What is a Fire Risk Assessment ?
Absolute Health Fire Safety provides fire risk assessments in Yorkshire to ensure you are complying with the very latest legislation. For your free consultation, please call us today at 0113 418 2911 or use our online contact form.
A fire risk assessment is a process involving the systematic evaluation of the factors that determine the hazard from fire, the likelihood that there will be a fire and the consequences if one were to occur.
A fire risk assessment involves a physical inspection of the building to determine the adequacy of the existing fire precautions and the need for any additional measures. However, of equal importance to the physical inspection is a review of fire safety management in the organisation and consideration of the human factors – how people will respond to an emergency and whether they will take appropriate action.
What are your legal responsibilities ?
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 introduced a legal duty for the Responsible Person (RP) of any non domestic premises to carry out Fire Risk Assessments in Yorkshire, including measures to reduce or eliminate the risk of fire and identify persons at risk. Similar requirements apply in Scotland under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, and in Northern Ireland under the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006.
This legislation applies to all non-domestic properties including commercial and public premises, such as shops, factories, warehouses and offices, and also schools, nursing homes as well as businesses providing sleeping accommodation. It also applies to sheltered housing as well as the communal areas of blocks of flats and houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), though not to the individual dwellings within the HMO.
If there are 5 or more regular occupants in a building, there is a legal requirement to not only carry out a fire risk assessment, but to also document the findings in writing.
Any changes to the occupancy or activities within premises must be reflected in the fire risk assessment, meaning the document should be reviewed regularly and updated if needed.
If, as a result of a failure to properly carry out a fire risk assessment, an occupant of the building or someone in the immediate vicinity is put at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire, an offence is committed which can lead to a heavy fine or, in serious cases, imprisonment.
The fire risk assessment has to be carried out to a competent standard. For small buildings, the owner or occupier of the premises is likely to be able to carry the assessement out themselves, as long as they familiarise themselves with the relevant guidelines. However for buildings of any size or complexity, it is best to employ a professional fire risk assessor to carry the assessment out.
Does a Fire Risk Assessment need to be reviewed ?
The fire risk assessment process is intended to be dynamic, and take into account change. Fire risk assessments in Yorkshire should be reviewed consistently.
Fire risk assessments should therefore be reviewed from time to time or if there is a reason to suspect that it is no longer valid, and, in particular, if significant changes take place, such as an increase in the numbers of people in the building or changes to floor layouts.
A review does not necessarily involve repeating the fire risk assessment process, a judgment on this is based on the significance of the changes.
Fire risk assessments should also be reviewed after a fire. We will give a suggested date for review in our reports.
How much does a Fire Risk Assessment cost ?
Every assessment is unique due to the individual factors involved in each building. For instance, the premises could be single or multi-storey and there could be several interconnected buildings.
The cost of an assessment often varies but can be broken down into 4 main categories, depending on the building size.
Fixed prices are not available for premises over 10000m² or properties that are not located on the UK mainland. In these cases, a bespoke quotation will be required.
| Premises Size | Price |
|---|---|
|
Buildings up to 2,000 ft² Residential buildings with a small communal areas. | £ 250 |
| Buildings between 2,000 ft² and 5,000 ft² | £ 300 |
| Buildings between 5,000 ft² and 10,000 ft² | £ 350 |
| Buildings overe 10,000 ft² | GET A QUOTE |