Fire risk assessment software for HMOs.

Every HMO carries the Fire Safety Order 2005 duty on its common parts. The Responsible Person (typically the freeholder, landlord, or letting agent acting for them) must carry out a suitable and sufficient FRA, record the significant findings, and review periodically. The methodology is the same as for any other multi-occupied residential building: BS 9792:2025.

In addition, larger HMOs are subject to mandatory licensing under the Housing Act 2004. The threshold is a property occupied by five or more persons forming two or more households. Licensing conditions vary by local authority, but typically include specific fire safety standards (smoke alarms in every habitable room, heat alarms in kitchens, fire blankets or extinguishers in shared kitchens, fire doors on bedrooms in some configurations). Local authorities may also operate additional or selective licensing schemes that bring smaller HMOs into the regime.

For the assessor, this means the HMO FRA does two jobs at once. It discharges the FSO duty, and it provides the fire safety evidence the local authority licensing officer references at licence application or renewal.

In FRA Flow, an HMO is set up as a property record with building type "HMO". The assessment workbench surfaces HMO-specific section content where it differs from a block of flats: bedroom door inspection prompts, shared kitchen risk evaluation, occupancy-density evaluation against escape route capacity. The competent assessor still drives the judgement; the workflow keeps the HMO-specific elements in front of them.

The output report is a BS 9792-shaped document the local authority will recognise. For licensable HMOs, the report covers the elements typically referenced at licence renewal. The audit trail is identical to any other FRA Flow assessment: named competent assessor, named competent reviewer, content hash, timestamp, traceable evidence.