Babies and cot rooms
Confirm how staff move babies, what equipment is available, how many children each person can assist and whether cots, furniture or sleep arrangements obstruct the route.
Nursery owners, managers, schools and early-years providers
Nursery fire risk assessment
Understand fire risk assessment duties for babies, toddlers and young children, plan staff-assisted evacuation and request a properly scoped nursery assessment quote.
Key points
Nursery or early-years setting fire risk assessment at a glance
- Babies and children who cannot self-evacuate
- Staff ratios during a real emergency
- Sleep rooms, soft play and early-years activities
- Nursery assessment enquiries across London and Surrey
- The responsible person must arrange a suitable and sufficient assessment and record its findings in full.
- Review the relevant assessment and evidence when changes, an incident or new information could affect its validity.
Property-specific guidance
Why this premises type needs its own assessment
Nurseries, preschools and crèches care for children who may not recognise an alarm, follow instructions or move quickly without adult help. Babies in cot rooms and children who are sleeping, distressed or have additional needs depend on staff, suitable routes and reliable warning arrangements.
The fire risk assessment must examine the setting as it actually operates: arrivals and collection, different age rooms, sleep periods, staff breaks, reduced staffing, meals, outdoor play, visitors and contractors. Normal staff-to-child ratios are important evidence, but the emergency plan must also remain workable when staff are absent, assisting one child or managing several groups at once.
The Fire Safety Order assessment and the Early Years Foundation Stage framework have different legal purposes. The FRA addresses fire risk and general fire precautions; the EYFS framework requires providers to safeguard children and manage emergencies. Neither should be described as a generic certificate or fixed six-month expiry.
Nursery-specific assessment scope
Babies, toddlers and early-years rooms need realistic planning
A nursery assessment should test the building, staffing and evacuation arrangements together rather than assume every child can respond like an adult workplace occupant.
Toddlers and preschool children
Allow for slow movement, distress, children separating from a group and limited understanding of alarms or unfamiliar assembly instructions.
Staff ratios during evacuation
Test actual staffing by room and shift, breaks, absences and the need to sweep or assist children without leaving another group unsupported.
SEND and individual assistance
Plan communication, sensory support, mobility assistance and suitable equipment for children whose needs affect recognition or movement.
Security doors and safeguarding
Ensure gates, magnetic locks, keypads and controlled entrances release safely for escape while maintaining proportionate safeguarding and preventing unsafe re-entry.
Upper floors, basements and conversions
Assess stairs, evacuation equipment, protected routes, dead ends and whether a converted house or commercial unit supports the proposed childcare numbers.
Parents, visitors and collection periods
Account for fluctuating occupancy, buggies, adults travelling against the escape flow and people attempting to find or re-enter for a child.
Soft play, kitchens and learning materials
Review foam, costumes, paper, displays, nappy or linen storage, cooking, laundry, heaters, charging and how higher fire loads are separated from children and escape routes.
London incident context
1,727 recorded fires in non-residential premises
London Fire Brigade recorded this total across London in calendar year 2025. It is a broad incident category, not a count for this exact premises type and not a measure of whether an individual building is safe.
Legal responsibility
Who must arrange the assessment?
The nursery employer or operating organisation is normally the responsible person for the workplace and activities it controls. A proprietor, school, landlord or managing agent may control the building, common routes or shared systems. Registration or a manager’s job title does not by itself decide every Fire Safety Order duty; control and employment arrangements must be established.
Read the main fire risk assessment guideLegal framework
Fire-safety duties affecting this property
The Fire Safety Order is the core life-safety regime in England. Other laws and sector requirements can overlap, so the assessment and action plan should not be managed in isolation.
Fire Safety Order 2005
Requires a suitable and sufficient assessment, full recording, suitable precautions, maintenance, information, training and an emergency plan.
EYFS statutory framework
Sets safety, supervision and emergency requirements for registered early-years providers in England and should be coordinated with the fire arrangements.
Educational-premises guidance
Home Office guidance covers crèches and other educational premises and provides benchmarks for assessment and precautions.
Building regulations and change of use
A new nursery, conversion, extension or material alteration may require building-control approval and a coordinated fire strategy.
Assessment scope
What the assessor should examine
The final scope should reflect the actual building and any limitations. A site visit and a prioritised written report are fundamental for a professional assessment.
Children and staffing
Record ages, maximum numbers, room allocation, attendance patterns, staffing, breaks and foreseeable assistance needs.
Warning and communication
Check automatic detection, alarm coverage, audibility, visual or other warning needs and how staff communicate during an emergency.
Escape and evacuation equipment
Evaluate doors, stairs, travel distances, external routes, evacuation cots or other aids and safe assembly away from traffic or other hazards.
