What a good fire risk assessment looks like
We audited fire risk assessments for a living. Most poor ones fail in the same ways. Here is how to tell the difference before an inspector does.
Side by side
Poor versus suitable and sufficient
The Fire Safety Order requires a "suitable and sufficient" assessment. The phrase is not defined in the Order, but enforcing authorities, the courts and the published standards (BS 9792:2025, PAS 79-1:2020) are consistent about what it means in practice. The table sets out the tests we applied as inspectors and now apply to our own work.
| Area | Poor | Suitable and sufficient |
|---|---|---|
| Assessor | No name, no qualifications and no relevant experience stated. A generic template completed by whoever was free. | A named, qualified assessor with experience of your type of premises. Identity recorded in the report, as the Order now requires. |
| Scope | "Communal areas", with no drawings, no list of what was and was not inspected, and doors "sampled" without saying which. | Scope, assessment type (Type 1 to 4 for blocks of flats), sample sizes and areas not accessed, with reasons, stated up front. |
| Previous assessment | Not mentioned. | Previous report and action plan reviewed; each action confirmed closed, open or overdue. |
| Evidence | Few or no photographs. Findings recorded as "satisfactory" with no indication of what was checked. | Photographs of significant findings; records inspected (alarm, emergency lighting, door checks, servicing) with dates. |
| Significant findings | Vague: "fire doors require attention", "housekeeping to be improved". | Specific: location, defect, why it matters and what to do. Written so a contractor can price it and a manager can check it. |
| People at risk | "Residents, staff and visitors." | Sleeping risk, vulnerable and mobility-impaired residents, staffing levels, lone workers and contractors, and whether the evacuation strategy suits them. |
| Risk rating | Every building "tolerable", or a rating with no reasoning. | A rating from trivial to intolerable with the reasoning, and the rating expected once the actions are complete. |
| Action plan | Everything high priority, or nothing prioritised. No timescales, no owner. | Prioritised with realistic timescales and the reason for each priority. Life-critical items escalated immediately. |
| Management arrangements | Not assessed. | Testing and maintenance regimes, records, training, resident information, contractor control and housekeeping all examined and recorded. |
| Review | "Review in 12 months" by default. | Review date set by risk, with the triggers for an earlier review stated: refurbishment, change of use, a fire, new information. |
| After the report | Emailed and never mentioned again. | Findings explained to your team, life-critical findings phoned through on the day, actions tracked to closure. |
The same defect, two reports
Three findings as they commonly appear, and as they should. The point is not length: a good finding tells the responsible person where the problem is, why it matters, what to do and by when, so a contractor can price it and a manager can check it has been done.
Example 1: a flat entrance door
"Fire doors: satisfactory."
"Flat entrance door, Flat 12 (third floor): overhead closer disconnected, door does not self-close; 8 mm gap at the leading edge; no intumescent strip visible. The door is unlikely to hold back smoke or fire from the flat into the only escape route. Priority 1: restore self-closing and seals within 28 days. Add to the flat entrance door check programme and confirm completion to the assessor."
Example 2: an escape route
"Escape routes: some items stored in corridor. Remove."
"Ground floor corridor serving the rear stair: two mobility scooters on charge and a pram stored against the final exit door, reducing the clear width to about 600 mm; charging cables trail across the route. Scooter batteries are a known ignition source, on the only escape route from twelve flats. Priority 1: remove within 14 days and provide a designated charging area outside the escape route. Write to residents. Add to the monthly management check."
Example 3: emergency lighting
"Emergency lighting: present."
"Emergency lighting fitted throughout the common parts. Monthly function tests recorded to March, none since; the annual three-hour duration test is not recorded. Two luminaires on the second floor landing were not working on the day. Priority 2: repair within 28 days; reinstate monthly and annual testing to BS 5266-1 and keep the log on site."
Ten questions to ask before you appoint an assessor
The responsible person keeps the legal duty even when the assessment is contracted out, and must record the identity of whoever carries it out. The National Fire Chiefs Council and the Fire Sector Federation both publish guidance on choosing a competent assessor. In our experience these ten questions sort the field quickly.
- What qualifications do you hold, and can we see them? Look for a fire risk assessment qualification such as the Level 4 Diploma in Fire Safety (Auditors), membership of a professional body such as the IFSM or IFE, or third-party certification.
- What experience do you have of buildings like ours: sleeping risk, care, high-rise, heritage?
- Which methodology will you use (BS 9792:2025 for housing, PAS 79-1 for other premises), and what type of assessment are you proposing?
- What exactly will you inspect, what will you sample, and what is excluded?
- Will you review our previous assessment and the actions from it?
- How will findings be prioritised, and will life-critical findings be raised on the day?
- Will the report be recorded in full, as the Order now requires, with your name on it?
- Will someone with equal or higher qualifications check the report before it is released?
- Do you carry professional indemnity insurance appropriate to the work?
- Will you explain the findings to our staff and residents, and be available afterwards?
Where the tests come from
- The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005legislation.gov.uk
- Check your fire safety responsibilities under Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022GOV.UK
- Fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flatsGOV.UK
- BS 9792:2025 Fire risk assessment. Housing. Code of practiceBSI
- PAS 79-1:2020 Fire risk assessment. Premises other than housing. Code of practiceBSI
- Finding a fire risk assessorNational Fire Chiefs Council
- A guide to choosing a competent fire risk assessor (PDF)Fire Sector Federation
This page is general guidance for responsible persons, written by former fire safety inspectors. It is not legal advice and does not replace the legislation and official guidance linked above.
Want an assessment that passes these tests?
Our reports are written by former inspectors and checked by a second assessor before release.