FRA FAQ
A fire risk assessment should include a description of the premises, the fire hazards identified, the people at risk, an evaluation of the existing fire safety measures, the significant findings with a prioritised action plan, and the review arrangements. Since October 2023 all of it must be recorded in full.
The core sections
The premises description sets the context every judgement depends on: height, number of storeys, construction, occupancy and the evacuation strategy, whether stay put or simultaneous evacuation. A reader should be able to picture the building before a single hazard is mentioned. Hazard identification follows, organised around ignition, fuel and oxygen. The people at risk section then names the groups exposed, with particular attention to residents whose age, health or mobility would delay their escape, alongside visitors, staff and contractors.
The evaluation is the longest part of a competent report. It works through detection and warning, emergency lighting, means of escape, fire doors, compartmentation, the external walls where relevant, and the management arrangements: testing, maintenance, housekeeping and the information given to residents. For each measure the question is whether it is present, working and adequate for this building and these occupants, not whether something similar appears in a specification. Shortfalls belong in the findings, never in a footnote.
Findings and follow-through
The significant findings are the heart of the record. Each should state what was observed, why it matters and what should happen next, so a reader can follow the reasoning instead of taking conclusions on trust. The action plan converts findings into work: each item prioritised by risk, assigned to a named owner and given a target date. A finding without an owner and a date is a finding that will still be waiting at the next assessment.
For housing, BS 9792:2025 standardises how the document is put together, which makes reports comparable across a portfolio and easier for enforcing authorities to audit; the free BS 9792 sections tool breaks that structure down. Review arrangements close the report: when it will next be looked at, and which events, from alterations and fire incidents to changes in who lives in the building, should bring that date forward.
FAQ
Yes. Since October 2023 the record must identify whoever performed the assessment, which is one reason selecting a competent person is now part of the duty rather than a nicety. Reports should name the assessor, and where a firm separates fieldwork from review, the reviewer who signed the report as well.
No law demands them, but photographs are the cheapest way to make findings verifiable: a picture of the wedged fire door or the mattress in the stair puts the observation beyond argument. Most modern housing reports attach an image to each significant finding for exactly that reason.
The sections stay the same; the scope changes. A Type 1 assessment covers the common parts non-destructively, while Types 2 to 4 add destructive sampling or flat interiors, and the report should state its type and scope explicitly. What are the four types of fire risk assessment explains how to choose.
FRA Flow turns site evidence into a BS 9792-structured draft with findings, reasoning and a prioritised action plan, ready for reviewer sign-off.
