Guide
Fire risk assessment for flats and HMOs: common parts, walls and doors
Updated
The common parts of every multi-occupied residential building are within the Fire Safety Order 2005, and since the Fire Safety Act 2021 the assessment must look at the building itself: structure, external walls and flat entrance doors, not just the corridor.
What is in scope in a residential building
- Common parts
- Entrance halls, corridors, stairs, landings, shared facilities, plant and store rooms: the parts residents escape through. These have always been within the Order.
- Structure and external walls
- Including cladding, balconies and windows, put explicitly in scope by the Fire Safety Act 2021 following Grenfell. An assessment of a block that says nothing about the external wall build-up is not covering the statutory scope.
- Flat entrance doors
- The doors between individual flats and the common parts, also explicitly in scope since 2021. Inside the flats themselves remains outside the Order (private dwellings), though HMO licensing imposes its own fire precautions inside licensed HMOs.
Who is responsible
For a block of flats, the responsible person for the common parts is usually the freeholder, the management company or the managing agent with control; for a licensed HMO it is typically the landlord or manager. Leaseholders are not responsible for the common parts but may be responsible persons for premises they control elsewhere. Where several duty-holders exist in one building, the Order requires them to cooperate, and since October 2023 to share information, and the assessment must be recorded in full whatever the building's size (Building Safety Act 2022, s.156).
What it costs
A common-parts assessment for a small, straightforward block or HMO typically costs £300–£600 (typical 2026 quotes; verify against local quotes for your building). Taller buildings, complex external wall build-ups, and buildings needing intrusive door or wall inspection cost more, and buildings over 18 metres carry additional duties under the Building Safety Act 2022's higher-risk building regime that are beyond a standard assessment's scope. See the full cost guide for the wider price picture.
Getting it done properly
- Check what your current assessment covers. If it predates 2021, or is silent on external walls and flat entrance doors, it needs updating for scope, not just age.
- Appoint a competent assessor for anything non-trivial. Residential sleeping risk is exactly where enforcement is most active; PAS 79-2 is the recognised methodology for housing assessments.
- Record, action, review. The findings must be recorded in full, actions tracked, and the assessment reviewed on change and regularly, see the review guide. Our form gets assessors who cover residential buildings quoting yours.