Guide
Fire risk assessment: the legal requirement and who is responsible
Updated
Three pieces of legislation set the current duty: the Fire Safety Order 2005 creates it, the Fire Safety Act 2021 clarified its scope in residential buildings, and the Building Safety Act 2022 removed the last exemption from recording it.
The duty: Fire Safety Order 2005
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to virtually all premises in England and Wales that are not a private dwelling: workplaces, shops, hospitality, warehouses, schools, care settings, and the common parts of multi-occupied residential buildings. Article 9 requires the responsible person to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed, for the purpose of identifying the fire precautions needed. Article 3 defines the responsible person: in a workplace, the employer; otherwise the person with control of the premises, or the owner. Non-compliance is enforced by the fire and rescue authority and can lead to enforcement notices, prohibition notices and prosecution.
What each Act changed
- Fire Safety Act 2021
- Clarified that in multi-occupied residential buildings the Order applies to the building's structure, external walls (including cladding, balconies and windows) and flat entrance doors. Assessments of blocks of flats must cover these elements (legislation.gov.uk).
- Building Safety Act 2022, Section 156
- In force from 1 October 2023: the fire risk assessment must be recorded in full, the significant findings and the measures taken, regardless of how many employees there are. The old threshold that limited the recording duty to employers of five or more is gone (legislation.gov.uk). Section 156 also tightened duties to cooperate and share information between responsible persons and with residents.
Who can carry it out
The Order does not name a qualification: the responsible person may make the assessment themselves for simple premises, and government guidance says as much (gov.uk). In practice, most responsible persons appoint a competent assessor for anything beyond the simplest premises, because the duty to be suitable and sufficient sits with them either way, and since October 2023, if they appoint someone, they must be satisfied the person is competent. Registers such as the IFE's and certification under BAFE SP205 are the usual competence evidence.
What the assessment must cover
- Identification of fire hazards: ignition sources, fuel, oxygen.
- People at risk, including employees, residents, visitors and anyone especially at risk.
- Evaluation and reduction of risk: escape routes, warning, emergency lighting, extinguishers, signage, management arrangements.
- The significant findings and actions, recorded in full, with the assessment reviewed regularly, see how often it must be reviewed.