Short answer
What does the law actually require?
Article 9 requires the responsible person to review the assessment regularly so it remains up to date. It must be reviewed where there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid or where there has been a significant change in the matters to which it relates, including from work activity.
The Order does not prescribe one interval that makes every assessment expire after 12 months. The appropriate programme depends on risk, complexity, change and the quality of ongoing fire-safety management.
Routine review
How to set a proportionate review programme
A stable, simple premises with strong management may not need the same review frequency as a care home, construction site or complex multi-occupied building. The responsible person should decide and record a frequency that reflects foreseeable change and consequences.
A routine review tests whether the description, hazards, people, precautions, action plan and management arrangements remain accurate. It should also confirm whether previous actions were completed and effective.
Premises risk
Sleeping, vulnerable people, dangerous substances and complex evacuation justify closer oversight.
Rate of change
Frequent fit-outs, events, tenant changes or construction phases require more frequent review.
Management evidence
Incidents, defects, overdue actions and weak records indicate the need for earlier review.
External requirements
Insurers, clients, licences or sector guidance may set expectations beyond the general legal wording.
Do not wait
Events that should trigger an earlier review
A trigger does not automatically mean every section must be rewritten, but it requires the responsible person to determine whether the assessment remains valid and revise it where necessary.
- Fire, smoke incident, near miss or significant unwanted alarm
- Change of use, occupancy, staffing, opening hours or people needing assistance
- Refurbishment, extension, new partitions or altered escape routes
- New machinery, cooking, charging, dangerous substances or work processes
- Changes to alarms, smoke control, sprinklers, doors or compartmentation
- Enforcement action, serious defect or new construction information
- A failed drill or emergency response that reveals the plan is not workable
- Change of responsible person, tenant, operator or management arrangements
Scope
Review, revision or new assessment?
A routine review may confirm that much of the existing assessment remains valid while updating actions, dates and limited sections. A material change may require affected sections to be reassessed on site. Extensive alteration, change of use, incomplete scope or a poor original assessment may justify a comprehensive new assessment.
The decision should be based on what is needed to restore confidence in the assessment—not on relabelling an old report without checking the premises.
Review
Check accuracy, actions and validity against current conditions.
Revision
Update affected findings, precautions, plans and priorities.
New assessment
Re-establish the full baseline when scope, quality or circumstances have fundamentally changed.
Avoid confusion
Do not confuse FRA review with inspection and servicing frequencies
Fire alarms, emergency lighting, extinguishers, fire doors and other systems have their own testing, inspection or maintenance regimes. Residential buildings may also have specific fire-door and information duties based on height.
Completing those checks does not replace reviewing the FRA, and reviewing the FRA does not count as servicing equipment. The management system should coordinate both.
Evidence
How to document a review
Record the date, reviewer, information considered, site checks completed, changes identified, conclusion on validity and every revision or new action. Keep earlier versions where they help explain decisions and provide the current version to relevant people.
If nothing material has changed, record how that conclusion was reached. A new date on the cover without evidence of review provides little assurance.
- Review date and person completing it
- Trigger or reason for review
- Areas and records checked
- Changes, incidents and outstanding actions considered
- Sections revised and new priorities
- Next planned review and monitoring arrangements