Do I need a fire risk assessment?
Yes, and since October 2023 it has to be written down in full, whatever the size of your business. Who has to do it, whether you can do it yourself, how often it actually needs redoing, what it should cost, and what you should not be sold on the back of it.
Looking for the technical detail? Read the version for professionals → PAS 79-1:2020, BS 9999, methodology and competence requirements.
Do I need one? Yes. If you employ anyone, or you own, occupy or manage any non-domestic premises in England or Wales, it's the law.
Does it have to be written down? Yes, all of it, since 1 October 2023. The old rule that only businesses with five or more employees had to record it has gone. Plenty of websites, and some suppliers, are still quoting the old rule.
Do I have to pay someone to do it? No. You can do it yourself if you're competent. Whether you should depends on the building, and that's the real buying decision on this page.
What the law actually requires
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to almost every non-domestic premises, and to the common parts of buildings containing two or more homes. It puts the duty on the responsible person: the employer if there is one, otherwise whoever has control of the premises.
The responsible person must carry out a suitable and sufficient assessment of the fire risks, put in place fire safety arrangements, and keep the assessment under review.
Since 1 October 2023, when section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 came into force:
- the whole assessment must be recorded, not just the significant findings, and the fire safety arrangements must be recorded too. This applies regardless of how many people you employ;
- if you appoint someone to do or help with the assessment, you must record their name and organisation;
- where there is more than one responsible person for a building, they must cooperate, coordinate and share their assessments;
- in residential buildings, residents must be given information about the fire safety arrangements.
Scotland: the duty sits with the "dutyholder" under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006. A written record of the significant findings is required where you employ five or more people, where the premises are licensed, or where an alterations notice is in force. Below those thresholds, write it down anyway.
Northern Ireland: the "appropriate person" has the same duty under the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 and the Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010, with similar recording thresholds.
- A licence, certificate or accreditation for the assessor. The law requires competence, not a badge.
- A fixed re-assessment interval. "Annual" is convention, not statute.
- A professional to do it. The Order does not say who must carry it out.
- Any particular format or template.
Most commercial insurance policies require a current fire risk assessment as a condition, and some specify one by a competent third party. Leases often require the tenant to hold one for the demised premises. Licensing authorities will ask for it for pubs, venues and HMOs. Read your policy and lease wording before assuming what "current" or "competent" means in your case.
What this means for your premises
Fire risk assessment is the one thing on this site where "who does it" matters more than "how much it costs", because a bad one is worse than none: it gives you false confidence and gives a fire officer something to pick apart.
The building decides. Three questions:
Does anyone sleep there? Hotels, B&Bs, HMOs, care homes, hostels, flats above the shop. If yes, this is a professional job, every time, and it needs looking at every year.
Is it simple? Single occupier, one or two floors, straightforward escape routes, no vulnerable occupants, no hazardous processes. A small shop, a ground-floor office, a café. Simple premises are where a competent owner can legitimately do the assessment.
Has anything changed? New layout, new tenant, new process, more people, a fire, or a change in the law. Any of those triggers a review whatever the building.
Your options
Option A: do it yourself, for simple, low-risk premises only
Legal, and for a small single-occupier premises with no sleeping risk it can be the right call. Use the government's guide for your type of premises (offices and shops, small and medium places of assembly, and so on), walk the building, record every finding in full, and keep the record with your fire safety arrangements.
Who it fits: small shops, small offices, cafés without accommodation, single-storey units, where the owner knows the building and is prepared to stand behind the document.
Cost: your time. Half a day for the walk-round and the write-up.
The honest test: could you explain and defend every line of it to a fire officer? If not, you're not competent for this building, and the law requires competence.
Option B: a professional assessment, with your own annual review
A competent assessor does the assessment and gives you a written report with prioritised actions. You then review it yourself every year and after any change, and bring the assessor back for a full re-assessment every three to five years, or every year where people sleep.
Who it fits: everything that isn't simple. Any sleeping risk. Multiple floors or occupiers. Public access in numbers. Vulnerable people. Hazardous processes or storage. Any building you don't fully understand.
What to look for in the assessor: third-party registration (the IFE register, the IFSM register, or a BAFE SP205 registered company); a sample report before you book; a site visit, not a desk exercise; and, most importantly, someone who does not also sell the alarms, extinguishers and emergency lighting they're about to tell you that you need.
What a good report looks like: it names the assessor, describes the building and its occupants, identifies the hazards and the people at risk, evaluates the existing measures, and ends with a prioritised action plan with timescales. If it's a tick-box template with no narrative, send it back.
What most small businesses should actually do
Simple, low-risk, no sleeping: Option A is legitimate, but most owners are better served paying £200 to £400 once for Option B and doing their own annual reviews after that. Anything else: Option B, no debate.
How often
The law says "regularly" and "when there's reason to suspect it's no longer valid". It does not say annually. The convention that works:
- You review it every year and after any change. That's a walk-round against the existing report, checking each finding is still true and each action is done. It's free.
