Is a fire risk assessment a legal requirement?

Yes — for the vast majority of non-domestic premises, a fire risk assessment is an explicit legal requirement. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 — commonly referred to as the Fire Safety Order — places a duty on the 'responsible person' to carry out and give effect to a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment.

The 'responsible person' under the Fire Safety Order is typically the employer in a workplace setting, or the owner or manager of a non-domestic premises. For shared or multi-occupancy buildings, there may be multiple responsible persons, each with duties relating to their own area of the building and to the common parts.

The scope of the Fire Safety Order is very broad. It applies to all workplaces, commercial premises, community halls, places of worship, schools, hospitals, care homes, hotels, restaurants, shops, and any other premises to which members of the public have access or in which people sleep — with the exception of individual private homes. Houses in multiple occupation, blocks of flats and other residential buildings are covered by the Fire Safety Order in respect of their common areas.

The Building Safety Act 2022 has further strengthened fire safety requirements, particularly for higher-risk residential buildings — those with seven or more storeys or at least 18 metres in height. For these buildings, the responsible person now has enhanced duties including mandatory registration, safety case reports and more rigorous management and oversight requirements.

The penalties for failing to comply with the Fire Safety Order are significant. The fire and rescue authority can issue enforcement notices requiring action within a specified timescale, prohibition notices preventing use of the premises until specified matters are addressed, and — in the most serious cases — criminal prosecution. The courts can impose unlimited fines and, in the most serious cases, custodial sentences.

If you do not currently have a current, suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment for your premises, you are operating in breach of the law. LESH can carry out a fire risk assessment quickly and efficiently, giving you the legal compliance and practical fire safety plan your premises needs.