Standards reference
PAS 79 was the publicly available specification for fire risk assessment methodology in the UK. The 2020 housing edition (PAS 79-2:2020) and general edition (PAS 79-1:2020) were replaced by BS 9792:2025. This page explains what PAS 79 was, what changed, and what to do with legacy reports.
What it is
A publicly available specification (PAS) is a fast-track standardisation document. BSI publishes them when an industry or regulator needs a recognised reference quickly, before a full British Standard can be developed through the slower committee process. PAS documents go through consultation, but they sit a step below a full BS in formal status. They are intended to be reviewed and either confirmed, revised, or withdrawn within a few years.
PAS 79 was published in 2007 to fill exactly this gap. The Fire Safety Order had created the duty to assess fire risk; the sector needed a methodology. BSI published the first edition of PAS 79 to provide one. By 2012 the second edition tightened the methodology; by 2020 the third edition split the document into PAS 79-1 (general buildings) and PAS 79-2 (housing), reflecting how distinct the housing FRA workflow had become in practice.
For most of two decades, "doing a PAS 79 FRA" was the recognised shorthand for doing a competent fire risk assessment in the UK. Insurers asked for it. Landlord clients specified it. Competent reviewers checked work against it. Software products positioned themselves as PAS 79-aligned. The specification became part of the language of UK fire safety practice.
The two parts
The 2020 revision was the first to split the document. PAS 79-1:2020 covered fire risk assessment in non-domestic premises and the common parts of multi-occupied residential buildings where the assessor needed a general methodology. PAS 79-2:2020 was the housing-specific code, written for blocks of flats, HMOs, sheltered housing and similar residential settings where the operational realities differ from a general FRA.
The split was a response to the post-Grenfell environment. Housing fire risk assessment had become a distinct discipline in practice, with its own building stock, its own regulatory pressure, and its own client expectations. Treating it as an annex to a general FRA methodology was not enough. PAS 79-2:2020 was the document that gave the housing FRA work its own methodological home.
Replacement
BS 9792:2025 was published by BSI as the full British Standard succeeding PAS 79. BS 9792-1 covers general buildings, replacing PAS 79-1:2020. BS 9792-2 covers housing, replacing PAS 79-2:2020. The structure is intentionally familiar. An assessor who has worked to PAS 79 for the past few years will recognise the methodology immediately.
The substantive changes show up in three places. The evidence model is more explicit, with the expectation that significant findings are traceable to specific observations and evidence written into the methodology rather than left for individual assessors to interpret. Competence wording is tighter, addressing more directly who can lead an assessment and who can review it. Periodic review and significant-change triggers are stated more sharply, reducing the room for "we will do it next year" ambiguity.
The change in status from PAS to full BS also matters. A British Standard goes through a deeper consultation process and revision cycle than a publicly available specification, which raises the weight competent reviewers and enforcing authorities give it.
Legacy reports
Existing PAS 79-2:2020 fire risk assessments do not become invalid the day BS 9792:2025 is published. The legal duty under the Fire Safety Order remains discharged by a suitable and sufficient assessment, and a PAS 79-2 report by a competent assessor is exactly that. Each report runs to its next periodic review date.
At the next periodic review, the new assessment is carried out to BS 9792:2025. The new report should reference the previous PAS 79-2 assessment and explain that the methodology has updated, so the audit trail is clean for landlord clients and enforcing authorities. The action plan from the prior assessment carries over: items still open are reviewed, closed-out items recorded, and any new significant findings under the BS 9792 methodology added.
If a significant change to the building or its fire safety arrangements occurs before the periodic review date, the re-assessment triggered by that change is also carried out under BS 9792:2025. There is no benefit to falling back on PAS 79-2 once BS 9792 is the recognised methodology.
Transition
What did not change
Most of what makes PAS 79-era practice good practice continues under BS 9792. The five-stage methodology is preserved. The dutyholder model under the Fire Safety Order is unchanged. The scope of housing settings the methodology applies to is the same. The role of the competent assessor and the competent reviewer carries over. The reporting structure follows the same broad shape.
For an assessor or reviewer who built a strong PAS 79-2 practice, the transition to BS 9792 is incremental, not revolutionary. The judgement, the building knowledge, the client relationships, the audit trail discipline. All of that carries over. The standard change is a chance to tighten the parts of the work that were always supposed to be tight, and to align the language of the practice with the new reference document.
Common misconceptions
Software
FRA Flow is built around BS 9792:2025 from the data model up. The report template, section structure, evidence linkage and reviewer workflow all reflect the current standard, not the previous one. For teams transitioning from PAS 79-2 reports, FRA Flow makes the methodological step natural rather than disruptive: the on-site capture, the AI-assisted drafting, the reviewer queue and the issued report all shape themselves around BS 9792 from the first new assessment.
For legacy PAS 79-2 reports already on file with other tools, FRA Flow does not retroactively rewrite them. They run to their periodic review. When that date arrives, the new BS 9792 assessment is created in FRA Flow and the prior report is referenced in the audit trail.
FAQ
For reports issued before BS 9792:2025 was published, PAS 79-2 remains the methodology those reports were carried out under and they remain valid until their next periodic review. For new reports, BS 9792:2025 is now the recognised methodology and competent reviewers will check new work against it.
PAS 79-1:2020 covered general buildings (offices, retail, healthcare, hospitality, industrial). PAS 79-2:2020 covered housing (blocks of flats, HMOs, sheltered, supported). Both have been replaced. BS 9792-1 succeeds PAS 79-1; BS 9792-2 succeeds PAS 79-2.
No. Existing PAS 79-2 reports run to their next periodic review date. At that review the new assessment is carried out under BS 9792:2025. The exception is a significant change to the building or its fire safety arrangements before the periodic date, which triggers a re-assessment under BS 9792.
Yes. PAS 79-2:2020 was the recognised methodology when those reports were carried out and remains the methodology those reports stand on. Most insurers and landlord clients understand the transition window. A brief written note from the assessor explaining the transition plan helps avoid awkward questions.
PAS 79-1:2020 and PAS 79-2:2020 are published by BSI and available through the BSI shop. They remain useful reference material during the transition window even though new work is being carried out under BS 9792.
Book a 30-minute walkthrough and see how FRA Flow handles the methodology transition without disrupting your existing client commitments.
