Fire risk assessment: what the fire safety risk assessment is, who the responsible person is, and where a business fire risk assessment, a commercial fire risk assessment, a workplace fire risk assessment, a residential fire risk assessment and a landlord fire risk assessment fit

How fire safety and fire risk assessment works

1. Work out whether you are the responsible person. Article 3 defines it: the employer where the workplace is under their control, otherwise the person in control of the premises in connection with a trade or business, otherwise the owner. In a block of flats the freeholder or managing agent is normally responsible for the common parts. More than one person can hold the duty at once, and where they do, article 22 makes them cooperate.
2. Decide which type of assessment the building needs. The four types used in residential blocks come from industry guidance rather than from the Order. Type 1 is non-destructive and covers the common parts. Type 2 adds destructive inspection of the construction. Type 3 adds the inside of a sample of flats. Type 4 is destructive and covers flats too. Most blocks need type 1 unless there is reason to doubt the compartmentation.
3. Check what has to be recorded. Article 9 requires the prescribed information to be recorded where five or more people are employed, where a licence is in force, or where an alterations notice applies. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 go further for multi-occupied residential buildings, and the Fire Safety Act 2021 put the structure, external walls and flat entrance doors beyond argument as part of what the assessment covers.
4. Choose a competent assessor. There is no licence and no register in law, so competence is demonstrated rather than certified. Ask what buildings of your type they have assessed, whether the person attending is the person writing the report, whether they carry professional indemnity insurance, and what a significant finding looks like in one of their reports. Third-party certification through a recognised scheme is evidence, not a substitute for those questions.
5. Act on the findings, and review. The assessment is worth nothing until the actions are done and dated. Review it when there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid or when there has been a significant change: an alteration, a change of use, new occupants, a fire or a near miss. Many buildings are reviewed annually as a discipline, which is sensible but is not the legal test.

Paperwork and evidence

Common questions

Is a fire risk assessment a legal requirement?

Yes. Article 9 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the responsible person to make one for every non-domestic premises and for the common parts of blocks of flats.

Does it have to be written down?

The prescribed information must be recorded where five or more people are employed, where a licence is in force or where an alterations notice applies. In practice almost every business records it, because an unrecorded assessment cannot be shown to an inspector.

Can I do my own fire risk assessment?

The Order does not require an external assessor. It requires the assessment to be suitable and sufficient, which means the person doing it must be competent for that building. A simple low risk premises can often be assessed in house; a block of flats or a complex building usually cannot.

How often should it be reviewed?

Article 9(3) requires the responsible person to review it regularly so as to keep it up to date, and particularly where there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid or the premises, measures or organisation of the work have changed significantly. The Order names no fixed interval.

Licensed contractors by county