Short answer
Indicative fire strategy prices in 2026
For an ordinary existing building with adequate plans and a largely code-based approach, allow roughly £1,500–£3,000 for a retrospective fire strategy. Work supporting a Building Regulations application commonly falls around £2,500–£5,000. Complex fire-engineered, higher-risk or heavily iterative projects may begin around £5,000 and extend well beyond £20,000.
These editorial planning ranges were reviewed in August 2026 and are not a professional tariff. Fees vary significantly with design responsibility, project stage, building risk, records, drawings, calculations and the number of consultation rounds.
| Illustrative instruction | Planning range | Typical basis |
|---|---|---|
| Simple retrospective strategy | £1,500–£3,000 | Existing ordinary building, survey, records review and code-based document |
| Building Regulations strategy | £2,500–£5,000 | Design review, drawings, coordination and a limited revision allowance |
| Complex or fire-engineered strategy | £5,000–£20,000+ | Departures, calculations, modelling, several disciplines or regulatory engagement |
| Portfolio or phased project | Priced individually | Repeated building types, staged information, several submissions or occupation phases |
Deliverable
What should a fire strategy contain?
A fire strategy explains how the building’s construction, systems, escape arrangements and management assumptions work together. The agreed output may be a retrospective record for an existing building or a design document that evolves with a project.
Written narrative alone may not be enough. Confirm whether the fee includes marked-up plans and the design information needed by other consultants, contractors, the responsible person and future assessors.
- Building description, use, occupancy and design basis
- Means of warning and escape, including evacuation strategy
- Compartmentation, fire resistance and fire-door requirements
- Smoke control, suppression and other active systems
- Fire-service access, facilities and relevant operational assumptions
- Drawings, departures from guidance and supporting calculations
- Issue status, limitations, coordination and change control
Define the instruction
A strategy, fire statement and FRA are not interchangeable
A design fire strategy supports how proposed or altered building work meets relevant fire-safety objectives. A retrospective strategy records and evaluates the basis of an existing building. A planning fire statement is a specific planning-stage submission for relevant developments in England. An FRA evaluates risks and precautions in the occupied premises.
Before requesting prices, identify the decision the document must support, the project stage and who will rely on it. Buying the wrong document can leave the application or occupied building without the evidence it needs.
| Document | Primary purpose | Does it replace an FRA? |
|---|---|---|
| Design fire strategy | Coordinate proposed building design and fire-safety measures | No |
| Retrospective fire strategy | Establish or reconstruct how an existing building is intended to work | No |
| Planning fire statement | Provide prescribed fire-safety information with relevant planning applications | No |
| Fire risk assessment | Assess occupied-premises hazards, people, precautions and management | Not applicable—the FRA is a separate duty |
Price drivers
Why two strategy quotations can be far apart
The building size matters, but the design path and uncertainty usually matter more. A complete code-based scheme with coordinated drawings is quicker to document than an existing building with missing information or a proposed design relying on departures.
Ask providers to state what information and design work they expect from the wider team. A low initial fee can grow if every drawing change, meeting or response is chargeable.
Project stage
Late appointment can require the author to reconstruct decisions and resolve completed design conflicts.
Design departures
Alternative solutions may require calculations, modelling and formal justification.
Building risk
Height, sleeping occupants, vulnerability, mixed uses and unusual systems increase competence and review needs.
Quality of information
Missing surveys, plans and product data create assumptions or extra investigation.
Coordination rounds
Architectural, MEP, façade and operational changes can require repeated strategy revisions.
Regulatory route
Higher-risk building controls and regulator engagement can materially change resources and programme.
Common exclusions
Check what sits outside the quoted fee
A strategy fee normally pays for professional analysis and documentation, not physical surveys or construction work unless expressly included. The author may rely on information supplied by others and identify further specialist evidence.
List the anticipated meetings, drawing stages and submissions in the enquiry. Confirm the hourly or fixed rates that apply if the project exceeds the allowance.
- Measured surveys, CAD or BIM production
- Intrusive compartmentation or fire-stopping investigation
- External-wall appraisal or specialist façade advice
- Evacuation, smoke, structural or computational modelling
- Alarm, sprinkler or smoke-control system design
- Planning fire statement or gateway documentation
- Additional meetings, redesigns, submissions and site inspections
- Fire risk assessment and post-occupation review
Commission well
How to compare fire strategy quotations
Issue one brief that states whether the building is existing or proposed, its use, height, storeys, project stage, available records and required submission. Attach the same drawings to every enquiry.
Check who will author and review the strategy, their relevant fire-engineering experience and how design changes will be controlled. Company credentials alone do not establish the competence of the person leading the work.
- Required document and purpose
- Applicable jurisdiction and regulatory route
- Building size, height, uses, occupants and complexity
- Surveys, plans and existing evidence supplied
- Named author, reviewer and relevant experience
- Drawings, calculations, meetings and revisions included
- Programme, dependencies, exclusions and additional rates