FRA FAQ
You can carry out your own fire risk assessment if you can run the whole process to a suitable and sufficient standard: gathering the building information, walking the premises systematically, making the judgements each of the five steps demands, then recording everything with an action plan.
Preparation and inspection
Start with the paperwork: the previous assessment and how its actions were closed out, floor plans, alarm and emergency lighting test records, fire door maintenance history, any alterations since the last inspection, and what you know about the people who use the building. For a residential building that includes the evacuation strategy and any occupants who would struggle to escape unaided. Records tell you where to look; a walk without them is guesswork dressed up as diligence.
The walk itself has to be methodical rather than casual: every space, from the top of the building to the bottom, looking for ignition sources, fuel and anything compromising the means of escape. Check door closers and seals, storage in corridors and cupboards, the state of any compartmentation you can see, and photograph as you go, because every finding you record later needs evidence behind it.
Judgement and record
Each of the five steps ends in a judgement, and the judgements are where competence gets tested. You must weigh how likely ignition is in this specific building, who would be slowest to escape and what would slow them, and whether the precautions you can see are genuinely adequate rather than merely present. A question you cannot answer with confidence marks the edge of your competence, and the honest response at that edge is advice, not optimism.
Recording is a legal duty, not an administrative afterthought: since Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 the findings and measures must be written up in full. Every significant finding needs its evidence, the reasoning behind it and a prioritised action with an owner and a date. What should a fire risk assessment include breaks the document down, and setting the review arrangements is the final act of the assessment, not an optional extra.
FAQ
Preparation, inspection and write-up for a small, simple premises can fit inside a day, though the write-up often takes longer than the walk. Larger or more complicated buildings stretch to several days. How long does it take to get a fire risk assessment covers professional lead times too.
The previous assessment and its action tracker, plans, alarm and lighting test records, fire door inspection history, details of alterations, and anything known about occupants with mobility or health limitations. Missing records are themselves a finding worth writing down, because they suggest the maintenance regime needs attention.
No. A camera, a notebook and the five-step structure satisfy the law for a simple premises. What matters is that the finished record is complete and traceable to evidence. Structured tools help most when you manage several buildings or need consistency between assessments year on year.
FRA Flow guides evidence capture on site and drafts the recorded findings and action plan for review. Built on BS 9792 for UK housing.
