Phase 2 · Fire safety
Awaab's Law Phase 2 and fire safety: what changes on 30 November 2026
Fire and explosions come into scope on 30 November 2026, and the July 2026 guidance adds a new fire safety section. This is a resident-triggered clock, not an inspection cycle.
Published 31 July 2026 · Based on MHCLG guidance dated July 2026
Fire and explosions come into scope under Awaab's Law on 30 November 2026. The July 2026 guidance also adds a new fire safety section reflecting the changes proposed in the Phase 2 regulations.
For people who already work under the Building Safety Act and the Fire Safety Order, the significant thing about Awaab's Law is not the subject matter. It is the trigger. Existing regimes are largely built around duty holders, assessments and inspection cycles: the organisation decides when to look. Awaab's Law starts running when a resident reports something, or when anyone in the landlord's organisation, or an agent acting for it, becomes aware of a potential hazard by any route. The obligation is reactive and the deadline is fixed.
What comes into scope on 30 November 2026
Phase 2 adds seven hazard groups to the two already covered. The groups most relevant here are Fire and explosions. The full Phase 2 list is: damp and mould, excess cold, excess heat, falls, structural collapse, fire and explosions, electrical hazards, and domestic hygiene, wherever they present a significant risk of harm to an occupier. All emergency hazards other than overcrowding remain in scope as they have been since Phase 1.
Awaab's Law applies to registered providers of social housing in England, both local authorities and housing associations, for almost all social housing occupied under a tenancy. It does not apply to housing occupied under a licence, to long leaseholds or to shared ownership.
The deadlines, which do not change
Phase 2 does not alter the timescales. It applies the existing ones to a much wider hazard list:
- 24 hours
- Investigate a potential emergency hazard and complete the relevant safety work, both within 24 hours of the landlord becoming aware of it.
- 10 working days
- Investigate a potential significant hazard within 10 working days of the landlord becoming aware of it.
- 3 working days
- Give the tenant a written summary of the investigation findings within 3 working days of the investigation concluding.
- 5 working days
- Complete relevant safety work within 5 working days of the investigation concluding, where a significant hazard is identified.
- 12 weeks
- Begin supplementary preventative work within 5 working days of the investigation concluding; where that is not possible, begin as soon as reasonably practicable and in any case within 12 weeks.
Timeframes usually start the day after the triggering event. The exception is the 24 hour emergency clock, which starts as soon as the landlord becomes aware of a potential emergency hazard.
Where the 24 hour clock bites
An emergency hazard under Awaab's Law is one posing an imminent and significant risk of harm: something a reasonable landlord would make safe within 24 hours. For emergency hazards the 24 hour clock starts as soon as the landlord becomes aware, and covers investigating and completing the relevant safety work.
Hazards below that threshold can still be significant hazards, which carry the 10 working day investigation deadline and the 5 working day completion deadline. The test is whether a reasonable landlord, knowing what they know about the occupier and the home, would make it safe within 15 working days. Resourcing is explicitly excluded from that judgement.
What it means commercially
Where relevant safety work cannot be completed inside the deadline, the landlord must secure suitable alternative accommodation for the household at its own expense, and must keep the tenant updated throughout, including advice on staying safe if they remain in the home. That is a materially different consequence from a missed inspection date, and it is why landlords will be pressing for faster and better-evidenced responses from the specialists they rely on.
The guidance expects landlords to have processes ensuring issues raised with contractors reach the landlord and that works can begin within the deadlines. Reporting back promptly, in a form that records when awareness arose and what was found, is what makes a landlord's compliance provable.
Why this is coming from a mould training provider
A fair question. UKAME is not an authority on fire, gas or electrical engineering, and this page does not pretend otherwise. You know your trade considerably better than we do.
What we have is a year of watching what these particular deadlines do to an organisation. Damp and mould went first: it has been under Awaab's Law since 27 October 2025, and mould remediation is the trade that has already had to learn what a statutory clock does to triage, reporting and contractor relationships. Phase 2 hands that same experience to seven more hazard groups at once, four days before winter. The transferable part is the compliance machinery, not the technical work, and that is the only part we teach.
Our Awaab's Law training is delivered by Tristan Hemsley, a Specialist Disrepair and Awaab's Law Consultant with 25+ years in housing property services across social housing, local authorities and main contractors.
Phase 2 in other sectors
Phase 2 pulls in several trades at once. The same deadlines, read from a different bench:
- Heating and gasExcess cold, Excess heat
- ElectricalElectrical hazards
- Environmental healthDomestic hygiene (including personal hygiene and food safety)
The full guidance and the hazards annex are on gov.uk. For the whole picture, see our Phase 2 explainer.
About UKAME: UKAME (UK Academy of Mould Experts) is a training and membership provider for damp, mould and housing-compliance professionals. UKAME training courses cover mould remediation and Awaab's Law compliance for contractors, surveyors and housing teams.
Contact: info@mouldexperts.org.uk · mouldexperts.org.uk