Short answer
When is a fire risk assessment required?
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to virtually all workplaces and most non-domestic premises in England. If you are the responsible person, you must ensure a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment is completed, recorded in full and regularly reviewed.
The duty is based on the premises, undertaking and control—not whether somebody has requested a certificate. A small organisation, one-person business with premises or building without employees may still be within scope.
Where the duty commonly applies
Premises that normally need a fire risk assessment
GOV.UK describes non-domestic premises as workplaces and commercial premises, premises the public can access and common areas of multi-occupied residential buildings. The Fire Safety Order also applies to accommodation provided to paying guests.
Workplaces
Offices, shops, cafés, salons, warehouses, workshops, construction sites and workplaces within larger buildings.
Public and community premises
Schools, clinics, places of worship, halls, venues, charities and other premises open to members, visitors or service users.
Residential common parts
Blocks of flats and other buildings with two or more domestic premises and shared areas or relevant building elements.
HMOs and shared accommodation
Common parts and management arrangements may be covered alongside separate housing and licensing duties.
Paying guests
Hotels, guesthouses, B&Bs, holiday lets and self-catering accommodation, including small operations.
Mixed-use and shared buildings
Commercial units, residential areas and common systems can create several responsible persons who must coordinate.
Who must arrange it?
You may have the duty if you employ people or control premises
In a workplace, the employer is normally the responsible person where the workplace is under its control. Owners, landlords, occupiers, operators, management companies, facilities managers and managing agents can also have duties according to the control they exercise.
More than one responsible person can exist in the same building. Each should identify the parts and systems they control and cooperate over shared fire-safety arrangements.
- You employ anyone at the premises
- You own or let relevant non-domestic or shared residential areas
- You operate or occupy premises for an undertaking
- You manage common parts, building systems or resident fire safety
- You control access, maintenance, alterations or emergency arrangements
- Your contract gives you control—but also check the control exercised in practice
Domestic property boundary
When might a private home not require an FRA?
An individual private dwelling occupied only as somebody’s home is generally excluded from the Fire Safety Order. Ordinary owner-occupied or single-family domestic living space is not treated like a workplace merely because normal household fire precautions are sensible.
The boundary changes when premises contain shared areas, employees, paying guests, multiple domestic premises or business activity under someone’s control. Other housing, licensing, gas, electrical and smoke-alarm duties may apply even where the Fire Safety Order does not.
Private dwelling only
Generally outside the Fire Safety Order when used solely as a private home.
Block of flats
Individual flat interiors are generally excluded, but structure, external walls, flat entrance doors and shared areas are within relevant scope.
Rental and HMO
Fire Safety Order, housing and licensing duties can overlap; do not rely on the domestic label alone.
Working from home
A purely domestic room may remain outside scope, but employees, visitors, conversions or a distinct workplace can change the analysis.
Short-term or holiday let
Paying guest accommodation is covered even when it looks like an ordinary house or flat.
Live-work or mixed-use premises
Assess the workplace, commercial activity, shared escape and interfaces with domestic accommodation.
Frequent misunderstandings
Situations that do not remove the requirement
Several common assumptions come from older rules or confuse proportionality with exemption. A simple building may need a simple assessment, but it still needs a suitable one.
- Having fewer than five employees
- Being self-employed while controlling a workplace
- Operating only part time or seasonally
- Renting rather than owning the premises
- Having alarms, extinguishers or recent servicing certificates
- Using a newly built or recently refurbished premises
- Having no previous fire incident
- Believing the landlord or tenant must be solely responsible
Blocks and shared homes
What is assessed in multi-occupied residential buildings?
For buildings containing two or more domestic premises, the Fire Safety Act 2021 clarifies that the assessment must consider structure, external walls—including cladding, balconies, doors and windows—and flat entrance doors, as well as common parts within the Fire Safety Order.
The exact assessment scope depends on whether the building is purpose-built or converted, its shared areas, height, evacuation strategy, construction and other legal regimes. Types 1–4 are specific assessment scopes for purpose-built blocks of flats; they are not universal FRA levels.
- Common corridors, landings, stairs and final exits
- Flat entrance and common fire doors
- Structure, compartmentation and service penetrations
- External walls, balconies and attachments
- Smoke control, alarms where present and fire-service facilities
- Resident information, inspections, defects and management arrangements
What to do next
If the answer is yes—or you are still unsure
Identify the responsible person or persons, define the premises and control boundaries, then decide whether you are competent to complete the assessment. Government checklists can assist with the simplest premises, but complex buildings, sleeping risk, vulnerable people and uncertainty are strong reasons to obtain professional help.
Record the completed assessment in full. Since 1 October 2023, the old five-or-more-employees threshold no longer limits this recording requirement. Implement the necessary precautions and review the assessment regularly and after significant change.
- Identify the organisation or person holding each duty
- Describe every premises, area and activity in scope
- Use guidance suited to the premises type
- Choose competence proportionate to risk and complexity
- Record the assessment, assessor and fire-safety arrangements
- Assign actions and retain completion evidence
- Set review arrangements and monitor change