FRA FAQ
An FRA (fire risk assessment) often costs a few hundred pounds for a small, straightforward building, and the price climbs with scope: a non-destructive Type 1 inspection sits at the low end, a destructive Type 4 survey at the top.
By scope
A Type 1 FRA is a non-destructive inspection of the common parts, the default scope for blocks of flats, and carries the lowest professional fee: often low hundreds of pounds for a small block, rising with size and height. A Type 2 FRA covers the same areas but adds destructive sampling, so the all-in cost steps up sharply, because opening up construction and making good afterwards is contractor work on top of assessment time.
A Type 3 FRA extends the non-destructive inspection into a sample of flats, so access coordination and extra hours land on top of the Type 1 baseline. A Type 4 FRA does both, flats plus destructive work, and is the most expensive by a distance; it is commissioned only where there is genuine doubt about how the building was built or altered. The FRA types overview explains when each scope is justified.
Beyond scope
Within any single type, the fee still moves with the size and height of the building, the complexity of the layout, how smooth access is on the day, and the quality of the records you hand over. A well-documented modern block with a responsive site contact is a quick job; a poorly recorded conversion with locked cupboards is not. Volume matters as well: portfolio programmes are priced more keenly per building than one-off instructions. Location moves the fee a little too, mostly through travel time, but far less than scope and size do.
The cheapest number is not automatically the right one, because the legal test is whether the finished assessment is suitable and sufficient, and the responsible person keeps that liability whoever wrote the report. For what a fair fee has to include, and the warning signs of a fee that is too low, read how much should a fire risk assessment cost.
FAQ
FRA stands for fire risk assessment: the structured review of fire hazards, people at risk and precautions that UK fire safety law requires. In housing it usually means an assessment of the common parts of a block, carried out to a methodology such as BS 9792:2025, and recorded in full with an action plan.
Type 1 is the default: non-destructive and common parts only. The wider scopes exist for specific doubts, such as concerns about construction behind finishes or conditions inside flats. See what are the four types of fire risk assessment for how the choice is made in practice.
No. The fee buys the inspection, the reasoning and the action plan; remedial works are always costed separately. Budget for both, because an assessment that finds nothing to do in an older building is a warning sign rather than a saving, and the actions are where the real spending usually sits.
FRA Flow is BS 9792-native software for UK housing assessors: evidence capture on site, AI-drafted reports and reviewer sign-off. There is a free tier to try.
