Fire risk assessments explained: what they are and what to expect

A fire risk assessment is a systematic look at a building to identify fire hazards, evaluate the risk to the people who use it, and set out what needs to change to reduce that risk to an acceptable level. It is not a tick-box inspection and it is not optional for most non-domestic premises and the common parts of residential blocks — it is a legal requirement under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the RRO), and it has to be kept under review.

Who needs one

If you are the Responsible Person for a workplace, or the person in control of the common parts of a residential building containing multiple dwellings, the RRO applies to you. In practice that covers office buildings, shops, warehouses, purpose-built blocks of flats, HMOs, schools, and mixed-use developments — effectively anywhere other than a single private dwelling. Landlords, managing agents, employers and building owners can all be the Responsible Person, depending on who has control of the premises.

What a proper assessment covers

A competent fire risk assessment works through the same core areas regardless of the building type: how a fire could start and what could fuel it, how it could spread, who is at risk and how vulnerable they might be, the adequacy of means of escape and how quickly people can get out, fire detection and warning arrangements, fire-fighting provisions, and the management arrangements that keep all of the above working day to day — training, maintenance, and record-keeping. PAS 79, the British Standards Institution's published guidance, sets out the recognised methodology for carrying this out consistently (we cover this in more detail in a separate article on PAS 79 methodology).

The four types of assessment for blocks of flats

For purpose-built blocks of flats, assessments are described by type. The type is set by two independent things: how far into the building the assessment reaches — common parts only, or common parts and a sample of flats — and whether the inspection is destructive, meaning construction is opened up to look at what is behind it.

Type 1 is much the most common, and for many well-managed blocks it is the appropriate assessment. The higher types are not simply "more thorough" versions of it — they answer different questions. If the concern is whether compartmentation in the common parts is intact behind the finishes, that is a Type 2. If the concern is what conditions are actually like inside the flats — flat entrance doors, means of escape within the flat, detection — that is a Type 3, and no amount of destructive work in the common parts substitutes for it.

Which type is appropriate depends on the building's construction, height, occupancy and any concerns already identified. It is not a one-size-fits-all decision, and a competent assessor should be able to explain why a particular type is being recommended for your building — including why a lower type is sufficient, which is just as much a judgement as recommending a higher one.

What good practice looks like after the assessment

The assessment itself is only the start. A report that simply lists findings and is then filed away doesn't reduce risk — what matters is what happens next: a clear, prioritised action plan, realistic timescales for addressing each finding, a review date so the assessment doesn't quietly go out of date, and documentation that would stand up to scrutiny if a resident, insurer, or enforcing authority asked to see it. This is why we treat every assessment as the start of an ongoing compliance record rather than a one-off deliverable.

Getting started

If you're not sure whether your premises need an assessment, whether an existing assessment is still current, or what type of assessment is appropriate for your building, get in touch and we can talk through it — there's no obligation, and it's often a five-minute conversation to establish where you stand.