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. Competent means trained in fire risk assessment and able to defend every line of the document to a fire officer. For a small simple low risk premises a trained owner can do it with the government guide. Anything with sleeping risk or more than one floor or vulnerable people needs a registered assessor.

How often do I need a fire risk assessment?

The law says review it regularly and whenever something changes. There is no statutory interval. For ordinary premises review it yourself every year and after any change. Have a professional redo it every three to five years. Where people sleep on the premises that is every year.

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 reassessment for a low risk office is being oversold.

How much does a fire risk assessment cost in the UK?

Small simple premises £300. An office or shop with 5 to 19 people £420. Anywhere with sleeping risk such as hotels, HMOs and care homes is a yearly job from £800. 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. Otherwise whoever has control of the premises such as the owner or 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 on the IFE register or the IFSM register or a BAFE SP205 company. Ask for a sample report before you book.

What happens if I do not have a fire risk assessment?

Enforcement notices. Prohibition notices that close 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 and alarms and extinguishers and emergency lighting and escape routes are adequate for the risk. It does not include supplying or servicing them. 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. 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 is one to three hours on site. A hotel or care home is most of a day or longer. The written report usually follows within a week or two.

Buyer guide

Required by law

Do I need a fire risk assessment?

Yes. Since October 2023 it has to be written down in full whatever the size of your business. Who has to do it and who is competent to. How often it needs redoing. What it should cost and what you should not be sold on the back of it.

Written by David SmithFounder & Editor, Compliance Buyer

Legal position checked 10 September 2026Updated 10 September 2026

Applies to: England and Wales under the Fire Safety Order. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own law; the duty is the same, the recording rules differ.

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 it is the law. The same applies if you own or occupy or manage any non domestic premises in England or Wales.

Does it have to be written down? Yes. All of it. That has been the case 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? Not by law. A competent person can do it and that can be someone on your own staff if they are trained for it. Competent means trained, not confident. Whether you should depends on the building and that is the real buying decision on this page.

What the law actually requires

Required by lawEngland and Wales: the Fire Safety Order

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.

Required if…Scotland and Northern Ireland

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. It is also required 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.

Optional, often oversoldNot required by law

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.

Insurers, landlords or clients ask for itInsurers, landlords and licensing

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 what it costs. 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 and B&Bs. HMOs and care homes. Hostels. Flats above the shop. If yes then this is a professional job every time. It needs looking at every year.

Is it simple? One occupier. One or two floors. Clear escape routes. No vulnerable occupants and no hazardous processes. A small shop or a ground floor office or a café. Simple premises are the only place a trained owner can legitimately do the assessment, and only if they are.

Has anything changed? A new layout or a new tenant. A new process or more people. A fire. A change in the law. Any of those triggers a review whatever the building.

Your options

Option A: do it yourself, only if you are competent

The law allows it. Article 9 of the Fire Safety Order says the assessment must be suitable and sufficient and the person doing it must be competent. It does not say they must be a professional. 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. Walk the building. Record every finding in full. Keep the record with your fire safety arrangements.

What competent means here. You have had training in fire risk assessment, not just read about it. You can tell a 30 minute fire door from a plain one and know why it matters. You can judge whether an escape route is long enough and protected enough for the people who use it. You know what a Class A fire does to a stairwell. You know the government guide for your building well enough to see where your premises does not fit it. You can explain and defend every line of the document to a fire officer without looking it up. If any of those is a no, you are not competent for this building and the law requires competence.

Who it fits: a small shop or office with one exit route and no sleeping, run by someone who has done the training and knows the building.

Cost: your time. Half a day for the walk round and the write up.

The risk if you get it wrong. An unsuitable assessment is the same as none. After a fire the first document asked for is this one and the second question is who did it and what qualified them. Enforcement notices and prosecutions under the Order have followed assessments done by owners who thought they were competent and were not. The saving was £300.

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 is not simple, and every simple premises where nobody on the staff is trained to assess it. Any sleeping risk. Multiple floors or occupiers. Public access in numbers. Vulnerable people. Hazardous processes or storage. Any building you do not fully understand.

