Preparing Escape and Rescue Plans in Accordance with DIN ISO 23601: Obligations and Practice

Under Section 4 para. 4 of the Workplace Ordinance (ArbStättV) in conjunction with Annex 2.3 and the Technical Rule for Workplaces ASR A2.3, every employer is obliged to prepare an escape and rescue plan if the location of escape routes and emergency exits is not immediately apparent. This condition is met in virtually all operations with more than one floor, with complex floor plans, or with fluctuating flows of employees and visitors. Breaches of the Workplace Ordinance may be penalised under Section 9 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (ArbSchG) with fines of up to 30,000 euros.

DIN ISO 23601:2020-09 establishes the graphic and substantive requirements for escape and rescue plans and has replaced the earlier DIN Technical Report 116. This article explains what the standard specifically requires, what update obligations exist, what role the fire protection officer plays, and how the preparation process can be mapped within a structured compliance workflow.

The Workplace Ordinance prescribes in Annex 2.3 No. 4 that the employer must draw up an escape and rescue plan if the location and extent of the workplace so require. ASR A2.3 gives further precision to this obligation and provides in Section 7 when a plan must be prepared: whenever escape routes and emergency exits are not immediately and unambiguously apparent. In practice, this applies to the vast majority of all office, industrial, warehouse, and healthcare buildings. Operations with only one floor may also be affected if the floor plan is complex or if visitors are regularly received.

DGUV Information 205-023 identifies the fire protection officer as the primarily responsible person for preparing and maintaining escape and rescue plans. It provides that the plans must be anchored in Fire Safety Regulations Part B and must be consistent with the company's overall fire safety concept. A fire safety regulation without a current escape and rescue plan is incomplete for the purposes of DGUV Information 205-023.

Additionally relevant are the state building regulations (LBO of the federal states) and special construction regulations (e.g. assembly venue regulations, hospital construction regulations). These may impose stricter requirements on content and the obligation to display than the Workplace Ordinance alone. Further information on the function and appointment of a fire protection officer at CIVAC.

The obligation applies regardless of whether the building is leased or owner-occupied. In tenanted premises, landlord and tenant share responsibility; in practice the lease agreement specifies who prepares the escape and rescue plan. Where no such provision exists, both parties are equally bound by the obligation.

DIN ISO 23601:2020-09 is the authoritative standard for the graphic design and substantive structure of escape and rescue plans in Germany. It has replaced the earlier DIN Technical Report 116 of 1993 and introduces for the first time an internationally harmonised symbolism based on ISO 7010 (safety signs). This means that every symbol on an escape and rescue plan must correspond to a defined ISO 7010 sign that is unambiguous worldwide.

The standard prescribes the following minimum content for every escape and rescue plan: an orientation-based floor plan extract of the relevant part of the building; representation of all escape routes and emergency exits using ISO 7010 safety signs (E001 to E013); the location of the display point itself (arrow marking); the location of portable fire extinguishers, fire detectors, first-aid facilities; and emergency numbers and the building address. If even one of these elements is missing, the plan does not comply with the standard.

The graphic presentation must be designed so that the plan can be interpreted within seconds by someone unfamiliar with the building, even in a stressful situation. DIN ISO 23601 recommends a colour scheme aligned with the safety colours of ISO 3864: green for escape route and rescue signs, red for fire protection equipment. Black-and-white prints are permissible but must represent all signs clearly and legibly. The minimum scale for displayed plans is 1:200 for areas up to 2,000 square metres.

The introduction of DIN ISO 23601 also means that older plans from before 2012 that are still based on DIN Technical Report 116 no longer qualify as standard-compliant. Companies still displaying such legacy plans should replace them as part of the next annual review to avoid findings during an inspection by the trade supervisory authority.

A complete escape and rescue plan under DIN ISO 23601 and ASR A2.3 contains three levels: the graphic representation of the building structure and escape routes, a text page with rules of conduct in the event of fire, and information about the assembly point and alarm equipment.

The graphic must show: all escape routes in the floor plan as green arrows or lines; all emergency exits with rescue sign E001 (running person in a green field); all stairwells as escape route continuations; the location of all portable fire extinguishers (sign F001), wall hydrants (F002), fire detectors (F005), emergency telephones, and first-aid boxes (E003). The location of the display point must be marked with a red arrow or position symbol so that viewers unfamiliar with the building can immediately identify their whereabouts.

