The UK reference library

Home Preparedness

Make a fire escape plan, maintain alarms, recognise utility emergencies and prepare household records before you need them.

A round smoke detector fixed to a plain ceiling.
Photo: Curpharar · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and converted to WebP.
Full image attribution

Smoke detector at Gateway Hotel.jpg — Curpharar; CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and converted to WebP; source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smoke_detector_at_Gateway_Hotel.jpg

The building you live in affects the plan you need. An escape strategy for a house may be wrong for a purpose-built block, and a utility emergency may require leaving before touching any controls. These guides focus on finding reliable information and making arrangements in advance. A home inventory and a plan for leaving can be prepared calmly, without waiting for an incident to expose missing details.