Fire Safety Risk Assessment FAQs

A fire risk assessment is a systematic review of a building to identify fire hazards, assess who could be harmed, and determine what measures are needed to reduce fire risks and protect people.

The purpose of a fire risk assessment is to help prevent fires, reduce the risk of injury or death, and ensure suitable fire safety measures are in place. It supports legal compliance, protects people and property, and helps organisations manage fire safety effectively.

Yes, if you are responsible for a workplace or the common parts of a residential building in the UK, the law requires a fire risk assessment to be carried out and kept under review.

Yes. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, it’s a legal requirement to have a fire risk assessment for most non-domestic premises.

In the UK, the Responsible Person is legally responsible for ensuring a fire risk assessment is carried out and kept up to date.

This is usually:

• An employer (for workplaces)
• A building owner or landlord
• A managing agent
• Or anyone else who has control of the premises or the common parts of a residential building

The duty is set out in the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 states that a fire risk assessment must be conducted by a competent person. Our fire safety consultants haves the training, qualifications, and experience to effectively assess and address fire risks and hazards in the specific type of premises they are responsible for.

Yes, you can carry out your own fire risk assessment if you are competent to do so.

The responsible person can complete the assessment themselves, provided they have sufficient knowledge, training, and experience to identify fire risks and put appropriate controls in place. For low-risk, simple premises, this may be reasonable.

However, for larger, more complex, or higher-risk buildings (such as multi-occupied residential buildings), it is strongly recommended — and often expected — that a competent fire risk assessor is appointed to ensure the assessment is suitable, sufficient, and legally compliant.

A fire risk assessment should be carried out on occupation of the premises.

A fire risk assessment for flats is always required while the building is in use.

The common parts of blocks of flats (such as stairwells, corridors, entrance halls, and plant rooms) must have a fire risk assessment in place as soon as the building is occupied and kept under regular review. This applies regardless of the building’s height.

The assessment must be reviewed at least annually and whenever there are significant changes, such as building alterations, changes in occupancy, or following a fire or near miss.

There is no specific legal requirement for how often fire risk assessments must be reviewed. It is at your discretion to determine when a review is necessary, taking into consideration changes in business operations and circumstances.

A fire risk assessment should be reviewed every 12 months from the date of the assessment, or earlier if there is reason to believe it is no longer valid, significant changes have occurred or there has been a fire.

A fire risk assessment does not have a fixed expiry date, but it must be kept up to date and reviewed regularly.

In practice, it should be reviewed at least annually, and sooner if there are significant changes to the building, its use, occupancy, fire risks, or after a fire or near miss.

Fire risk assessors are not legally required to be registered. However, the law does require a fire risk assessor to be ‘competent’.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety Order) 2005 defines a competent risk assessor as someone with ‘sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities to properly assist in undertaking the preventative and protective measures’. So, it is strongly advisable to choose a risk assessor who is registered on the Fire Risk Assessors (FRA) Register.

The cost of a fire risk assessment depends on the type and complexity of the premises, the assessment scope, additional services offered and more. Costs range from a few hundred pounds for a basic assessment to over a thousand for a comprehensive one.

It’s recommended to consider both the cost and the assessor’s qualifications to ensure a thorough and competitive assessment.

Yes. In the UK, landlords are legally required to ensure a fire risk assessment is carried out for the common parts of residential buildings they own or manage, such as stairwells, corridors, entrance halls, and plant rooms.

This duty applies to landlords of shared or multi-occupied buildings under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The assessment must be kept up to date and reviewed regularly, or sooner if there are changes to the building, occupancy, or fire risks.

A fire risk assessment is required for flats whenever there are common parts in a residential building, such as stairwells, corridors, entrance halls, or shared facilities.

In the UK, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the responsible person (usually the landlord, freeholder, or managing agent) to carry out and keep under review a fire risk assessment for the common areas of blocks of flats, regardless of height.

Failure to have a fire risk assessment can lead to legal penalties. The legal penalties for not complying with fire safety legislation include enforcement notices, fines, imprisonment in serious cases, and civil liability for compensation.

A fire safety risk assessment is carried out in 5 key steps:

1. Identify fire hazards – sources of ignition, fuel, and oxygen.
2. Identify people at risk – including employees, residents, visitors, and vulnerable persons.
3. Evaluate, remove, or reduce risks – and put appropriate fire safety measures in place.
4. Record findings and prepare an emergency plan – documenting risks, controls, and procedures.
5. Review and update the assessment – regularly, or when significant changes occur.

These five steps reflect the approach set out in UK fire safety guidance under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

A fire risk assessment should include:

• Identification of fire hazards, such as sources of ignition, fuel, and oxygen
• Identification of people at risk, including employees, residents, visitors, and anyone especially vulnerable
• Evaluation of fire risks, assessing how likely a fire is and the potential consequences
• Fire safety measures and controls, including detection, alarms, escape routes, emergency lighting, and firefighting equipment
• Actions needed to reduce risk, identifying improvements, priorities, and timescales
• Recording, reviewing, and updating, documenting findings and keeping the assessment under regular review or updating it when circumstances change

These elements ensure the assessment meets legal requirements and supports effective fire safety management.

Yes. All fire risk assessments must be recorded in writing. Since October 2023, changes introduced by Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 removed the previous exemption for businesses with fewer than five employees.

This means every Responsible Person, regardless of business size or premises type, must record the fire risk assessment in full, keep it up to date, and be able to produce it if requested by enforcing authorities.

In the UK, a fire risk assessment must include the building’s external walls and front doors where the Fire Safety Act 2021 applies.

For buildings containing two or more sets of domestic premises, the assessment must cover:

• The structure and external walls, including cladding, balconies, and windows
• All doors between domestic premises and common parts, including flat entrance doors

This clarifies that a fire risk assessment is not limited to the interior common parts and must consider elements that could affect fire spread and life safety.

A “suitable and sufficient” fire risk assessment properly identifies fire risks and appropriate controls, in proportion to the premises and the level of risk.

In practice, this means the assessment must:

• Correctly identify fire hazards and people at risk
• Evaluate the level of risk realistically
• Set out clear, practical control measures to reduce or manage those risks
• Be proportionate to the building and its use (a small office needs far less detail than a high-risk or complex premises)
• Be kept up to date, reflecting changes to the building, occupancy, or fire risks

An assessment that is generic, copied, outdated, or fails to address real risks would not be considered suitable and sufficient, even if one exists on paper.

After a fire risk assessment is completed, it becomes a live action plan, not just a document.

The assessment will identify significant findings and set out recommended actions, often with priority timescales (for example, immediate, short-term, or longer-term). The Responsible Person is legally required to act on these findings, put the necessary controls in place, and ensure issues are addressed within the suggested timeframes.

The assessment must then be kept under regular review and updated if circumstances change, such as building alterations, changes in use or occupancy, or following a fire or near miss.

The Responsible Person must:

• Share relevant findings with employees, particularly information that affects their safety or evacuation procedures.
• Cooperate and coordinate with other Responsible Persons in multi-occupied or multi-tenanted buildings, sharing information where necessary to ensure overall fire safety.

You may not need to share the full document in all situations, but you must communicate the significant findings and any actions that affect others. Sharing information helps ensure consistent fire safety measures and legal compliance across the building.