Who can carry out a fire risk assessment?

The law does not name a qualification for fire risk assessors. It says the Responsible Person must make a suitable and sufficient assessment, and that anyone they appoint to help must be competent. In practice that leaves building owners asking the same question: who should I trust?

Can I do it myself?

For a small, simple, low-risk building such as a single-storey shop or a small office, a Responsible Person who has read the government guidance and understands the building can carry out their own assessment. Once a building has sleeping occupants, several storeys, complex escape routes, vulnerable people or a mix of uses, a professional assessor is the sensible choice.

What competence means

A competent assessor has enough training, experience and knowledge to assess the building in front of them. The Fire Risk Assessment Competency Council publishes a benchmark that describes what competence looks like, and it scales with the complexity of the building. Someone competent to assess a small office may not be competent to assess a high-rise block of flats.

What to look for

• Membership of a recognised register, such as the Institution of Fire Engineers or the Institute of Fire Safety Managers registers of fire risk assessors.
• Third-party certification of the company, such as BAFE SP205, which audits how the company carries out and checks its assessments.
• Experience of buildings like yours, especially for blocks of flats, care homes and hotels.
• Professional indemnity insurance at a level that suits the building.
• A sample report you can read before you commit.

Questions to ask before you appoint

1. Which register are you on, and at what level?
2. How many buildings like this have you assessed in the last year?
3. Will you inspect the flat entrance doors and consider the external walls, as the Fire Safety Act 2021 requires for blocks of flats?
4. Will the action plan be prioritised with timescales?
5. Who will review the assessment, and when?

Recording who did it

Since October 2023, Responsible Persons in England and Wales must record the full assessment in writing, and must record the name of any person they appointed to carry out or review it. That makes choosing the right assessor part of your own compliance record.

Red flags

• Very low prices with no site visit.
• Generic reports that could describe any building.
• No action plan, or an action plan without priorities.
• An assessor who also sells the remedial work and pushes it hard without explaining the risk.