Fire Safety Risk Assessment

A Fire Safety Risk Assessment is a careful look at your premises and the people who frequent them, from a fire prevention perspective. It’s about understanding the potential risks, then improving your fire safety precautions to help keep people and property safe.

A Fire Risk Assessment is a legal requirement. If you are responsible for a building, for example an employer, owner or occupier of premises that aren’t classed as a ‘single private dwelling’ (a private home), you need to make sure a suitably competent person completes a Fire Risk Assessment. It is your duty to identify the fire risks and hazards in your premises and take appropriate action to ensure fire safety precautions are implemented and followed.

From the 1 October 2023, Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 makes changes to The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 that will affect all Responsible Persons (the person appointed with the responsibility for Fire Safety within your company).

These changes have been implemented to improve the fire safety in non-domestic premises and any premises that contain two or more domestic dwellings (referred to as multi-occupied residential buildings).

All Responsible Persons must now record all findings from their fire risk assessment, regardless of the size or purpose of the premises.

Previously, there was a requirement to only record significant findings in a fire risk assessment in buildings that had five or more employees; a licence in place; and an alterations notice served on it. This is no longer the case.

All Responsible Persons must now record their fire safety arrangements for their buildings no matter how many staff are employed. 

Fire safety arrangements are how you manage the fire safety in your building. These can be anything from procedures you need to have written down to policies you have in place.

All Responsible Persons must now record the identity of the individual employed, or contracted by them, to undertake or review any or all of the fire risk assessment. 

This includes:

Their full name

Their organisation name, if applicable

If as a Responsible Person, you appoint someone to help undertake or review your fire risk assessment, they must be classed as a Competent Person. By that we mean they must have sufficient training, experience and knowledge. (The legal definition of a Competent Person is currently being reviewed by the Home Office and full details are set to be released in 2024. It is believed part of this definition, will include the requirement to be registered with a governing body and enrolled on their Fire Risk Assessment Register).

Failure to comply with these fire safety regulations will now incur stricter penalties, which will include unlimited fines and imprisonment.