The text page contains the summary version of Fire Safety Regulations Part A: stay calm, report fire, save and warn people, attempt to extinguish if possible, keep escape routes clear, proceed to assembly point. Emergency number 112 in Germany and the internal fire control centre must be stated with telephone numbers. The address of the building and the location of the assembly point must be clearly apparent from the plan. For large-area or multi-storey buildings, floor- and area-specific sub-plans must be prepared — not a single overall plan.

Particularly in the pharmaceutical industry and in laboratories, specific additional requirements apply: rooms containing hazardous substances of ADR classes 3 and 8 (flammable liquids, corrosive substances) must be marked in the escape and rescue plan with a corresponding hazardous substance note so that the fire brigade can assess the hazard situation before entering.

ASR A2.3 Section 7.5 requires that the escape and rescue plan be displayed at suitable locations so that employees can take note of it before an emergency — not only during one. Suitable locations are entrances, lift lobbies, rest rooms, corridors with high footfall, and areas where visitors or external contractors regularly work.

Display alone is not sufficient. Under Section 14 of the Workplace Ordinance (ArbStättV), the employer must regularly instruct employees on measures to be taken in the event of fire. Instruction must be carried out at least annually and documented in writing; new employees must be instructed before commencing work. The escape and rescue plan is a central instructional medium in this context. Employees should know the escape routes from their daily work area and be able to name the assembly point without looking it up.

For buildings where external persons work or visitors are received, DGUV Information 205-023 recommends a brief induction upon entering the building. This need not be extensive — a reference to emergency exits and the assembly point is sufficient. Documenting this initial induction protects the employer against an extension of liability in the event of an incident. All training records must be retained for at least five years and presented during official inspections.

Display plans must be laminated or mounted behind glass where they are exposed to moisture, cleaning agents, or mechanical wear. A plan whose text has become illegible due to moisture is treated as absent under ASR A2.3 and constitutes a regulatory offence. The physical quality of the displayed plans is part of the annual review.

ASR A2.3 Section 7.6 requires that escape and rescue plans be reviewed for currency at least annually. In addition, an immediate update is required when the structural situation changes (conversions, new partition walls, altered exit configurations), when the use of areas changes (new storage area, altered production area), when fire protection equipment is added or relocated, and when the assembly point is relocated.

In practice, the update obligation is one of the most frequent weaknesses identified during fire protection inspections by the trade supervisory authority and professional associations. Outdated plans in which escape routes are blocked by shelving installed since the plan was prepared, or in which emergency exits are drawn at positions that have since been structurally altered, constitute an immediate regulatory offence and a significant liability risk in the event of an incident. Even where no structural changes have taken place, a documented annual review is mandatory.

The fire protection officer is responsible for initiating updates. In the CIVAC platform, the annual review of the escape and rescue plan can be set up as a recurring task with a due date and escalation path; for structural changes, an ad-hoc task can be triggered. The auditor calls — the evidence is ready, audit-proof, documented, ASR A2.3-compliant.

The review obligation also includes checking whether escape routes are physically unobstructed. Blocked emergency exits and obstructed escape routes are also a regulatory offence under Section 3a of the Workplace Ordinance (ArbStättV). Trade supervisory authority and fire brigade inspectors routinely check both the plan and the actual condition of escape routes during inspections.

The preparation process for a standard-compliant escape and rescue plan follows five steps in practice. In the first step, the current building floor plan is obtained; planning documents from the building file or current CAD drawings form the basis. If current floor plans are unavailable, a survey must be carried out, which costs time and resources and should therefore be planned well in advance.

In the second step, all escape-route-relevant elements are entered: escape routes and their direction, emergency exits and doors in the direction of escape (note opening direction), stairwells, and the assembly point. In the third step, fire protection equipment is entered: fire extinguishers, wall hydrants, fire detectors, emergency telephones, and first-aid equipment. All entries must be accurate in terms of location and to scale.

In the fourth step, the graphic is prepared in accordance with DIN ISO 23601 and ISO 7010. It must be verified that all symbols used correspond to the ISO 7010 symbolism and do not derive from obsolete national symbol systems. In the fifth step, the completed plan is reviewed by the fire protection officer, approved by the employer, displayed, and integrated into the fire safety regulations. The approval document and the displayed plan are stored in an audit-proof manner. The approval must be dated so that the annual review obligation begins traceably.