Rooms and activities
Inspect play, sleep, sensory, kitchen, laundry, staff, plant, storage and outdoor areas and any space shared with a school or another occupier.
Fire separation and doors
Check protection between higher-risk rooms and child areas, doors on escape routes, service penetrations and the effect of alterations.
Safeguarding and access control
Coordinate secure entry, lockdown arrangements, final exits, emergency-service access and prevention of unauthorised re-entry.
Emergency management
Test roles, registers, calling 999, parent communication, missing-child procedures, staff absence and decision-making without sending anyone back into danger.
Shared and hired premises
Define the nursery’s control and coordinate alarms, routes, drills, maintenance and information with the school, landlord or other occupiers.
Property-specific hazards
Risks that deserve particular attention
These examples are prompts, not a complete checklist. The assessment must identify all significant hazards and how they could affect people in and around the premises.
Combustible play materials
Soft play, foam, paper, displays, costumes, books and stored resources can create a substantial fire load.
Sleeping rooms
Reduced observation or lighting and children who are asleep can delay recognition and increase assistance needs.
Cooking, laundry and heaters
Hot equipment, lint, oils and portable appliances need separation, maintenance and competent management.
Charging and batteries
Tablets, toys, radios, mobility equipment and personal devices should be charged and stored under controlled arrangements.
Buggies and storage
Pushchairs, deliveries, nappy supplies and waste must not narrow escape routes or add fuel to protected areas.
Contractors and refurbishment
Hot work, dust, disabled systems and temporary routes can create risk while children remain in occupation.
People at risk
Who may need additional consideration?
The assessment must consider everyone lawfully on or near the premises, including people who may be unable to recognise danger, respond quickly or use the standard escape route without help.
Babies
They require direct physical assistance and suitable equipment; the plan cannot rely on independent movement.
Toddlers and preschool children
They may move slowly, hide, panic or fail to follow an unfamiliar instruction.
Children with additional needs
Mobility, sensory, communication, health or behavioural needs may require individual arrangements.
Parents, carers and visitors
They may be unfamiliar with alternative exits and may instinctively seek a child rather than follow the normal escape flow.
Agency, apprentice and lone staff
Induction and supervision must ensure everyone understands room-specific roles and the limits of the plan.
Emergency planning
Evacuation points to test
A written plan is only useful if it matches the building, occupants, available staff and fire precautions and can be carried out under foreseeable conditions.
- Base the plan on the maximum credible number and age of children in each room, not only average daily attendance.
- Show how actual staff move children from every occupied level while maintaining supervision and preventing re-entry.
- Keep registers available without delaying escape and use them for roll call only from a place of safety.
- Choose an assembly location that protects children from traffic, weather, smoke and uncontrolled collection.
- Exercise different scenarios safely, including sleep periods, staff absence, blocked routes and shared-building alarms.
- Review any evacuation cot, apron, stair aid or refuge arrangement for capacity, storage, staff competence and safe onward movement.
What to expect
The five-stage assessment process
- 1
Prepare
Confirm the areas in scope, responsible persons, occupancy, plans, previous reports and relevant fire-safety records.
- 2
Inspect
Walk the premises and examine hazards, people at risk, escape, fire protection and management arrangements.
- 3
Evaluate
Judge whether precautions are suitable for the actual use, occupants, construction and emergency strategy.
- 4
Record and prioritise
Document findings in full and provide a clear, risk-prioritised action plan with responsible owners.
- 5
Review
Keep the assessment current and revisit it when change, an incident or new information may affect its validity.
Evidence and management
Records to prepare and retain
Good records help an assessor understand the premises, allow defects to be tracked and demonstrate that significant findings have been acted on.
- Current FRA, reviews and prioritised action plan
- Floor plans, room uses and maximum child numbers
- Staffing, room-allocation and assistance information
- Emergency plan, registers and drill or exercise records
- Alarm, emergency-lighting, fire-door and extinguisher records
- Evacuation-equipment checks and staff training
- Landlord, school or shared-building coordination records
- Refurbishment, contractor and completed remedial evidence
Keeping it current
When to review the assessment
There is no single fixed review interval suitable for every premises. Set a proportionate programme and review sooner whenever there is reason to think the assessment may no longer be valid.
- Change in child numbers, ages, room allocation or SEND needs
- Change to staffing model, breaks, opening hours or out-of-hours provision
- New sleep room, kitchen, soft play, sensory or charging equipment
- Building work, conversion, new partitions, gates or access-control changes
- Change to evacuation equipment, alarm or shared-building arrangements
- Fire, near miss, repeated alarm problem or difficult drill
- New official guidance or information relevant to the premises
- Any reason to suspect the existing assessment is no longer valid
Quote planning
What affects assessment cost?
