Where should fire roll call be carried out?

A fire roll call is carried out at your designated assembly point: a pre-agreed location a safe distance from the building, upwind of the prevailing wind where possible, and clear of both general traffic and the routes emergency vehicles need. It should be far enough away to keep everyone clear of smoke, heat and any falling debris, but not so far that people are reluctant to walk to it. There is no single legal distance. The right spot is the one your fire risk assessment identifies for your building.

How far from the building should the assembly point be?

UK law does not set a fixed distance. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires that escape routes lead to a place of safety and that you have procedures to account for people, but it leaves the distance to your fire risk assessment.

The widely used rule of thumb is at least one and a half times the height of the building. For a 12 metre building, that points to an assembly point at least 18 metres away. The reasoning is simple: if the structure is compromised, everyone who has evacuated needs to be well clear of radiant heat, thick smoke and the collapse zone. Taller buildings need more distance, which is exactly why a fixed number in law would not work.

What makes a location safe

Distance is only the first test. A good assembly point also has to be safe to stand in and easy to reach under stress. When you assess a location, check it against each of these:

  • Upwind where possible. Positioned so the prevailing wind carries smoke away from the assembled people rather than over them.
  • Clear of emergency access. Off the routes and entrances fire engines will use, so evacuees are never in the way of vehicles arriving at speed.
  • Away from moving traffic. Not in a live car park or beside a busy road, where you would simply be swapping one hazard for another.
  • Reachable by a clear route. Connected to the building’s exits by a direct, unobstructed path that works for wheelchair users and anyone with limited mobility.
  • Firm underfoot and well marked. On hard standing rather than a boggy verge, and signed to BS EN ISO 7010, the green and white running-figures symbol that anyone recognises regardless of language.

A point that is close enough to feel convenient but sits in the collapse zone, or one that is technically far enough away but reached by crossing a service road, is the kind of gap a fire risk assessment is meant to catch.

Do you need more than one assembly point?

Many premises manage with a single assembly point. You need more than one when occupants leave from opposite sides of a building, when the prevailing wind could blow smoke across the only point you have, or when the site is large or complex enough that funnelling everyone to one place is impractical.

The rule with multiple points is absolute: every person must know in advance which one they go to. If people scatter to whichever point is nearest on the day, no marshal can reconcile their list, and the roll call fails at the one moment it has to work. Assign each area or department to a named point, and make it part of induction.

The location is only half the job

Choosing the right spot is necessary, but it does not tell you whether everyone got out. That depends on the roll call, and a roll call is only as good as the list you check against. A paper register is out of date the moment a visitor signs in or someone leaves early, it relies on one person grabbing the right folder on the way out, and it cannot include people who were on site but never on that sheet. A correctly chosen assembly point with an inaccurate register still leaves you telling the fire service “we think that’s everyone.”

A fire roll call system closes that gap. Computime’s Fire Connect app builds the assembly-point list from live data: everyone currently clocked in, plus signed-in visitors and contractors, on the marshals’ phones outside the building, so nothing depends on a folder left at reception. Several marshals can work the same list at once. Because it draws on the same records as your time and attendance system, the list is accurate by default rather than by someone remembering to reprint it. It needs a data connection to record people as safe, so keep a printed list as a fallback.

See how a digital fire roll call accounts for everyone

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Frequently asked questions

Where should a fire roll call be carried out?
A fire roll call is carried out at your designated assembly point: a pre-agreed location a safe distance from the building, upwind of the prevailing wind where possible, and clear of both general traffic and the access routes emergency vehicles will use. It should be far enough away to be clear of smoke, heat and any falling debris, but not so far that people are reluctant to use it. The exact spot is set by your fire risk assessment, not by a fixed legal distance.
How far should a fire assembly point be from the building?
UK law sets no fixed distance. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires a safe place of assembly but leaves the distance to your fire risk assessment. A widely used rule of thumb is at least one and a half times the height of the building, so a 12 metre building would suggest an assembly point at least 18 metres away. The aim is to keep everyone clear of smoke, radiant heat and the collapse zone.
Do you need more than one assembly point?
Often, yes. A single assembly point suits many premises, but you may need more than one where occupants leave from opposite sides of a building, where the prevailing wind could carry smoke across a single point, or where the site is large or complex. Where there is more than one, every person must know in advance which point they go to, otherwise the roll call cannot be reconciled.
Who is responsible for the roll call at the assembly point?
The responsible person under the Fire Safety Order 2005 must ensure a roll call happens, and in practice it is carried out by fire marshals or wardens at the assembly point. They check the list of everyone who should be on site against the people present and report anyone unaccounted for to the fire and rescue service. The roll call is only as reliable as the record of who was on site when the alarm sounded.
What is a roll call in a fire evacuation?
A roll call is the check, made at the assembly point, of everyone who was on site against everyone who has arrived. Its job is to find out quickly whether anyone may still be inside, so the fire and rescue service can be told on arrival. It is usually run by fire marshals working from a list of staff, visitors and contractors.
What will a roll call help to identify?
A roll call identifies who is missing: anyone who was on site when the alarm sounded but has not reached the assembly point. That tells the fire and rescue service whether to search, and where to start. It also shows who is safe, so marshals stop worrying about people who left by another exit and reported to the right point.
What should you do if someone is missing at the roll call?
Tell the fire and rescue service as soon as they arrive: who is missing, where they were last seen and where they normally work. Nobody should go back into the building to look for them. Before that point, check the obvious explanations, such as a colleague at a second assembly point or someone who signed out earlier.
Do visitors and contractors need to be on the roll call?
Yes. Anyone on site when the alarm sounds needs to be accounted for, and visitors and contractors are the people most likely to be missing from a paper register. With Computime, visitors signed in on Visitor Connect appear on the roll call list automatically.
Can a fire roll call be done on a phone?
Yes. Computime’s Fire Connect app puts the live roll call list on each marshal’s phone, and several marshals can work the same list at once. It needs a data connection to record people as safe, so most sites keep a printed list as a fallback.
How often should you practise the fire roll call?
Government fire safety guidance expects a fire drill at least once a year, and more often where your risk assessment calls for it. The roll call should be part of every drill, because a drill is the only time you find out whether the list, the marshals and the assembly point actually work together. Our guide to how often fire drills should be carried out covers frequency and what to record.
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