Fire Risk Assessments

A fire risk assessment is a methodical examination of a building or premises to identify and evaluate potential fire risks. It aims to minimise the likelihood and severity of a fire by implementing appropriate fire safety measures.

A fire risk assessment aims to Identify fire hazards; identify people at risk; Evaluate, Remove or Reduce Risks; Record Findings; and Recommend a date for review. 

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order applies to almost all buildings, places, and structures other than individual private homes – that's individual flats in a block or family homes. 

The easiest way to review this is in the legislation, there is a list of properties that the legislation does not apply to, if your property is not on the below list it requires a Fire Risk Assessment:

Application to Premises:

6.—(1) This Order does not apply in relation to —

(a)domestic premises, except to the extent mentioned in article 31(10);

(b)an offshore installation within the meaning of regulation 3 of the Offshore Installation and Pipeline Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995(1);

(c)a ship, in respect of the normal ship-board activities of a ship’s crew which are carried out solely by the crew under the direction of the master;

(d)fields, woods or other land forming part of an agricultural or forestry undertaking but which is not inside a building and is situated away from the undertaking’s main buildings;

(e)an aircraft, locomotive or rolling stock, trailer or semi-trailer used as a means of transport or a vehicle for which a licence is in force under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994(2) or a vehicle exempted from duty under that Act;

(f)a mine within the meaning of section 180 of the Mines and Quarries Act 1954(3), other than any building on the surface at a mine;

(g)a borehole site to which the Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations 1995(4) apply.

SAFE I.S. are able to asses any property which falls under the remit of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. From small apartment buildings to large shopping centers, and everything in between which includes

• Apartment buildings.
• Bars.
• Care homes.
• Childrens homes.
• Clubs.
• Colleges.
• Community centres or clubs.
• Doctors surgeries.
• Factories.
• Flats / Blocks of flats.
• Hotels.
• House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO).
• Industrial Units.
• Laboratory.
• Leisure Centre.
• Museum.
• Nursery.
• Offices.
• Places of worship.
• Public house.
• Restaurants.
• Schools.
• Shops or Retail Stores.
• Supported living centres.
• Village halls.
• Warehouses.
• Workshops.

As you can see from the list above, we really can assess any property type or size. If you do not see your property type listed above, please still reach out to us. 

Fire Risk Assessments allow you to understand the potential fire risk in property and therefore act accordingly to reduce that risk.

Fires can be devastating to any business or property and the reports are designed to offer step by step guidance enabling you to help prevent the potential risk.

The Fire Risk Assessor will introduce themself and will ask to meet the Responsible Person for the premises. The Responsible Person should be familiar with the access, layout and operation of the premises in normal day to day running. The Fire Risk Assessor will then talk through the relevant aspects of their visit and the available information sources open to the Responsible Person. These sources will include documentation, emergency procedures and safety records, along with insurance and special requirements for the safe running of the premises. 

The object of the assessment is to produce a consultative report which can be used going forward to assess Fire Risk in a concise format.

The Fire Risk Assessor will conclude the visit with a discussion about any non-compliances or improvements that could be made, including answering any questions the Responsible Person may have about the visit.

After the visit, the report will be compiled and issued to you in an electronic format.

This really depends on the size and type of property, it can range from an hour even up to a week in some large buildings (Such as college campuses).

The time it takes to complete your specific assessment will be discussed during the quotation and booking stage.

A Fire Risk Assessment can take place whilst the property is in full occupation and causes little disruption. Ideally, the property will be in use during the assessment allowing the Fire Risk Assessor to understand how the building is utilised on a normal day.

Disruption is minimal however the Fire Risk Assessor will require access to all relevant areas of the building and will need to spend some time with the Responsible Person reviewing documentation and discussing the property.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 states assessments should be reviewed as follows:

" Risk assessment (Article 9)

(3) Any such assessment must be reviewed by the Responsible Person regularly so as to keep it up to date and particularly if—

• (a) there is reason to suspect that it is no longer valid; or

• (b) there has been a significant change in the matters to which it relates including when the premises, special, technical and organisational measures, or organisation of the work undergo significant changes, extensions, or conversions,"

The key word in this article is "regularly" as there is no exact definition as to when the assessment should be reviewed (excluding suspecting it is no longer valid or there has been a change to the building).

It is widely accepted and actually recommended by the Chief Fire Officers that reports should be reviewed annually to meet the "regularly" section of the legislation.

As part of our fire risk assessment report, our Fire Risk Assessor will make a recommendation, based on their expert knowledge for when the report should be reviewed. This could be a shorter or longer period of time depending on the risk found in the property. For example, if the property is found to be high risk and intolerable the recommendation for review could be less than a year.

We would recommend that as a minimum the recommended review date be maintained OR if before that date as per the legislation the assessment is organised to be reviewed if there is reason to suspect that it is no longer valid / or there has been a change within the building.

To make it easier for the Responsible Person, shortly before your recommended review date is due one of our team will be in contact to offer you our services for the review. 

For a longer read: View our blog post Does my business REALLY need to update our fire risk assessment?

The enforcing authority has the power to inspect premises to check for safety & compliance with the legislation. They will ask to see a copy of the current Fire Risk Assessment and confirm all Fire Safety Legislation has been complied to.

