Is a Fire Risk Assessment a Legal Requirement?
11 Jun 2026 | By Ron Fellowes MIFSM, GIFireE, CertNCRQ
Fire risk assessments are a key part of residential fire safety compliance. Learn what UK legislation requires and what it means for managing agents and housing providers.
If you are responsible for managing residential buildings, understanding your legal duties around fire risk assessments is essential. Fire safety legislation places clear responsibilities on housing associations, managing agents, landlords, and building owners to identify fire risks and implement appropriate fire safety measures within multi-occupied residential buildings.
In this article, we cover when a fire risk assessment is legally required, which buildings fall within scope, and what current fire safety legislation means in practice for residential compliance.
Are Fire Risk Assessments a Legal Requirement?
Yes. Fire risk assessments are a legal requirement for most non-domestic premises in the UK. Private single dwellings are generally excluded, but common areas in blocks of flats are covered, such as:
- Blocks of flats
- HMOs
- Sheltered accommodation
- Supported housing
- Student accommodation
- Mixed-use residential buildings
Under the legislation, the Responsible Person must take general fire precautions, so far as is reasonably practicable, to ensure the safety of relevant persons within the premises.
In England and Wales, this duty sits under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. In Scotland, it’s established by the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006.
What Is a Fire Risk Assessment?
A fire risk assessment (FRA) is a structured review of a building to identify fire hazards, assess the risks to occupants, and determine whether existing fire precautions are suitable.
Within residential portfolios, the FRA is one of the key documents used to evidence that fire risks are being identified, monitored, and actively managed.
A suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment must assess:
- Sources of ignition
- Combustible materials
- Potential fire hazards
- Means of escape
- Fire detection and alarm systems
- Emergency lighting
- Fire doors and compartmentation
- Fire extinguishers and fire prevention equipment
- Evacuation procedures
- Management arrangements
- Risks to vulnerable occupants
The assessment should also identify remedial actions, prioritise risk levels, and support ongoing compliance management across the building.
Who Is Responsible for Arranging the Fire Risk Assessment?
The Responsible Person is legally responsible for ensuring a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment is carried out.
Depending on the ownership and management structure, the Responsible Person may be:
- A housing association
- A managing agent
- A freeholder
- A building owner
- An employer occupying the premises
You can appoint a fire safety consultant to carry out the assessment, but legal responsibility for compliance remains with the Responsible Person.
What Are the Responsible Person’s Legal Duties?
The Responsible Person must ensure a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment is completed by a competent person and reviewed regularly.
However, the fire risk assessment is only one part of the Responsible Person’s wider legal duties. The assessment should help determine whether the organisation is meeting its responsibilities to:
- Carry out a fire risk assessment
- Implement appropriate fire precautions
- Maintain fire safety systems
- Provide fire safety information and training
- Ensure safe means of escape
- Cooperate and coordinate with other duty holders
- Appoint competent persons
- Protect vulnerable occupants
- Record significant findings
- Comply with enforcement actions where applicable
Following the Building Safety Act 2022 and wider post-Grenfell reforms, regulators increasingly expect organisations to demonstrate clear evidence that these duties are being actively managed across residential portfolios.
If you manage higher-risk residential buildings, you should be able to evidence fire safety governance, completed remedial actions, competent assessor appointments, and regular FRA reviews.
Need a Fire Risk Assessment?
Osterna delivers professionally accredited Fire Risk Assessments for housing associations, managing agents, and large private landlords across the UK. We are operationally ready to take on new clients.
How Often Should a Fire Risk Assessment Be Carried Out?
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in England and Wales does not specify how often a fire risk assessment is required. Instead, the legislation requires the Responsible Person to ensure the assessment remains suitable, sufficient, and up to date.
Similarly, in Scotland, the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006 require duty holders to regularly review fire safety arrangements and ensure fire risk assessments remain current.
While there is no fixed legal review interval, BS 9792:2025 and other industry guidance support a risk-based approach to reviewing fire risk assessments.
- Low-rise buildings (up to 4 storeys or below 11m): Organisations review the fire risk assessment every 2 years and arrange a new assessment every 4 years.
- Mid-rise buildings (5–6 storeys or approximately 11–18m): Housing providers organise annual reviews and complete a new fire risk assessment every 3 years.
