A nursery's compliance is unusual in two ways: the fire risk assessment is a professional annual job because the occupants cannot leave by themselves, and the training is partly statutory under EYFS rather than left to your judgement. Beyond those, it is the standard premises set with a higher-risk legionella tier. Buy the assessment and the training from people who know early years, keep the drills and the checks in-house and recorded, and ignore anything sold to you with Ofsted's name on it.
← All sectors
Compliance for Nurseries & childcare
Compliance for Nurseries & Childcare — What You Actually Need
You are responsible for children who cannot evacuate themselves, in a premises with a kitchen, water play and nappy-changing areas, inspected by Ofsted and the fire service. Some of your compliance is unusually specific. Here is what applies, in order.
Your risk profile
High for evacuation, medium for everything else. Children who cannot self-evacuate put nurseries in the same fire category as care homes, and the Early Years Foundation Stage framework adds statutory training requirements no other sector has. The premises compliance is otherwise standard. The oversell is packages sold on the back of Ofsted anxiety.
What applies to you
In the order it matters. Each links to a plain-English guide.
Required by lawYou must do this. Not doing it is an offence.
Required if…Required in some situations, not others. Depends on your premises and how you use them.
Good practiceNot written into law, but it is the recognised way to show you have met a legal duty.
Insurers, landlords or clients ask for itNot a legal requirement. A contractual one. Check the wording of what is actually being asked.
Optional, often oversoldNobody is making you buy this. Suppliers will still try.
Fire Risk AssessmentRequired by law
Required, recorded in full, and a registered-assessor job every time because the occupants cannot evacuate themselves. Evacuation cots, refuge points, staff ratios during a fire drill, and the drill itself are in scope. Reviewed every year and after any change to the rooms or the numbers.
Workplace Safety TrainingRequired by law
Paediatric first aid is a statutory EYFS requirement: at least one person with a current 12-hour paediatric first-aid certificate on site at all times and on outings. Plus safeguarding, food hygiene for anyone preparing food, fire marshals, and manual handling for lifting children. This is the sector where named courses are genuinely mandatory.
Health & Safety Risk AssessmentRequired by law
Room-by-room and activity risk assessments are EYFS expectations as well as a legal duty: outdoor areas, water play, sleep rooms, outings, allergens, nappy changing and infection control. Yours to write; a nursery manager knows the risks better than any consultant.
Legionella Risk AssessmentRequired by law
Young children are a higher-risk group, and nurseries have showers, water play and outlets that sit unused over holidays. A professional assessment is sensible; then monthly temperatures and flushing after every holiday period, in-house.
Fire Alarm SystemsRequired by law
Detection throughout in almost every case (L1 or L2), set by the FRA, with a sound level children can hear and staff can act on. Weekly test by you, six-monthly service.
Emergency LightingRequired by law
Required throughout the escape routes and any room without daylight. Monthly test by you, annual duration test.
Fire ExtinguishersRequired by law
Per the FRA, mounted out of children's reach, wet chemical and blanket in the kitchen. Annual service.
Gas SafetyRequired by law
The kitchen and heating: annual service by an engineer registered for the type of appliance, and CO alarms. Radiator covers and surface temperatures are a separate risk-assessment item.
Electrical (EICR)Good practice
Five-yearly. Socket covers are not the answer (they can make sockets less safe); RCD protection and socket condition are what the report should confirm.
PAT TestingGood practice
Kitchen equipment annually, everything else on the two-year cycle. Daily visual checks on anything in a room with children.
Asbestos ManagementRequired if…
Many nurseries occupy converted houses, church halls and older schools. Pre-2000: management survey, register, and the register shown to every contractor. Ofsted will ask.
Common questions
What does the fire service actually look for in a nursery?
The fire risk assessment, the evacuation plan for non-ambulant children (cots, ratios, where they go), evidence of regular drills, fire doors held open only on approved devices, detection coverage, and staff who can describe what they would do. The assessment is the document that ties it together.
Is paediatric first aid really mandatory?
Yes, under the EYFS statutory framework. At least one person with a current, full paediatric first-aid certificate must be on the premises and on outings at all times when children are present. Newly qualified staff with a childcare qualification must also hold it to count in ratios. It is a 12-hour course, £120 to £250, renewed every three years.
Do we need socket covers?
No, and the Department for Education and electrical safety bodies advise against them: UK sockets have built-in shutters, and covers can damage them or be used to defeat the shutter. What you need is a satisfactory EICR confirming RCD protection, and sockets in good condition. Anyone selling you socket covers as compliance is selling plastic.
What should this cost?
Higher than a shop because of the annual professional fire risk assessment, the training that is genuinely statutory, and the water hygiene. The recurring premises services are the standard set. Where nurseries are oversold is on Ofsted-branded "compliance packages" and on annual re-assessments of everything. Ofsted does not require a package; it requires the documents this page describes, kept current.
Not sure how this applies to your premises?
Tell The Guide about your business and it will help you work out what you actually need — in plain English or full technical detail, your choice.
Review my risk →General information to help you understand your obligations and judge your own risk. Not legal advice.