Article 9 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the responsible person to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to relevant persons. Since 1 October 2023, section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 requires the whole assessment to be recorded, not just the significant findings, and requires that anyone appointed to do it is competent.
What it should contain
- Building description: use, construction, occupancy, hours, sleeping risk, height and layout.
- Identification of fire hazards: ignition sources, fuel, oxygen, arson risk.
- People at risk: staff, residents, visitors, contractors, people with disabilities, lone workers, sleeping occupants.
- Evaluation of existing controls: means of escape, compartmentation, detection and alarm, emergency lighting, signage, extinguishers, fixed systems, management arrangements, training, maintenance records.
- For blocks of flats: external walls and flat entrance doors, as required by the Fire Safety Act 2021.
- Significant findings and an action plan with each item prioritised and given a timescale.
- Date of assessment, assessor details and competence, and the review date.
Red flags
- A tick-box template with no photographs or building-specific detail.
- An action plan where everything is marked high priority, or nothing is.
- No mention of external walls or flat doors in a residential block.
- The assessor could not access plant rooms, roof voids or flats and did not say so.
- No reference to the fire strategy or the evacuation procedure.
- It has not been reviewed since a refurbishment, change of use or a fire.
Competence. Ask who is doing the assessment, what qualifications they hold, whether they work to PAS 79 and whether they carry professional indemnity insurance. The Fire Sector Federation and the Fire Risk Assessment Competency Council publish competency criteria.
Review
The assessment must be reviewed regularly and whenever there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid or there has been a significant change. Annually is the common practice, with a full reassessment every three years or sooner for higher-risk buildings.