FRA FAQ
Two recent British Standards are usually meant: BS 8674, the framework defining competence for individual fire risk assessors, and BS 9792:2025, the code of practice for fire risk assessment in housing that succeeds PAS 79-2. One says who is fit to assess; the other says how housing should be assessed.
BS 8674
BS 8674 exists because competence claims were previously hard to test: anyone could trade as a fire risk assessor, and responsible persons had little beyond reputation to go on. The standard sets out what a competent person doing fire risk assessment needs to know and be able to do, so that training providers, third-party schemes such as BAFE SP205, the IFE registers and FRACS, and individual assessors all work to one shared definition instead of private ones.
For commissioning, BS 8674 changes the questions you ask. Instead of requesting a CV, you ask how competence is evidenced against the standard and whether third-party certification backs the claim. That diligence carries more weight than it used to: responsible persons now record who carried out each assessment, and appointing someone genuinely competent has itself become part of complying. How to obtain a fire risk assessment folds these checks into the commissioning sequence.
BS 9792:2025
BS 9792:2025 carries the housing methodology forward from PAS 79-2, upgrading it from a publicly available specification to a full British Standard code of practice. It covers fire risk assessment across residential stock, from general needs blocks to sheltered and supported housing, and puts weight on evidence behind findings and on assessing the building as found rather than as documented. The PAS 79 page explains where the older document still applies outside housing.
If you commission FRAs for residential buildings, expect reports to migrate to the BS 9792 structure at their next cycle and treat that migration as a quality signal rather than an upheaval. The differences are mapped in the PAS 79 versus BS 9792 guide, and the free PAS 79 to BS 9792 mapping tool shows how existing report sections translate. An assessor with no view on when they are moving across is telling you something about their training budget.
FAQ
No. The binding duty remains the suitable and sufficient assessment under the Fire Safety Order 2005. Standards describe recognised good practice, which is what enforcing authorities and courts use to judge whether the duty was met, so departing from them without documented reasons is uncomfortable territory.
No. BS 9792:2025 supersedes the housing part, PAS 79-2, while the part covering premises other than housing continues in use. If your portfolio is residential, BS 9792 is now the reference document, and the BS 9792 sections tool lets you browse the new structure clause by clause.
Not immediately. An assessment done competently to PAS 79-2 does not become invalid overnight, but the next review or reassessment is the natural point to move across, and commissioning to BS 9792 from now on avoids paying twice for the transition.
FRA Flow is BS 9792-native for UK housing: evidence capture mapped to the methodology, AI-drafted reports and reviewer sign-off. Free tier exists.
