What a fire risk assessment covers, step by step

Step 1, before anyone turns up

A useful assessment starts with the boring paperwork: what the building is used for, how many people are in it, whether anyone sleeps there, whether anyone would need help to leave, previous reports, alarm and extinguisher certificates, and any enforcement history. Scoping this first is what keeps the site visit short and the fee fixed.

Step 2, the external walk

The outside tells you a lot. Where the final exits discharge to, whether the escape route away from the building is clear and lit, where bins and combustible storage sit against the wall, how the fire service would get in, and whether there is anything obvious about the construction that affects how fire would spread.

Step 3, hazards and ignition sources

Electrical distribution and its inspection status, heating, cooking, hot works, smoking and vaping, charging of batteries and e bikes, plant and machinery, and how combustible material is stored near any of it. Most real fires start at a small number of predictable points, and this is where they are found.

Step 4, people and escape

Numbers, hours, sleeping risk, lone working, visitors and anyone who needs a personal emergency evacuation plan. Then the route itself: travel distances, dead ends, door direction and hardware, stairs, changes of level and whether a second route exists if the first is lost.

Step 5, the protection already there

Compartmentation and fire stopping, fire doors and their seals, closers and gaps, detection grade and category, alarm coverage and audibility, emergency lighting coverage, signage, and extinguisher type, siting and service dates. Each is judged against what the building needs, not against a catalogue.

Step 6, management

Testing routines, log books, drills, staff instruction, permit systems, contractor control and who actually holds the duty. Two identical buildings can carry very different risk purely because one is managed and the other is not.

Step 7, the evaluation

The assessor forms a view on the likelihood of fire and the likely consequences, then decides whether the risk is tolerable with the controls in place. This judgement is what separates an assessment from a checklist.

Step 8, the action plan

Findings are written as actions, each with a priority, a plain English remedy and an owner. Anything immediately dangerous is raised on the day rather than saved for the report.

Step 9, the review date

The assessment is a living document. It is reviewed regularly and again after any material change: layout works, a change of use, new occupants, a near miss or an incident. The Fire Safety Order 2005 sets the duty, and the official government guidance and your fire and rescue authority give the final word on your particular premises.