A useful quote reflects assessor time, competence, site access and reporting complexity. A low headline price is not meaningful without a clear scope.
Children and rooms
Age groups, room numbers, maximum attendance, sleep areas and assistance planning.
Building layout
Storeys, stairs, conversions, basements, external routes and shared areas.
Specialist arrangements
Access control, evacuation equipment, SEND needs, kitchens and higher-risk rooms.
Records and interfaces
Plans, previous reports, landlord systems, school coordination and outstanding actions.
Choosing an assessor
Check the person as well as the company
BAFE SP205 provides third-party certification for organisations delivering life-safety fire risk assessments. The National Fire Risk Assessors Register (NFRAR), administered by the Institute of Fire Safety Managers, records individually assessed fire risk assessors and their competency level.
Use both as complementary evidence: verify the organisation’s current BAFE SP205 status where applicable and the individual’s current NFRAR registration and assessed level. Also check direct experience with nursery or early-years setting premises, insurance, report scope, site visit, exclusions and how follow-up questions are handled.
Related fire-safety services
Acting on the assessment
The FRA should define outcomes and priorities. Any design, installation, inspection or maintenance work must then be scoped and completed competently.
Fire doors and protected routes
Plan a competent fire door inspection
Sleeping risk, vulnerable occupants, repeated use and flat-access arrangements can make door condition and records especially important in this premises type.
Local coverage
Find and compare assessment support across London and Surrey
Explore local assessor information and quotation guidance, or use the form below to request a property-specific quote.
For county-wide duties, cost factors and local context, read the Surrey nursery or early-years setting fire risk assessment guidance.
Frequently asked questions
Nursery fire risk assessment FAQs
Does a nursery need a fire risk assessment?
Yes. A nursery or early-years setting operating from non-domestic premises falls within the Fire Safety Order. The responsible person must ensure a suitable and sufficient assessment is completed, recorded and acted upon.
How often should a nursery fire risk assessment be reviewed?
There is no universal legal six-month expiry. Review it regularly and whenever child numbers or needs, staffing, rooms, activities, equipment, security, building work or other evidence could affect its validity, and after an incident or significant drill finding.
Who is responsible for fire safety in a nursery?
The employer or operating organisation is normally a responsible person. A landlord, school or managing agent may control other areas or systems. The legal position follows employment and control rather than registration title alone.
Does Ofsted replace fire-service enforcement?
No. Ofsted and the fire and rescue authority have different roles. The provider must satisfy the applicable early-years framework and the Fire Safety Order; an Ofsted inspection is not a substitute for a suitable FRA or fire-authority enforcement.
Must nursery staffing ratios be considered during evacuation?
Yes. The assessment should test whether the available staff can move and supervise the actual children present, allowing for breaks, absence and children who need individual assistance. Meeting an ordinary supervision ratio does not by itself prove the evacuation plan will work.
What should a nursery fire drill test?
Exercises should test alarm recognition, staff roles, movement from relevant rooms, registers, roll call, assembly, assistance and communication. Scenarios should be varied and conducted without exposing children to avoidable distress or danger.
Can a nursery operate on an upper floor?
An upper-floor nursery is not automatically prohibited, but the building, numbers and ages of children, stairs, protected routes, warning, staff assistance and evacuation equipment require careful competent assessment and may also engage building-control requirements.
What should be considered for babies in cot rooms?
Consider early warning, observation, staff availability, the number of babies each person can assist, evacuation equipment, door widths, route capacity, storage and safe movement from the building to assembly.
Does a school’s FRA cover a nursery on the site?
It may if the scope explicitly covers the nursery rooms, children, staffing, activities and evacuation arrangements. Where the nursery is separately operated or controls its own areas, responsible persons must coordinate and the assessment boundaries must be clear.
How much does a nursery fire risk assessment cost?
Price depends on floor area, storeys, room and child numbers, conversion, access, sleep provision, assistance needs, shared systems, records and report scope. Use the page calculator only as a planning range and compare written quotations on the same scope.
Property-specific enquiry
Request a quote for your nursery or early-years setting
Provide the essential building and occupancy details. Your enquiry can be reviewed and passed to an assessor serving London or Surrey.
- No obligation to book
- Telephone number required
- Use the details box for unusual risks or deadlines
Sources and limitations
Guidance reviewed 8 September 2026
This page provides general information for England. It is not legal advice, a building-specific assessment or a guarantee of compliance. Fire Safety Services is independent and is not affiliated with BAFE, NFRAR, IFSM, the Government or fire and rescue services.