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In the UK it is a legal requirement for a fire risk assessment to be carried out on almost all premises where people could be working.This is under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in England and Wales, the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 in Scotland and the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 in Northern Ireland.Under these regulations, the “responsible person” is legally obliged to ensure that the fire risk assessment is carried out and to deal with any problems that were highlighted during that assessment (although the relevant phrase is “duty holder” under the Scotland regulations and “appropriate person” under the Northern Ireland regulations).The definition of the “responsible person” is typically the person who has primary responsibility for a premises. This could include facilities managers, owners of premises and managers of buildings.In multi-tenanted buildings, each tenant has to carry out a fire risk assessment of their premises, and coordinate it with the fire risk assessment that the landlord has carried out of their areas.In blocks of flats, the fire risk assessment needs to cover the common areas (such as stairs and corridors) but not necessarily the individual flats.The fire risk assessment has to be carried out to a competent standard. For small buildings, the owner or occupier of the premises is likely to be able to carry the assessment out themselves, as long as they familiarise themselves with the relevant guidance document (click here for a link to the relevant government web site). However for buildings of any size or complexity, it is best to employ a professional fire risk assessor to carry the assessment out.There are a very wide range of levels of expertise for fire risk assessors. The most basic level will simply review your building against standard design codes, and recommend that you upgrade any parts of the building that do not comply. Whilst the fire risk assessment itself may be cheap, this approach can often result in major costs to upgrade buildings to current standards. However, a more experienced fire risk assessor will be able to make reasoned judgement on the level of risk presented by non-compliance and decide whether the risk is tolerable. Even if changes are needed, they may be able to recommend alternative, more cost effective solutions such as changes to management procedures.AK fire risk assessors pride ourselves on having expertise of the highest standards, and are supported by the rest of the company who can provide expert advice on almost all aspects of fire safety when needed. By using AK Fire you are therefore sure that you will be given the best advice and receive the most cost effective solutions to your fire safety requirements
A general best practice (and guidance from UK fire safety regulations) is to review your fire risk assessment annually, even if nothing seems to have changed.
It’s wise to conduct a new full fire risk assessment every few years — typically every 3–5 years, depending on your building’s size, use, and risk profile.
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, you are legally required to review and update your fire risk assessment if:
There’s a significant change in your premises
Building layout changes (e.g. walls, doors, partitions)
New equipment or processes that involve heat or flammable materials
There’s a change in occupancy or use
New tenants, staff, contractors, or different use of the building (e.g. office to retail)
Vulnerable people on site (e.g. children, elderly, disabled individuals)
After a fire, near-miss, or false alarm
Any incident involving fire (even small or contained)
Frequent false alarms suggest something may be wrong in your systems or layout
New fire safety regulations apply
Fire safety laws or British Standards change
Local fire authority provides new guidance or instructions
Your fire safety measures change
Fire alarm system upgrades, fire doors installed, or extinguishers added/removed
