Fire risk assessments
The assessment is not complete when the PDF arrives.
The responsible person must understand the premises, appoint competent help where needed, record the assessment and control the actions. The assessor can assist. The duty does not transfer with the invoice.
Set the scope
Use the building and the law that actually apply.
Include the common parts and relevant building elements
For a building with two or more domestic premises, the Fire Safety Order reaches the common parts. The Fire Safety Act confirms that the structure, external walls and flat entrance doors must be considered.
Identify every responsible person
The responsible person can be an employer, owner, landlord, occupier or person with control. Where responsibility is shared, the parties must cooperate and coordinate.
Separate England and Wales
The Fire Safety Order applies in both. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations and the residential evacuation-plan regulations described on this site apply in England only.
Do not merge the higher-risk building case
In England, a building with at least two residential units that is at least 18 metres high or seven storeys has separate Building Safety Act duties for accountable persons.
Read the assessment
A suitable and sufficient assessment shows its reasoning.
What can start or spread fire?
The assessment should identify relevant hazards, people at risk, existing controls and the general precautions needed for this building.
What is the evacuation strategy?
Check that the strategy is stated and supported by the building design, current conditions and arrangements. Do not copy stay-put or simultaneous evacuation from another block.
What could not be inspected?
Record inaccessible areas, assumptions, unavailable plans and information still required. An uninspected element remains open.
Why is the assessor competent for this building?
Training, knowledge, experience and the complexity of the premises all matter. Membership or certification can be evidence, but no single badge makes every assessor suitable for every block.
Control the actions
Turn each finding into an owned decision.
Record the action and evidence
Identify the location, risk, required control, responsible person, priority and completion evidence.
Check interim measures
Where final work cannot happen immediately, obtain competent advice on proportionate interim controls and record the decision.
Verify closure
A purchase order is not completion. Keep the certificate, report, photograph, inspection or other evidence appropriate to the action.
Review when the assessment may no longer be valid
The Fire Safety Order does not create one universal annual cycle. Review regularly and when there is reason to suspect the assessment is no longer valid or there has been a significant change.
Sources for this page
Open the law and guidance yourself.
The fire risk assessment duty and statutory review triggers for England and Wales.
↗Official guidanceFire risk assessmentsGovernment route for identifying hazards and people at risk, recording findings, planning and review.
↗Official scopeFire Safety Act 2021Government explanation of the structure, external walls and flat entrance doors brought expressly within scope.
↗England guidanceResponsible persons: changes in fire safety legislationCurrent responsibilities on recording, competence, cooperation and information in England.
↗Links and current-law position checked 18 August 2026. Apply the governing documents, building facts and current law to the case in front of you.
Take the next step in LEASE-iQ
What does the lease allocate, and what belongs to safety law?
Use this for access, repair, cost recovery and document responsibility, not for a safety verdict.
Keep checking: LEASE-iQ cannot assess physical safety or professional competence. Use it to find the document route and make the safety evidence gap visible.
