Fire risk assessment duties

Who is the responsible person?

In a workplace it is the employer, to the extent that the workplace is under their control. Elsewhere it is the occupier, or the owner where the premises are not occupied. In practice several duty holders often share responsibility for one building: a landlord for common parts and a tenant for its own demise. The Order requires those duty holders to cooperate and coordinate, and since 2022 they must be able to identify each other and share relevant fire safety information.

Domestic dwellings are outside the Order, but the common parts of blocks of flats, houses in multiple occupation and any workplace within a home are inside it.

The fire assessment sits beside, not inside, the general assessment described in what a risk assessment legally needs to include.

The five steps

A fire risk assessment follows a standard structure that the fire service will recognise immediately.

• Identify the fire hazards: sources of ignition, sources of fuel and sources of oxygen.
• Identify people at risk, including those working near fire hazards, lone workers, visitors, the public, children and anyone with impaired mobility, hearing or sight.
• Evaluate the risk and decide what to do about it: remove or reduce the hazard, then protect people through detection, warning, escape routes, signage, lighting and firefighting equipment.
• Record the significant findings, prepare an emergency plan and provide information, instruction and training.
• Review regularly and after any change, fire or near miss.

Your evacuation arrangements normally appear in the arrangements part of your policy, so read when you need a written health and safety policy next.

What has to be recorded

Before 2023 only employers with five or more employees and licensed premises had to record the assessment. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and the Building Safety Act changes removed that threshold, so all responsible persons must now record the assessment and the fire safety arrangements in full. The record should include who carried it out, when, the findings, the actions with owners and dates, and the review date.

The competence of the assessor matters. There is no licence, but for anything other than simple, single occupancy, low risk premises you should use an assessor on a recognised third party certification scheme and keep the evidence of that check.

Means of escape and the practical checks

Escape routes must be adequate for the number of people, available at all times, protected where necessary and lead to a place of total safety. Travel distances, door widths, direction of door opening, final exit security and emergency lighting all fall out of that assessment.

The routine checks that follow the assessment are where most enforcement action actually starts. Weekly alarm call point tests on a rotating point, monthly emergency lighting flick tests, six monthly and annual servicing of the alarm and lighting, annual extinguisher service, quarterly fire door checks in higher risk residential buildings, and at least annual evacuation drills. Keep a fire log book, paper or digital, and keep it current.

Special cases worth knowing

Buildings with a storey above eleven metres carry extra duties under the 2022 Regulations, including quarterly checks of flat entrance doors, monthly checks of lifts and firefighting equipment, wayfinding signage and provision of a secure information box for the fire service.

Construction sites are covered by the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and the Fire Safety Order together, and need a site specific fire plan covering hot works, temporary escape routes and the changing layout of the works. Hot works should be controlled through a permit with a one hour fire watch afterwards as a minimum.

When to review

Review the assessment at least annually and whenever there is a material change: a layout alteration, a change of use, new equipment or processes, more people, work to the structure or external walls, or a fire or false alarm pattern that suggests something is wrong.

Keep the actions in one place with owners and dates. An assessment with a two year old action list is the clearest possible evidence to an inspector that the duty holder is not managing fire safety, and it is the finding most likely to turn an advisory letter into an enforcement notice.

Common questions

How often must a fire risk assessment be redone?

There is no fixed interval. Review annually as a minimum and reassess whenever the building, occupancy or work changes materially.

Can I write my own fire risk assessment?

Yes if the premises are simple and low risk and you are competent. For complex, sleeping or multi occupied residential premises use a third party certificated assessor.

Do we have to do fire drills?

The Order requires an effective emergency plan and adequate training. In practice that means at least one drill a year, and more where staff turnover is high or the public is present.

Related guides

• what a risk assessment legally needs to include
• when you need a written health and safety policy