What is a fire risk assessment and who needs one?

A fire risk assessment combines a site visit with a review of the building's records. The assessor walks the escape routes, looks at how fire and smoke would spread, checks the fire safety equipment and asks how the building is managed day to day.

BS 9792:2025, the code of practice for housing, sets out 9 steps. PAS 79-1:2020 follows a similar structure for other premises.

• Gather information about the building, its use and its occupants
• Identify fire hazards: sources of ignition, fuel and oxygen
• Assess the likelihood of a fire starting
• Identify the fire protection measures in place
• Assess how fire safety is managed
• Assess the likely consequences of a fire for the people present
• Assess the overall risk
• Write an action plan
• Set a date for review

BS 9792:2025 rates overall risk on a 5-point scale from trivial to intolerable. The action plan gives each action a priority, so the responsible person knows what to fix first.

The Fire Safety Order applies to almost every building other than a single private home. That includes:

• Offices, shops, warehouses, factories and other workplaces
• Care homes, hotels, guest houses and hostels
• Schools, places of worship and community buildings
• The common parts of blocks of flats and maisonettes
• The common parts of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs)

The Fire Safety Act 2021 confirmed that, in a building with 2 or more sets of domestic premises, the Order also covers the structure, the external walls, including windows and balconies, and the doors between flats and common parts.

Article 3 of the Order defines the responsible person. In a workplace it is the employer, where the workplace is under the employer's control. In other premises it is the person who has control of the premises, or the owner. In a block of flats that is usually the freeholder, a resident management company or a right to manage company. Where more than one person has duties, section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 requires them to cooperate and share information.

The responsible person can carry out the assessment if they are competent to do it. GOV.UK guidance says that a responsible person without the expertise or time should appoint a professional fire risk assessor. The fire and rescue service can give advice but does not carry out assessments.

No law currently requires a fire risk assessor to be registered or accredited. BS 8674:2025 sets a framework for the competence of individual fire risk assessors at 3 levels. The government consulted on mandatory certification for fire risk assessors from 26 March to 18 June 2026, including whether responsible persons should still be allowed to carry out their own assessments. At 9 October 2026 the government had not published its response.

Since 1 October 2023 every responsible person must record the full assessment in writing, whatever the size of the business. GOV.UK guidance on section 156 lists what the record must include.

The fire and rescue service can serve an enforcement notice requiring improvements, or a prohibition notice restricting use of the premises. Under article 32 of the Order, the most serious offences carry an unlimited fine, up to 2 years in prison, or both, on conviction on indictment. GOV.UK summarises minor penalties as up to £5,000.