Awaab’s Law phase 2: fire and electrical hazards on the clock from 30 November

Social landlords have known for a year that Awaab’s Law would not stop at damp and mould. Now there is a date in law. Regulations laid before Parliament on 13 July 2026 confirm that phase 2 takes effect on 30 November 2026, bringing fire and electrical hazards — along with excess cold and heat, falls, structural collapse and hygiene hazards — under the same statutory repair deadlines that have applied to damp and mould since last October.

From two hazard types to seven more

Phase 1 came into force on 27 October 2025. Since then, social landlords in England have been required to investigate and fix significant damp and mould hazards within fixed timescales, and to make any emergency hazard safe within 24 hours regardless of type.

Phase 2 extends the significant-hazard regime to seven further hazard groups drawn from the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS): excess cold; excess heat; falls; structural collapse and explosions; fire; electrical hazards; and domestic and personal hygiene and food safety. A third phase is planned for 2027, covering the remaining HHSRS hazards apart from overcrowding.

The statutory clocks

The timescales mirror those already running for damp and mould.

• Emergency hazards: investigate and make safe within 24 hours, with a written summary of findings within three working days.
• Significant hazards: investigate within 10 working days of becoming aware of a potential hazard.
• Written summary: give the tenant a written summary of findings within three working days of the investigation concluding.
• Safety works: complete relevant safety work within five working days.
• Supplementary works: arrange longer-term preventative work within five working days, with physical works under way within 12 weeks.

Two details deserve attention. First, the clocks start when the landlord becomes aware of a potential hazard — whether that knowledge arrives through a tenant complaint, a contractor visit or a routine inspection. Second, the written summary is not optional paperwork: it is the first document a court, the Ombudsman or the regulator will ask to see.

Why the fire and electrical extension bites hardest

These requirements are implied into tenancy agreements, which means a tenant can enforce them in court as a breach of contract — on top of the Housing Ombudsman and the Regulator of Social Housing. Announcing the regulations, Housing Secretary Steve Reed said the law sends a clear message that tenants’ health and safety can never be compromised.

Think about what a reported fire hazard looks like in practice: a smoke detector hanging off the ceiling, a flat entrance fire door that no longer self-closes, a blocked escape route in a communal corridor, emergency lighting that stays dark on test, scorching around a consumer unit. From 30 November, each of those reports starts a statutory clock — and where the risk is imminent and significant, a 24-hour one. The sector had a full year to build muscle memory on damp and mould; from the regulations being laid to the new hazards going live is exactly 20 weeks.

For most landlords the hard part is not the planned programme — fire risk assessments, alarm servicing, fixed-wire testing — but the responsive tail: triaging tenant reports correctly, getting a competent engineer on site inside the deadline, and producing the written summary as evidence. The duty sits with the landlord, but it is only achievable if contractor arrangements match the statutory timescales.

Preparing for 30 November

• Map how tenant-reported fire and electrical issues currently flow through your repairs service, and decide where the 24-hour and 10-working-day triage calls will sit.
• Check contractor SLAs for fire detection, fire doors, emergency lighting and electrical repairs against the statutory clocks — five working days for safety works leaves little slack.
• Review stock data now: known fire door defects, overdue electrical installation condition reports and outstanding fire risk assessment actions become statutory liabilities the moment a tenant reports them.
• Build the written summary into your workflow so evidence is generated automatically rather than reconstructed under pressure.
• Rehearse the new hazard groups against live cases between now and November — the government itself took a test and learn approach between phases, and landlords should do the same.

Gemini AMPM maintains fire detection and alarm systems for social housing providers under BAFE SP203-1 certification, alongside FIRAS-certificated passive fire protection, with response arrangements built around statutory deadlines rather than standard call-out windows. If your fire alarm servicing and responsive repair cover needs to be ready for 30 November, now is the time to test it against a 24-hour clock.