PEEP Glossary: Key Terms Explained

Plain-English Definitions for Everyone Working With PEEPs

UK fire safety and evacuation planning law uses a lot of precise, defined terms, precise for good legal reasons, but not always obvious to a landlord, resident, or building manager encountering them for the first time. This glossary explains the terms you’ll meet across PEEPs Info. UK in plain language, with links through to the full guidance where you want more detail.

Accountable Person

The individual or organisation legally responsible for building safety in a higher-risk building under the Building Safety Act 2022. Not the same as a Responsible Person (see below), though the two roles often sit with the same organisation in practice. See our Legal Framework page for full detail.

Designated Assistant

A named person, usually a colleague, trained to help someone evacuate during an emergency as part of a workplace or institutional PEEP. Residential PEEPs generally don’t have designated assistants in this sense, since buildings don’t typically have staff with a duty to assist, see Residential PEEPs for how this differs.

Emergency Evacuation Statement

The document produced under the Residential PEEPs Regulations setting out what a relevant resident will do in the event of a fire, agreed between the resident and the Responsible Person following a Person-Centred Fire Risk Assessment.

Fire Safety Order

Short for the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the foundational fire safety law for England and Wales. It requires a “responsible person” to carry out a fire risk assessment considering anyone who may be especially at risk. Full detail on our Legal Framework page.

Higher-Risk Building

Under the Building Safety Act 2022, a residential building at least 18 metres in height or with at least seven storeys. These buildings fall under the additional oversight of the Building Safety Regulator, on top of general fire safety duties.

Person-Centred Fire Risk Assessment (PCFRA)

An individual assessment of a specific resident’s evacuation needs, carried out under the Residential PEEPs Regulations once a relevant resident has been identified. It’s the step that leads to an Emergency Evacuation Statement.

PEEP (Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan)

A bespoke, written plan for how a specific person who cannot evacuate a building unaided will get to safety in an emergency. See What Is a PEEP? for the full explanation.

Reasonable Endeavours

The legal standard the Residential PEEPs Regulations set for identifying relevant residents and agreeing evacuation statements with them. It requires genuine, proactive effort, but doesn’t guarantee a specific outcome, which is a point of ongoing debate covered in our piece on disability sector criticism of the Regulations.

Refuge (Refuge Area)

A fire-protected space, usually adjacent to a stairwell, where someone who cannot use the stairs can wait safely for assistance during an evacuation. Works best when paired with two-way communication equipment.

Relevant Resident

The specific term used in the Residential PEEPs Regulations for a resident who may need assistance to evacuate due to a physical, sensory, or cognitive condition, and who the Responsible Person must use reasonable endeavours to identify. Specifically, someone whose home in the building is their only or principal residence, and whose ability to evacuate without assistance is compromised by a physical or cognitive impairment or condition. See our full explainer on who counts as a relevant resident for the detailed legal test.

Responsible Person

The individual, usually an employer, building owner, or manager, who holds the legal duty under the Fire Safety Order to assess and manage fire risk, including PEEP arrangements. Distinct from an Accountable Person (see above), which is a Building Safety Act-specific role.

Residential PEEP (RPEEP)

The version of a PEEP created under the Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 for a relevant resident in a specified residential building. Sometimes shortened to RPEEP. See our Residential PEEPs guide for the full process.

Simultaneous Evacuation

An evacuation strategy where all residents leave a building at the same time when an alarm sounds, rather than in stages. Buildings using this strategy between 11 and 18 metres in height fall within scope of the Residential PEEPs Regulations, buildings using a stay-put strategy at the same height do not.

Stay-Put Strategy

An evacuation strategy, historically common in purpose-built blocks of flats with strong fire compartmentation, where residents not directly affected by a fire are advised to remain in their flats rather than evacuate immediately. Reconsidered extensively since Grenfell, though it remains appropriate for some buildings depending on their construction.

Trusted Person

A role introduced in December 2025 government guidance: someone a resident nominates to act on their behalf during the Residential PEEPs process, distinct from a resident’s own legal representative.

Visual Alarm Device (VAD)

A flashing light-based alarm system that alerts deaf or hard-of-hearing residents to an emergency where a standard audible alarm wouldn’t reach them.

Waking Watch

A temporary measure where trained personnel patrol a building around the clock to watch for fire and alert residents, typically used as an interim safety measure in buildings awaiting remediation work, rather than a long-term solution.