Failure to comply would be a breach of the law and enforcing authorities have the power to:

• Inspect buildings
• Enforce the Responsible Person to arrange a Fire Risk Assessment if one is not already in place
• Serve Enforcement Notice which will require the Responsible Person to take steps to remedy the non-compliances within a set time frame.
• Serve a Prohibition Notice which could be the partial or entire closure of a property.
• Prosecute 

As defined in the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 Article 3:

In this order "Responsible Person" means:

• A: In relation to a workplace, the employer, if the workplace is to any extent under their control;
• B: in relation to any premises not falling within paragraph (a)
  • (i) the person who has control of the premises (as occupier or otherwise) in connection with the carrying on by him of a trade, business or other undertaking (for profit or not); or
  • (ii) the owner, where the person in control of the premises does not have control in connection with the carrying on by that person of a trade, business or other undertaking.

For more information read our blog post "Who is the Responsible Person and what are their responsibilities?".

Under the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, If more than five persons are employed or there are members of public on-site at any time your Fire Risk Assessment must be in a "written format".

We only provide assessments in a written format (electronically) and this is included as standard in all provided quotations. 

The local Fire and Rescue authority enforce the order in most premises. The exceptions are:

• Crown-occupied/owner properties
  • Crown Fire inspectors enforce in these properties.
• Premises with armed forces establishments
  • Defence Fire and Rescue service enforce in these properties.
• Certain specialist premises including construction sites, nuclear installations and ships
  • HSE Enforces in these properties

Our reports are written to a standard called PAS-79. This methodology is intended to provide a structured approach to a fire risk assessment.

Our reports are structured in a defined order, where the findings are listed (with photo evidence where necessary) and at the end of the report an action plan details the necessary steps you need to take to comply with the relevant legislation and standards.

The reports are issued electronically following the visits. hard copies are available, on request, for an additional fee to cover printing and postage costs. 

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order was introduced in October 2006 and repealed all previous fire safety legislation including the Fire Precautions Act 1971.  Fire Certificates, which were formally issued under the Fire Precautions Act 1971, no longer have legal status and fire risk assessments must now be carried out for virtually all non-domestic premises.

The Order applies to England and Wales.

It covers general fire precautions and other fire safety duties, which are needed to protect ‘relevant persons’ in case of fire in and around most ‘premises’. The Order requires fire precautions to be put in place ‘where necessary’ and to the extent that it is reasonable and practicable in the circumstances of the case. 

Responsibility for complying with the Fire Safety Order rests with the ‘Responsible Person’.  The Responsible Person cannot devolve their personal responsibilities to a consultant or employee.

The fully legislative document can be found by Clicking Here.

One of our highly qualified Fire Risk Assessors will attend the property to carry out a comprehensive assessment in accordance with the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Following a discussion with the Responsible Person, a review of all related paperwork and walk of the property the Assessor will then compile his report. The report will be provided in an electronic format and will list the findings with photo evidence, the fire risk and finish with an Action Plan advising you the steps you should take to comply with fire safety legislation. 

Broadly speaking a Fire Risk Assessment is conducted utilising 5 key steps:

1. Identify the Fire Hazards
2. Identify the People at Risk.
   • The above is the aim of the initial assessment.
3. Evaluate, remove or reduce the risks.
4. Record findings, prepare an emergency plan and provide training
5. Review and update the Fire Risk Assessment regularly.

The process of completing the report (Steps 1 and 2) is where our qualified Assessor will visit the property to locate the hazards,  detail the people potentially at risk and provide their findings in the written report provided. 

The hazards found vary from property to property, as it is dependent on the properties use, condition, furnishing, systems and how the building is used. But items such as compartmentation, Fire Systems (fire alarms, emergency lighting, fire extinguishers), electrical installations, portable appliances, gas safety, fire doors, lightning protection and furniture are all reviewed, just to name a few.

The report is then issued to the Responsible Person who is then able to review the findings and take the necessary recommended steps to help reduce the hazards and risk to people found.

For example, our Assessor may highlight a potential fire risk from portable appliances. The report would then recommend that Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) is completed on a regular basis to help ensure the items are in working order which therefore reduces this potential risk. The Responsible Person can then arrange the testing (Step 3) and log that it has been completed in the action plan of the assessment whilst training members of the property to ensure they are using the appliances correctly.  (Step 4).

Then by ensuring testing is kept up to date on an ongoing basis and regularly reviewing the report, this adheres to (Step 5).

We will conduct Fire Risk Assessments (FRAs) for individual office spaces, HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation), or other specific tenancies within multi-tenant buildings where the overall building height exceeds 18 metres. In these cases, our assessment is limited to the specific area in question and does not cover the entire building.

Clients should ensure that a comprehensive FRA has been conducted for the entire building to address overall fire safety requirements for all occupants and communal areas. Our assessment is intended to provide detailed guidance within the specific area under our remit, while recognising the need for a separate, overarching assessment to cover the full building in compliance with fire safety regulations.

We do not however currently offer a service for the fire risk assessment of entire properties over 18m in height. This height is measured from the Ground floor to the Floor level of the top habitable floor within the property.

Safe I.S. has chosen not to undertake Fire Risk Assessments for buildings over 18 metres in height due to the unique challenges and additional complexities associated with high-rise buildings. The regulatory requirements for high-rise buildings demand specialised expertise, equipment, and risk assessment processes to ensure full compliance and safety.

Buildings over 18 metres in height have distinct fire safety considerations, including enhanced escape and rescue provisions, the need for additional fire suppression and compartmentation systems, and heightened scrutiny on cladding and facade materials. These factors require a dedicated team with specific qualifications and experience in high-rise building assessments to adequately address all regulatory and safety obligations.

So, we have made a choice not to offer this service currently, instead, we focus on buildings under 18 metres so we can ensure that our assessments are thorough, accurate, and meet the highest standards of quality and compliance, allowing us to concentrate our resources on areas where our expertise aligns closely with industry and client needs.