Is an online fire risk assessment legally valid?

What the law requires

The main law for non-domestic premises in England and Wales is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, often called the Fire Safety Order. Article 9 places the duty on the "responsible person":

• Make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed, to identify the general fire precautions needed (article 9(1)).
• Review it regularly to keep it up to date, and in particular if there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid or there has been a significant change to the premises or how they are used (article 9(3)).
• As soon as practicable after the assessment or a review, make a record of it, including the findings, the measures taken or to be taken, and any group of people identified as especially at risk (article 9(6) and (7)).

Before then, the duty to record mainly applied where five or more people were employed. Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 amended article 9 so that, from 1 October 2023, every responsible person must record the whole assessment, not just its significant findings.

Who is allowed to carry it out

The responsible person is the employer, owner, landlord, occupier or anyone else with control of the premises, such as a facilities manager or managing agent (GOV.UK). That person carries the legal duty whoever does the work.

GOV.UK states: "You can do the fire risk assessment yourself with the help of standard fire safety risk assessment guides. If you do not have the expertise or time to do the fire risk assessment yourself you need to appoint a 'competent person' to help, for example a professional risk assessor."

If you do appoint someone, they should be competent: article 18 of the Fire Safety Order already describes a competent person as someone with "sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities". Article 9A, added by the Building Safety Act 2022, will require anyone appointed to help with the assessment to be competent, but it is not yet in force. The Home Office guide for small premises also asks you to record the name of the person or organisation that carried out the assessment.

Your local fire and rescue authority may be able to advise you if you are unsure whether your assessment has been done properly, but it cannot carry out the assessment for you (GOV.UK).

Does an assessment completed online count?

Nothing in the Fire Safety Order requires a particular format or a particular type of provider. What matters is the content: whether the assessment is suitable and sufficient for your premises, whether it is recorded, and whether you act on it and review it.

The Home Office publishes guides under article 50 of the Order for different types of premises. In court proceedings, following or departing from that guidance may be relied on as tending to show whether the law was breached (Home Office small premises guide). Working through an assessment that follows the same structure as the official guidance, and checking the guide for your premises type, is a sensible way to show your assessment is suitable and sufficient.

An online tool cannot see your building. It relies on what you tell it, so its output is only as good as your answers. If you are not confident you can judge things like fire doors, alarm coverage or escape distances, that is the point at which GOV.UK's advice to appoint a competent person applies.

Blocks of flats and other residential buildings

The Fire Safety Act 2021 confirmed that, where a building contains two or more sets of domestic premises, the Fire Safety Order covers the building's structure, external walls (including windows, doors and anything attached such as balconies), any common parts, and the doors between flats and the common parts.

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 added further duties for responsible persons in England (GOV.UK fact sheet):

• In all buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises: give residents fire safety instructions and information about the importance of fire doors.
• In residential buildings with storeys over 11 metres: check flat entrance doors annually and fire doors in the common parts quarterly.
• In high-rise residential buildings: share floor plans and external wall information with the fire and rescue service, keep a secure information box, install wayfinding signage, and carry out monthly checks on lifts for firefighters, evacuation lifts and other key firefighting equipment.

External walls, structure and the duties for taller buildings usually need specialist knowledge to assess. For these buildings an online self-assessment is not a substitute for a competent assessor.

When you should use a competent assessor instead

The Home Office guide for small non-domestic premises (England) is written for premises with simple layouts, low fire risk and a small number of people. It is limited to premises of no more than a basement, ground and first floor where:

• you have sole control of the premises;
• no floor is larger than 280m²;
• nobody has to walk more than 25m from any point to an exit to open air;
• there is relatively clear vision across each floor;
• there are no hazardous processes such as cutting or welding, and no more than 50 litres of highly flammable liquids;
• cooking is well away from exits; and
• no one sleeps on the premises.

The guide says it is not appropriate if your premises fall outside that scope, are part of a larger complex such as a shopping centre, or have fire precautions that differ materially from its recommendations. In those cases the fuller Home Office guides apply, and the more complex the premises, the stronger the case for a competent assessor. The same applies to sleeping accommodation, HMOs with complex layouts, blocks of flats, anywhere dangerous substances are stored, and whenever the fire and rescue authority has raised concerns.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

The Fire Safety Order applies in England and Wales. Scotland has the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and Northern Ireland has the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006. Both also require a fire risk assessment, but the detail differs, so check the rules for where your premises are.

What happens if the assessment is not good enough

Fire and rescue authorities inspect premises and can issue informal notices, alterations notices, enforcement notices and, where the risk is so great that access needs to be prohibited or restricted, prohibition notices that take effect immediately. You can appeal to the magistrates' court within 21 days of receiving a notice. GOV.UK states that minor penalties can be up to £5,000 (since 2015 the level 5 maximum fine in England and Wales has been unlimited), and major penalties can mean unlimited fines and up to 2 years in prison.

Where our online assessment fits

Our online assessment is built around the Fire Safety Order. It takes you through guided questions about your premises and produces a PDF report recording the findings and the actions to take, which you can download as soon as you finish. It costs £25 + VAT (£30).

It is designed for straightforward premises like those described above. You remain the responsible person: you need to answer accurately, carry out the actions and review the assessment when things change. If your premises are more complex, or you would rather someone else did it, you can book an assessor visit instead for £250 + VAT (£300).