- High-rise buildings (7+ storeys or 18m+): Many organisations arrange annual reassessments, particularly where enhanced regulatory duties, complex fire safety systems, or significant remediation programmes are in place.
The Responsible Person should also review the fire risk assessment immediately following significant changes, major refurbishment works, or a fire incident.
Which Types of Buildings Need a Fire Risk Assessment?
Fire risk assessments are a legal requirement for almost all non-domestic premises and the common parts of multi-occupied residential buildings.
Within residential settings, this includes:
Residential Buildings
- Purpose-built blocks of flats
- HMOs
- Sheltered accommodation
- Supported housing
- Student accommodation
- Mixed-use residential buildings
Commercial and Mixed-Use Buildings
The legislation also applies to commercial premises, including:
- Offices
- Retail units
- Warehouses
- Hotels
- Care homes
- Leisure facilities
Which Areas Are Covered?
Within residential buildings, the legal duty applies to common parts and shared areas such as:
- Corridors
- Stairwells
- Entrance lobbies
- Plant rooms
- Bin stores
- Roof spaces
- External wall systems
Individual domestic flats are generally excluded from the scope of the Fire Safety Order. However, the Fire Safety Act 2021 clarifies that flat entrance doors, external walls, balconies, and cladding systems fall within the scope of fire safety legislation in England and Wales.
Scotland operates under separate legislation, including the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006. Although the legal framework differs, duty holders in Scotland are still required to assess and manage fire risks within relevant premises and common areas.
If you manage residential portfolios, maintaining clear records of which buildings and areas are covered by the fire risk assessment is important for demonstrating compliance during inspections, audits, resident complaints investigations, and enforcement reviews.
What Happens if You Do Not Have a Fire Risk Assessment?
Failing to carry out a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment can lead to serious legal, financial, and operational consequences. In the event of a fire, local Fire and Rescue Services have the authority to take enforcement action against Responsible Persons who fail to meet their duties under fire safety legislation.
This may include:
- Alterations notices
- Enforcement notices
- Prohibition notices
- Criminal prosecution
In serious cases, penalties can include unlimited fines and imprisonment.
Non-compliance can also create wider operational and reputational risks, including:
- Increased civil liability exposure
- Insurance complications
- Delays to planned works and projects
- Regulatory scrutiny
- Resident complaints and escalation
- Reputational damage
During audits, investigations, and enforcement activity, fire risk assessments are often among the first documents requested by regulators, Fire and Rescue Services, insurers, and legal representatives.
Poor-quality fire risk assessments can attract the same level of scrutiny as missing assessments, particularly where remedial actions have not been addressed or properly recorded.
Managing Fire Safety Compliance Across Your Portfolio
Fire risk assessments are legally required for most non‑domestic premises and for the common parts of multi‑occupied residential buildings across the UK.
If you are responsible for fire safety compliance across a residential portfolio and need a trusted, BAFE SP205-accredited provider, Osterna can help.
We work with housing associations, managing agents, and large private landlords across the UK, delivering Fire Risk Assessments, asset testing, fire door inspections, and building compliance services.
Get in touch with the Osterna team today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. For blocks of flats, a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment is required for the common parts. In England and Wales, this sits under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, and in Scotland under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 with the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006.
The Responsible Person can carry out a fire risk assessment if they are competent to do so. However, many organisations appoint specialist consultants due to the technical and legal complexity involved.
BS 8674:2025 sets out a competency framework for individual fire risk assessors, and organisations should ensure the assessor has the appropriate skills, knowledge, and experience for the building being assessed.
You can obtain a fire risk assessment by appointing a competent fire risk assessor. A professional fire risk assessment should reflect the specific risks, layout, occupancy profile, fire alarm systems, and fire safety arrangements within the building.
The assessment should also identify practical measures to reduce the risk of fire, protect occupants, and support ongoing compliance with fire safety legislation.
The five key steps of a fire risk assessment are identifying fire hazards, identifying people at risk, evaluating and reducing fire risks, recording findings and implementing actions, and reviewing the assessment regularly.
In practice, competent fire risk assessors often follow a more detailed assessment process to evaluate fire hazards, fire protection measures, fire safety management arrangements, and risks to occupants.
In England and Wales, fire risk assessments are required under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Additional duties were introduced through the Fire Safety Act 2021 and the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022.
In Scotland, fire safety duties are governed by the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006.
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