There is no statutory template. The Order requires the significant findings to be recorded where article 9(6) applies, and leaves the format alone. What a template can usefully do is stop you forgetting the sections a competent report contains, and what it cannot do is decide whether the escape route on the second floor still works.
What a fire risk assessment report should contain
The premises and its use, its construction and occupancy. The people at risk, including sleeping, mobility impaired and lone occupants. The fire hazards found. The existing precautions: detection, alarm, escape routes, lighting, signage, extinguishers, compartmentation and management. The significant findings. Then an action plan with priorities, owners and dates, and the review date. A report that stops before the action plan has described a building rather than assessed it.
The four types of fire risk assessment for flats
Types 1 to 4 are industry convention for residential blocks, not a statutory scheme. Type 1 is non-destructive and covers the common parts. Type 2 is type 1 plus destructive inspection where the construction is in doubt. Type 3 adds a non-destructive look inside a sample of flats, including flat entrance doors and internal escape. Type 4 is destructive and covers both common parts and a sample of flats. Type 1 is the default; anything more is triggered by doubt about compartmentation.
Premises types that change the answer, from an HMO fire risk assessment to a school
An HMO carries a licensing regime on top of the Order and the local authority will have its own expectations. A holiday let is non-domestic while it is let and needs an assessment. A school, a care home and a restaurant each have different people at risk and different hazards, and the assessment for a communal area of a block deals with escape from a building the assessor may never see inside.
Using a template honestly
Fill in the building first and the form second. Photograph what you find. Say where you could not gain access and what you did about it. Date and sign it. And be specific in the actions: replace the missing self closer on the third floor riser cupboard door beats improve fire doors, because only one of those can be done and checked.
Type 3 fire risk assessment and type 4 fire risk assessment: going inside the flats
The two types that reach past the common parts need something the other two do not, which is access. A type 3 looks non-destructively inside a sample of flats, the flat entrance doors included, and a type 4 opens up construction in both the common parts and the flats. Both depend on residents letting somebody in, and a lease rarely gives a right of entry for an inspection of this kind, so the programme is negotiated rather than scheduled and the sample size is a convention rather than a rule. Two things moved these from rare to routine. The Fire Safety Act 2021 confirmed that the assessment covers the structure, the external walls and the flat entrance doors, which are precisely the things a non-destructive look at a lobby cannot see. And where the construction is simply unknown, opening up is the only way to answer the question instead of assuming it. One line to settle before the order: making good after opening up is the client's cost rather than the assessor's, and a quote that does not say who reinstates is not comparable with one that does.
Questions people ask about fire risk assessment template
Is there an official fire risk assessment template?
No. The government publishes fire safety risk assessment guides for different premises types, and any format is acceptable provided the prescribed information is recorded where article 9(6) applies.
What is a type 1 fire risk assessment?
A non-destructive assessment of the common parts of a block of flats. It is the usual default, with types 2 to 4 adding destructive inspection and access to flats where there is reason to doubt the compartmentation.
Does an HMO need a fire risk assessment?
Yes. The Order applies to the common parts, and HMO licensing conditions imposed by the local authority commonly require one and set further standards.
Does a holiday let need one?
Yes. Premises let as a holiday let are non-domestic for the purposes of the Order while they are let, so the responsible person must make an assessment.
What does a fire risk assessment for HMO premises have to cover?
The escape route from every letting to a final exit, detection that reaches a sleeping occupant, the separation between lettings and the shared route, and the arrangements for people who will not have practised an evacuation. Shared cooking is usually the ignition source that drives the rest.
What is a type 2 fire risk assessment?
A type 1 with some intrusive inspection: the assessor opens up sample areas to see the construction behind the finishes, in the common parts only. It is what you buy when the building's compartmentation cannot be established from what is visible.