What to look for in the assessor: a name on the IFE register or the IFSM register or a BAFE SP205 registered company. A sample report before you book. A site visit rather than a desk exercise. Most of all someone who does not also sell the alarms and extinguishers they are about to tell you that you need.

What a good report looks like: it names the assessor. It describes the building and its occupants. It identifies the hazards and the people at risk and weighs the existing measures. It ends with a prioritised action plan with timescales. If it is a tick box template with no narrative then send it back.

What most small businesses should actually do

Simple and low risk with no sleeping and someone trained on the staff: Option A is legitimate. Most owners are still better served paying £300 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 is a walk round against the existing report, checking each finding is still true and each action is done. It is free.
A professional redoes it every three to five years for ordinary premises and every year where there is sleeping risk or high occupancy or hazardous processes.

Being sold a full professional reassessment every year for a low risk office is the most common oversell in fire safety.

What it should cost

Small simple premises: £300. An office or shop with 5 to 19 people: £420. 20 to 49 people: £600. Anywhere with sleeping risk is a yearly job at £800 and up. Large or complex sites can be more. 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 then the difference is their overhead. It is not your safety.

Figures are typical prices taken from published commercial price guides and checked October 2026. Same method on every page. Larger or more complex premises sit above them.

What you shouldn’t be sold

"You need a professional by law." You do not. You need a competent one. For a simple premises that can be a trained person on your own staff.
A full reassessment 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 do not need it written down is out of date by three years. Ask yourself what else they have missed.
Kit sold in the same visit. An assessor who arrives and 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 has not walked your building it is not an assessment of your building.
A three year contract for annual assessments. You are buying a service you mostly do not need annually, on a term you cannot 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.

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. Competent means trained in fire risk assessment and able to defend every line of the document to a fire officer. For a small simple low risk premises a trained owner can do it with the government guide. Anything with sleeping risk or more than one floor or vulnerable people needs a registered assessor.
How often do I need a fire risk assessment?: The law says review it regularly and whenever something changes. There is no statutory interval. For ordinary premises review it yourself every year and after any change. Have a professional redo it every three to five years. Where people sleep on the premises that is every year.
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 reassessment for a low risk office is being oversold.
How much does a fire risk assessment cost in the UK?: Small simple premises £300. An office or shop with 5 to 19 people £420. Anywhere with sleeping risk such as hotels, HMOs and care homes is a yearly job from £800. 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. Otherwise whoever has control of the premises such as the owner or 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 on the IFE register or the IFSM register or a BAFE SP205 company. Ask for a sample report before you book.
What happens if I do not have a fire risk assessment?: Enforcement notices. Prohibition notices that close 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 and alarms and extinguishers and emergency lighting and escape routes are adequate for the risk. It does not include supplying or servicing them. 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. 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 is one to three hours on site. A hotel or care home is most of a day or longer. The written report usually follows within a week or two.

Find and check

Who can I use for this?

We do not recommend suppliers. Here is the official register and what to check before you book.

The register

IFE Register of Fire Risk Assessors Search by area. Shows the assessor and their level.
IFSM Tiered Fire Risk Assessors Register Tier 1 to Tier 3. Higher is more experienced.
BAFE SP205 registered companies Companies certified for fire risk assessment.

Check

Their name on one of the registers above.
Public liability and professional indemnity insurance in date.
A sample report they will show you before you book.

Ask

Will you walk the whole building rather than work from a desk?
Do you also sell alarms or extinguishers? If yes, how do you keep the assessment separate?
What interval will you recommend for the next full assessment and why?

Insist on

A written report with a prioritised action plan and timescales.
Your name and the assessor’s name and organisation on the record. That is now the law.
A one off price for the assessment. No annual contract for a document.

How do I find and check a fire risk assessor near me?

General information about UK compliance, written for the person paying the bill. Not legal advice. If your situation is unusual, get a professional to look at it. See our editorial standards.