Having the Fire Safety Regulations Part B Drawn Up: Mandatory Content, Standards, and Officer Obligations

The Fire Safety Regulations Part B is the central behavioural document for all employees in the event of a fire. DIN 14096, the authoritative standard for fire safety regulations, stipulates that Part B must contain the operation-specific rules of conduct for all persons who are regularly present in the building. It must be prepared by a qualified person — typically the appointed fire protection officer.

This article explains what Part B of the fire safety regulations must contain under DIN 14096 and DGUV I 205-023, who is technically and legally qualified to prepare it, how frequently it must be updated — and how CIVAC assumes responsibility for preparation and ongoing maintenance via Officer-as-a-Service.

DIN 14096 sets out the requirements for fire safety regulations in Germany. The standard distinguishes three parts: Part A (notice, visible to all), Part B (booklet for all employees), Part C (reference document for persons with particular fire protection responsibilities). Each part has its own formal and substantive requirements.

Part B under DIN 14096 must cover at minimum the following content: fire prevention (prohibitions, handling of ignition sources and combustible materials), reporting a fire (alerting, emergency number 112, internal notification channels), attempts to extinguish (when and how an attempt to extinguish may be made), rescue (employee conduct during evacuation, support for persons with limited mobility), first aid, and operational specifics (stored hazardous substances, technical installations, production processes). Further guidance on the role of the fire protection officer can be found on the CIVAC role page.

DIN 14096 and DGUV I 205-023 do not explicitly prescribe who must prepare the fire safety regulations — but they implicitly require expert preparation. DGUV I 205-023 provides that the fire protection officer is responsible for preparing and continuously updating the fire safety regulations. Without an appointed fire protection officer, the assigned responsibility is absent.

In practice, preparation is frequently delegated to the external fire protection officer — who is familiar with the normative requirements, the operation-specific characteristics, and the interfaces with risk assessment under Section 5 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (ArbSchG). A generic Word document without operation-specific adaptation and without a qualified signature has no standing in the event of an inspection.

For buildings with elevated fire loads, special uses (care facilities, assembly venues), or more than 1,000 sq m of usable floor area, some state building regulations explicitly require a documented fire protection officer. The state building regulations differ from one another on this point.

Numerous template fire safety regulations Part B are available for download online. These can provide orientation but are not a substitute for operation-specific preparation. DIN 14096 explicitly requires that the fire safety regulations reflect the particular characteristics of the operation concerned.

Operation-specific means, concretely: storage locations for flammable liquids or hazardous substances must be named; special technical installations (pressurised gas containers, high-bay racking, production equipment) require specific behavioural instructions; areas with elevated fire risk must be identified as such; assembly points must be correctly stated for the specific site. A template document leaving these details blank is only usable if completed by a qualified person.

The CIVAC workspace contains 37 ready-to-use audit templates that serve as the basis for preparation. The fire protection officer adapts these templates to the operation, signs off the document, and stores it in an audit-proof manner.

The fire safety regulations are not a one-off document. DIN 14096 and DGUV I 205-023 require regular review — and an update whenever operational changes affect the fire protection situation. Triggering events include: structural alterations (new rooms, modification of escape routes), changes in the use of areas (e.g. storage use instead of office), new production processes or hazardous substances, changes in the workforce (new language requirements for Part B), and following fire events or drills where a need for improvement was identified.

Without a clearly defined revision process, the fire safety regulations quickly become an outdated document. In the CIVAC workspace, the annual review of the fire safety regulations is set up as a recurring task: the fire protection officer receives an automatic reminder, conducts the review as a structured project, and documents the outcome with a timestamp.

A prepared Part B alone is not sufficient. Section 14 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (ArbSchG) obliges the employer to instruct employees on fire protection measures. This instruction must be evidenced: date, participants, content, signatures. Fire Safety Regulations Part B is the training document that defines the content of the instruction.

In the CIVAC workspace, training modules for fire protection are set up as structured learning units: content, test, certificate, and completion tracking. The fire protection officer can see at a glance which employee groups have completed the instruction and which have outstanding items. The participation record is automatically generated and consolidated in the documentation export.

For companies that also employ a SiFa, fire protection training and general occupational safety training can be planned in coordinated cycles — from the same workspace.

Fire Safety Regulations Part B and the risk assessment under Section 5 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (ArbSchG) are not independent documents. The risk assessment identifies fire hazards in the operation — the fire safety regulations describe the conduct when those hazards materialise. If the risk assessment identifies new fire risks, Part B must be updated accordingly.

In practice, this link is frequently absent: risk assessments are prepared by the SiFa, the fire safety regulations by the fire protection officer — without coordination. In the CIVAC workspace, both roles share the same platform. Risk assessments and fire protection projects can be linked; update requirements are assigned as tasks.

CIVAC offers the fire protection officer both as a tool licence for internal officers and as Officer-as-a-Service. In the Officer-as-a-Service model, a certified fire protection officer from the CIVAC partner network is appointed in writing for the company — including an appointment document that meets all formal requirements under DGUV I 205-023 and DIN 14095.

After the appointment is finalised, the fire protection officer prepares Fire Safety Regulations Parts A, B, and C in the CIVAC workspace on the basis of the operation-specific conditions. Preparation is structured, with queries directed to the operation via the project function, and upon completion the document is stored in an audit-proof manner. Appointment document, signed, filed, verifiable.

The following errors occur particularly frequently when Fire Safety Regulations Part B are prepared independently. Absence of operation-specific content: The template document has not been adapted to reflect actual conditions — incorrect assembly points, unmentioned hazardous substance stores, missing information about special areas. Missing signature: Part B without the signature of the responsible person is not recognisable as a released document in the event of an inspection. Outdated version: The document has not been updated for years despite structural or organisational changes having taken place. Missing link between Parts A and C: The three parts of the fire safety regulations must be internally consistent; contradictions are a frequent inspection finding.

In the CIVAC workspace, the fire protection officer manages all three parts as linked documents and ensures substantive consistency.

Fire Safety Regulations Part B that is not operation-specific, was not prepared by a qualified person, or has not been updated for years provides no protection — neither for employees nor for management against liability risks. Preparation requires normative knowledge (DIN 14096, DGUV I 205-023, state building regulations), operational knowledge of the site, and a structured documentation practice.

CIVAC addresses these requirements through the Officer-as-a-Service model: a certified fire protection officer from the CIVAC partner network assumes responsibility for preparing the fire safety regulations, instructing employees, and ongoing maintenance — all documented in the CIVAC workspace. Licence the workspace for your internal fire protection officer or have our officers appointed.

Turn reading into action. Write to info@civac.de for an initial consultation on fire safety regulations and officer appointment.