- A professional re-does it every three to five years for ordinary premises, and every year where there's sleeping risk, high occupancy or hazardous processes.
Being sold a full professional re-assessment every year for a low-risk office is the most common oversell in fire safety.
What it should cost
Small, simple premises: £200 to £500. Larger buildings, or anywhere with sleeping risk: £600 to £1,500, sometimes more for large or complex sites. The price should track the size and complexity of the building. If a national provider quotes you double the local registered assessor for the same shop, the difference is their overhead, not your safety.
What you shouldn’t be sold
- "You need a professional by law." You don't. You need a competent one, and for simple premises that might be you.
- A full re-assessment every year, by default. For low-risk premises, the annual job is your own review, not a new paid assessment.
- The old five-employee rule. Any supplier still telling you that you don't need it written down is out of date by three years. Ask yourself what else they've missed.
- Kit sold in the same visit. An assessor who arrives, finds you "need" a new alarm panel and a dozen extinguishers, and quotes for them on the spot, is not an assessor. Keep the assessment and the supply separate, always.
- A "fire safety certificate". There is no such thing under the Order. The report is the document.
- A template report with no site visit. If the assessor hasn't walked your building, it isn't an assessment of your building.
- A three-year contract for annual assessments. You're buying a service that you mostly don't need annually, on a term you can't leave.
Check what else your business needs
The fire risk assessment tells you whether your fire alarm, emergency lighting and extinguishers are adequate. It sits alongside your general health and safety risk assessment. Run the Compliance Check to see the full picture for your premises.
Sources
- Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, articles 3, 9 and 22 — legislation.gov.uk
- Building Safety Act 2022, section 156 (in force 1 October 2023) — legislation.gov.uk
- Fire Safety Act 2021 — legislation.gov.uk
- GOV.UK, Fire safety in the workplace and the premises-specific fire safety risk assessment guides — gov.uk
- GOV.UK, Fire safety: guidance for responsible persons on the changes from 1 October 2023
- Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006
- Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 and Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010
- PAS 79-1:2020, Fire risk assessment: premises other than housing
Quick answers
- Is a fire risk assessment a legal requirement in the UK?
- Yes. In England and Wales it is required by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 for almost all non-domestic premises and the common parts of blocks of flats. Scotland and Northern Ireland have equivalent duties under their own legislation.
- Do I need a written fire risk assessment?
- In England and Wales, yes, in full. Since 1 October 2023 the old exemption for businesses with fewer than five employees has gone. Every responsible person must record the whole assessment and their fire safety arrangements. In Scotland and Northern Ireland a written record is still required above certain thresholds and is strongly advisable below them.
- Can I do my own fire risk assessment?
- Legally, yes, if you are competent. For a small, simple, low-risk premises that can be a sensible choice using the government guides. For anything with sleeping risk, multiple floors, vulnerable people, or complex layouts, use a professional. If you are not confident you could defend the assessment in front of a fire officer, you are not competent for that building.
- How often do I need a fire risk assessment?
- The law says review it regularly and whenever something changes. There is no statutory interval. A sensible pattern for ordinary premises is: review it yourself every year and after any change, and have a professional redo it every three to five years, or every year where people sleep on the premises.
- Do I need a new fire risk assessment every year?
- Usually not. An annual review by you is the norm. A full new assessment every year is only justified where the risk is high or the premises change a lot. Being sold an annual full re-assessment for a low-risk office is being oversold.
- How much does a fire risk assessment cost in the UK?
- Small, simple premises typically £200 to £500. Larger buildings and anywhere with sleeping risk, such as hotels, HMOs and care homes, typically £600 to £1,500 or more. Price should follow the size and complexity of the building, not the size of the supplier.
- Who is responsible for the fire risk assessment?
- The "responsible person": usually the employer, or whoever has control of the premises, such as the owner, landlord or managing agent. In a shared building there can be more than one, and they now have a legal duty to cooperate and share information.
- What qualifications does a fire risk assessor need?
- There is no licence. The law requires competence. In practice look for third-party registration, such as the IFE register, the IFSM register or a BAFE SP205 company, and ask for a sample report before you book.
- What happens if I do not have a fire risk assessment?
- Enforcement notices, prohibition notices closing the premises, unlimited fines and, for the most serious breaches, imprisonment. Your insurer may also decline a claim.
- Does a fire risk assessment include fire alarms and extinguishers?
- It assesses whether your detection, alarms, extinguishers, emergency lighting and escape routes are adequate for the risk. It does not include supplying or servicing them, and an assessor who quotes you for that kit in the same visit has a conflict of interest you should notice.
- Do landlords need a fire risk assessment?
- Yes, for the common parts of any building with two or more homes, for HMOs, and for any commercial premises they control. Individual private dwellings are outside the Fire Safety Order.
- How long does a fire risk assessment take?
- A small shop or office, one to three hours on site. A hotel or care home, most of a day or longer. The written report usually follows within a week or two.
This is general information about UK compliance, written for the person paying the bill. It isn’t legal advice. If your situation is unusual, get a professional to look at it.