Scope
Which premises require a fire risk assessment?
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to most non-domestic premises in England, including workplaces, public buildings, commercial premises and the common parts of buildings containing domestic premises. It can also apply to paying guest accommodation and areas where employees sleep for work.
A single private dwelling occupied only as a home is generally outside the Order. Boundaries become more complex where a building contains common parts, commercial activity, shared accommodation or paying guests.
Employers
Workplaces under the employer’s control, regardless of business size.
Owners and landlords
Non-domestic premises and relevant common parts or building elements under their control.
Operators and occupiers
Premises used for a trade, business, charity, public service or other undertaking.
Shared buildings
Every person with control may have duties for the parts and systems they control.
Required standard
What does “suitable and sufficient” mean?
The assessment must be proportionate to the nature and scale of the premises while being detailed enough to identify significant hazards, people at risk and the measures needed to protect them. A checklist can support the process, but cannot supply missing knowledge or evidence.
Scope and assessor competence should increase with complexity. Sleeping risk, vulnerable occupants, dangerous substances, high-rise construction, complex evacuation, mixed use and unusual fire-engineered systems can all require specialist experience.
- Covers every relevant area, activity and foreseeable occupancy
- Uses reliable information and a physical understanding of the premises
- Identifies ignition, fuel and oxygen sources
- Considers everyone at risk, including people requiring assistance
- Evaluates escape, warning, protection and management arrangements
- Records limitations, assumptions and required further investigation
Assessment method
The five essential stages
Government guidance uses a five-stage process. The order is useful, but assessment is iterative: information found later may require earlier conclusions to be revisited.
1. Identify hazards
Find sources of ignition, fuel and oxygen and understand how a fire could start or grow.
2. Identify people at risk
Consider employees, residents, visitors, contractors and anyone who may need assistance.
3. Evaluate and act
Remove or reduce hazards and judge whether warning, escape and protection are adequate.
4. Record, plan and train
Record the assessment, establish an emergency plan and provide information, instruction and training.
5. Review and revise
Keep the assessment current and revise it when changes or new evidence affect validity.
Written evidence
What must be recorded?
Since 1 October 2023, responsible persons must record the fire risk assessment in full, including all findings, and record their fire-safety arrangements. The former thresholds connected with five or more employees, licensing or an alterations notice no longer limit this recording duty.
If an external assessor assists, record their name and, where applicable, their organisation. Records should also make responsibility, actions, priorities and evidence of completion easy to follow.
- Premises, scope, uses, occupancy and responsible persons
- Hazards, people at risk and existing precautions
- Evaluation, significant conclusions and action priorities
- Emergency plan and fire-safety management arrangements
- Assessor details, limitations, review history and revisions
- Evidence that actions, testing, maintenance and training are completed
Implementation
The duty does not end when the report arrives
The responsible person must act on the findings, provide and maintain appropriate general fire precautions, plan for emergencies and make sure relevant people receive information and training. A report stored without an effective action process does not manage risk.
Actions should be prioritised according to risk, assigned to named owners, given realistic completion dates and tracked to verified closure. Interim controls may be needed while permanent work is planned.
Ongoing duties
Cooperation, handover and review
Where several responsible persons share a premises, they must cooperate and coordinate. They should identify one another, exchange relevant information and align alarms, escape, maintenance and emergency arrangements.
A departing responsible person must pass relevant fire-safety information to the incoming responsible person. The assessment must be reviewed regularly and revised when there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid or after a significant change.
- Identify other responsible and accountable persons
- Record control boundaries and shared systems
- Share findings that affect other occupiers
- Transfer relevant records during a change of responsibility
- Review after changes, incidents, defects or new information