Fire risk assessment for small businesses and workplaces

Who is responsible

GOV.UK says you are responsible for fire safety in business or other non-domestic premises if you are:

• an employer
• the owner
• the landlord
• an occupier
• anyone else with control of the premises, for example a facilities manager, building manager, managing agent or risk assessor

You are known as the "responsible person". Where there is more than one, for example in shared premises, you have to work together and co-ordinate your fire safety plans. For common or shared areas, the responsible person is the landlord, freeholder or managing agent. The Fire Safety Order also applies if you have paying guests, such as a bed and breakfast or a self-catering let.

What you must do

As the responsible person you must (GOV.UK):

• carry out a fire risk assessment of the premises and review it regularly
• tell staff or their representatives about the risks you have identified
• put in place, and maintain, appropriate fire safety measures
• plan for an emergency
• provide staff information, fire safety instruction and training

The five steps of the assessment

GOV.UK sets out the assessment in five steps:

• Identify the fire hazards.
• Identify people at risk.
• Evaluate, remove or reduce the risks.
• Record your findings, prepare an emergency plan and provide training.
• Review and update the fire risk assessment regularly.

Along the way you need to consider emergency routes and exits, fire detection and warning, firefighting equipment, the removal or safe storage of dangerous substances, an evacuation plan, the needs of vulnerable people, information for employees and others on the premises, and staff training.

Does your business count as "small premises"?

The Home Office publishes a guide for small non-domestic premises in England. It covers premises with no more than a basement, ground and first floor, where you have sole control, no floor exceeds 280m², nobody has to walk more than 25m to an exit to open air, there are no hazardous processes or more than 50 litres of highly flammable liquids, cooking is away from exits and no one sleeps on the premises.

If your premises are bigger, part of a larger complex such as a shopping centre, or laid out differently from the guide's recommendations, use the fuller Home Office guide for your type of premises instead, for example offices and shops, factories and warehouses, sleeping accommodation, or small and medium places of assembly. Wales has separate guidance.

Your fire safety and evacuation plan

GOV.UK says your plan must show how you have:

• a clear passageway to all escape routes
• clearly marked escape routes that are as short and direct as possible
• enough exits and routes for all people to escape
• emergency doors that open easily
• emergency lighting where needed
• training for all employees to know and use the escape routes
• a safe meeting point for staff

You should also make special arrangements for people with mobility needs, for example making sure there are people to help wheelchair users get downstairs.

Equipment, checks and fire drills

You must have a fire detection and warning system, and the right firefighting equipment for your premises, properly installed, tested and maintained (GOV.UK). Regular checks should confirm that alarms and emergency lighting work, faults are recorded, escape routes are clear, fire escapes open easily, automatic fire doors close correctly and exit signs are in the right place.

Train new staff when they start and tell employees about new fire risks. GOV.UK says you should carry out at least one fire drill a year and record the results as part of your fire safety and evacuation plan.

The Home Office small premises guide adds that the electrical installation must be inspected and tested by a competent person at least every five years, and that heating systems should be maintained annually by a competent person.

Keeping records

Since the Building Safety Act 2022 changes took effect on 1 October 2023, every responsible person must record the fire risk assessment, including its findings, the measures taken or planned, and anyone identified as especially at risk. The Home Office small premises guide also asks you to record the name of the person or organisation that carried it out, and to keep a log of testing and maintenance.

Doing it yourself or using a professional

GOV.UK says you can do the assessment yourself with the help of standard guides, and that you need to appoint a competent person if you do not have the expertise or time. Small, simple premises are where doing it yourself is most realistic. See our guide to whether an online fire risk assessment is legally valid for where the line falls.

Inspections and penalties

Your local fire and rescue authority can visit to check your assessment and precautions, and can issue an informal notice or a formal alterations, enforcement or prohibition notice. You can appeal to the magistrates' court within 21 days. 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.