Who is Responsible for Completing a Fire Risk Assessment

If you run a business, then a fire risk assessment is an important part of ensuring you adhere to all laws and regulations. By completing a fire risk assessment, you can keep employees and the public safe by ensuring you put all the necessary measures in place to enhance fire safety. All of this is governed by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Therefore, all premises, other than a single domestic dwelling must be covered by a suitable fire risk assessment, but who is responsible for it? In this article, we will discuss who is responsible for completing a fire risk assessment.

What is a Fire Risk Assessment and What Does it Involve?

A fire risk assessment will differ and this does depend on the specifications of your property. In the UK, a Fire Risk Assessment involves taking a comprehensive overview of the risk of fire to your premises and those who use them. This means that it looks at fire prevention by identifying fire risks. This will help you to understand the possible risks, allowing you to be responsible for putting the right precautions in place. It is compulsory for all businesses and it will ensure that your insurance is valid at the same time.

Fire risk assessments will include the following:

1. A full, non-invasive, non-destructive Type 1 assessment. The survey is carried out from the floor height using no step ladders, platforms, or other access equipment. The assessment set out in this document is an evacuation of the Life Safety measures to satisfy the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
2. A Fire Risk Assessment in accordance with PAS 79-1:2020.
3. Expert advice and guidance for the Responsible Person on fire safety management to ensure legislative compliance with the following:
   1. Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005;
   2. Relevant British Standards;
   3. Local Authority Requirements;
   4. Building Regulations;
   5. Industry-Specific Guidelines and Regulations;
4. Supporting photographic evidence;
5. Follow-up support and evidence.

Is it a Legal Requirement?

Yes, a fire risk assessment is a legal requirement for businesses and they need to make sure that they make the right decisions when it comes to ensuring that an assessment takes place. Someone who is responsible and competent enough to carry out the fire risk assessment can take care of it. Furthermore, if you have more than five employees or are licensed to store alcohol, you must ensure that you maintain a written record of all risk assessment findings.

How Often It Should Be Reviewed?

Fire safety is hugely important to businesses as it will ensure that the right steps are taken to reduce the risk of fire. While there is no legislation that stipulates how often fire risk assessments should take place, you should aim to complete them regularly. However, you should be able to demonstrate that you do carry out fire risk assessments regularly which is why you should aim to do them once a year at a minimum. You might want to call in professionals to handle the assessment for you but whenever any changes are made to your premises, you should carry out a fire risk assessment.

What Are the Different Types of Fire Risk Assessment?

There are four different types of fire risk assessments. These are:

• Type 1 Fire Risk Assessment -These are the common assessments and involve a non-destructive assessment of common areas within a building.
• Type 2 Fire Risk Assessment – Much like Type 1 where they cover common areas in a building but should be carried out if there are concerns that structural compartmentation is flawed as professionals will need to sample the construction
• Type 3 Fire Risk Assessment – This is another non-destructive assessment that goes above and beyond the requirements of the legislation and considers the individual dwellings as well as the common areas.
• Type 4 Fire Risk – This is similar to Type 2 Fire Risk assessments and is carried out should there be concerns that the structural compartmentation is flawed and so, professionals will need to take a look at the areas considered a risk.

Who is Responsible for a Fire Risk Assessment?

There are several people who might be responsible for completing a fire assessment. Therefore, fire risk assessments have to be completed by:

• Employers – the owner of the business, a director, or a manager
• The owner of the building – This could be the landlord or the employer
• Anyone who has control of the building could be managers, facilities managers, and managing agents.

This means that the landlord and the business tenant are responsible.

Request a Fire Risk Assessment

If you require a fire risk assessment, then it might be time to call on the experts in fire risk assessments. Get in touch today and book your fire risk assessment with us!