When commissioning external service providers for plan preparation, it must be ensured that they are familiar with the building regulations of the relevant federal state. Requirements may differ between states, particularly for special buildings such as retail premises (VkVO) or schools (SchulbauRL). A standard-compliant federal plan does not automatically satisfy state requirements.

For certain building and use types, additional requirements apply beyond the Workplace Ordinance and ASR A2.3. In assembly venues, the respective state assembly venue regulations (e.g. VStättVO Bavaria, VeranstG NRW) require that escape and rescue plans be held in readiness for every configuration of use and be made known to security personnel. Where seating arrangements and stage positions vary, the plan must be available for each configuration.

In hospitals and care facilities, hospital construction regulations and DGUV Information 205-001 prescribe specific requirements for escape and rescue planning that take into account the particular challenges posed by patients with limited mobility. Evacuation concepts under TRBA 100 and the duties of the designated personal rescue officer must be integrated. Documentation of these special concepts is maintained separately from the general escape and rescue plan.

For outdoor areas, open-air storage areas, or construction sites, the Construction Site Ordinance (BaustellV) and DGUV Regulation 38 apply to the marking of escape routes. Strictly speaking, the requirements of DIN ISO 23601 apply only to buildings; for outdoor areas, escape routes must nonetheless be shown in a site plan applying the principles of the standard by analogy. The fire protection officer bears responsibility for integrating all special cases into the operational fire protection concept.

The CIVAC platform offers a structured template in the Projects module for initial preparation of the escape and rescue plan that maps all five steps and can be used as evidence towards the trade supervisory authority. Licence the workspace for your internal officers or appoint our officers.

During fire protection inspections by the trade supervisory authority, professional associations, and fire brigade, certain deficiencies in escape and rescue plans are particularly frequent. The most common finding is an outdated plan that does not reflect structural changes: shelving in front of emergency exits, locked doors recorded as escape route exits, or fire extinguishers that have been moved. Each of these deviations constitutes a separate regulatory offence under Section 9 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (ArbSchG).

The second most frequent error is the use of symbols that do not conform to ISO 7010. Many older plans still use earlier DIN symbols in which escape route signs were designed differently. Since ISO 7010 was introduced in Germany in 2012, such plans are no longer considered standard-compliant and must be replaced. The third frequent finding is the absence of a recognisable location marker. The viewer must be able to identify immediately on the plan where they are; without this marker, the plan is worthless in an emergency.

The fourth finding is the absence of the text page with rules of conduct and emergency numbers. Some companies display only the floor plan without instructional text, which does not satisfy the requirements of ASR A2.3. All four errors can be systematically identified and remedied through a structured annual review of the escape and rescue plan. A documented review record significantly reduces liability risk and must be shown to the supervisory authority.

In addition to substantive errors, there are also formal errors: plans that were not printed at the prescribed minimum size or on which no legible year of the last update is recorded may be challenged during inspections. The date of preparation and the date of the last review should be clearly noted on every displayed plan.

The escape and rescue plan is not an isolated document but forms part of the operational fire protection concept which, under DGUV Information 205-023, also encompasses the fire safety regulations, fire protection inspections, and training records. These elements are interconnected: a change to the floor plan triggers a plan update, which in turn makes a new employee instruction necessary, and all three steps must be documented.

The CIVAC platform maps this relationship in the fire protection workspace. In the Tasks module, the annual review of the escape and rescue plan, the inspection under DGUV Information 205-023, and the annual instruction are set up as recurring tasks with automatic reminders. The Projects module structures the initial preparation or complete revision of the plan as an audit with the following steps: Scope (affected building areas), Uploads (floor plans, current photographs), Queries (open points with the fire brigade or landlord), Risks (identified deficiencies), and Report (approved plan with approval date).

Licence the CIVAC workspace for your internal fire protection officer or appoint our certified fire protection officers via the Officer-as-a-Service model. Appointment document, signed, filed, verifiable, in two working days rather than two to six weeks. Others manage compliance like a filing cabinet. We run it like software. Turn reading into action: info@civac.de.

Licence the CIVAC workspace for your internal fire protection officer or appoint our certified fire protection officers via the Officer-as-a-Service model of the CIVAC compliance platform. Appointment document, signed, filed, verifiable, in two working days rather than two to six weeks.