automatically when the alarm activates.

Hold-open devices must comply with BS 7273 Part 4, be connected to the fire alarm panel, and release on activation of any detector in the relevant zone. They are required on all corridor fire doors and compartment doors where resident access is expected. Bedroom doors may use standard self-closing devices, but hold-open devices on bedroom doors are increasingly accepted where the fire risk assessment supports this approach.

All care home fire doors must be FD30S rated (30-minute fire resistance, smoke-sealed), fitted with intumescent strips and cold smoke seals, hung on three steel hinges, and openable from both sides. Locks on bedroom doors must be override-capable by staff using a master key system.

Costs — Care Home Fire Escape Compliance 2026

CQC Inspection — What Inspectors Check

CQC inspectors assess fire safety under the "Safe" domain. A fire safety failure can result in the home being rated "Requires Improvement" or "Inadequate" — and in serious cases, enforcement action including conditions on registration or cancellation. Here is what they check.

1 Fire risk assessment

Is the FRA up to date (reviewed within 6 months)? Was it carried out by a competent person? Have the action plan recommendations been implemented? Does the FRA specifically address the needs of residents who cannot self-evacuate?

2 PEEPs

Does every resident have a PEEP? Are PEEPs reviewed when residents' conditions change? Do night staff know and understand the PEEPs for residents on their floor?

3 Fire doors

Are all fire doors in good condition? Do self-closing devices work? Are intumescent strips and smoke seals intact? Are hold-open devices linked to the alarm? Are any fire doors propped open without a hold-open device?

4 Alarm and detection

Is the alarm system tested weekly with results logged? Is there a six-monthly service certificate from a competent engineer? Are all detectors functioning and correctly positioned?

5 Escape routes and staircases

Are escape routes clear and unobstructed? Are external fire escape staircases in good structural condition? Is emergency lighting functioning? Are evacuation chairs in place and staff trained to use them?

6 Staff training

Have all staff received fire safety training within the last 12 months? Have fire drills been conducted — including simulated night evacuations? Do staff understand progressive horizontal evacuation procedure?

For the full specifications on glass balustrade for commercial and institutional applications, or balcony railings for care home outdoor spaces, see our product pages.