Can I do my own fire risk assessment?

Yes – if you are the Responsible Person for fire safety in a commercial building, and you have the necessary knowledge, skills and experience, you can do a fire risk assessment yourself, with the help of standard fire safety risk assessment instructions.

However, if you don’t feel you have the confidence, time or knowledge to properly undertake the fire risk assessment yourself, you will need to appoint a ‘competent person’ to help, ie a professional risk assessor from a fire safety services provider. Your local fire and rescue authority may also be able to give you advice if you’re not sure your risk assessment has been carried out properly. However, they are unable to do the risk assessment itself. 

Find out more about your Fire Risk Assessment obligations >>

Ultimately, if you are the Responsible Person for commercial buildings, you must ensure that a fire risk assessment is  completed (and documented if your business has five or more people) and regularly reviewed to identify and highlight what you need to do to prevent fire and keep people safe.

Legislation dictates that your FRA must be ‘suitable and sufficient’, which is often only possible to achieve by working with a ‘neutral’ fire safety specialist who can dedicate the necessary time, know-how and resources. The right partner will be able to do the assessment itself and make clear recommendations based on their findings, before installing and maintaining any equipment and devices you require.