What does a fire risk assessment include?
Matt McAllen, AIFSM, CMIOSH
Last reviewed: June 2026 A fire risk assessment identifies the fire hazards in your premises, the people at risk, and what needs to change to keep them safe. It follows five steps and is written up as a narrative report — with a risk rating and a prioritised action plan, not a tick-box checklist. For commercial premises it follows the PAS 79-1:2020 methodology.
What are the five steps of a fire risk assessment?
Every assessment works through the same five steps set out in government guidance. They are: identify the fire hazards; identify the people at risk; evaluate, remove or reduce the risks; record the findings, prepare an emergency plan and provide training; then review and update the assessment regularly.
That sequence is the backbone of every assessment, whatever the premises. The skill isn’t in the steps themselves — it’s in the judgement applied at each one: knowing which hazards actually matter in your building, who is genuinely at risk and why, and whether the measures you already have are good enough. A list of steps followed without that judgement produces a document, not an assessment.
What actually gets checked on the day?
The things that decide whether a fire would start, spread, be detected, and be escaped from. In plain terms, a proper assessment of a commercial premises looks at:
- The building and how it’s used — construction, layout, occupancy, and any processes that introduce fire risk.
- Ignition and fuel sources — electrics, heating, charging, cooking, waste and stock: what could start a fire, and what would feed it.
- Who’s at risk — staff, visitors and the public, and anyone who’d need extra help to get out.
- Detection and alarm — whether a fire would be found and raised in time, and the system’s coverage and condition.
- Emergency lighting — coverage of every escape route, and whether it works in real darkness.
- Extinguishers and signage — the right type in the right place, in service, with clear signs to the exits.
- Fire doors and compartmentation — the passive protection that buys people time, and the gaps that quietly defeat it.
- Means of escape — that everyone can reach safety in the time available, under real conditions.
- Management and records — plans, training, drills and servicing: whether fire safety is actually being managed day to day.
Government guidance frames the same ground as the things you must consider: escape routes and exits, detection and warning, firefighting equipment, the safe storage of dangerous substances, an evacuation plan, the needs of vulnerable people, and staff information and training.
What standard is it done to?
For commercial premises, the PAS 79-1:2020 methodology; for HMOs and housing, BS 9792:2025. PAS 79-1:2020 is the British Standards Institution’s code of practice for fire risk assessment in premises other than housing — offices, shops, warehouses, pubs and the like. Housing, including HMOs and blocks of flats, is assessed to BS 9792:2025.
Neither standard is named in the law itself — the legal duty is simply to make a “suitable and sufficient” assessment under Article 9 of the Fire Safety Order. But PAS 79-1 is the structure that fire and rescue authorities, insurers and courts expect to see, because it sets out a consistent way to record hazards, evaluate risk, and document the significant findings. An assessment that doesn’t follow a recognised methodology is far harder to defend if it’s ever tested.
Want to see exactly what one looks like?
My business page shows a real sample report — front sheet, risk rating and action plan. Fixed prices from £199, no upfront payment.
What’s in the finished report?
A narrative report that describes your premises, rates the risk with clear reasoning, and gives you a prioritised action plan — not a checklist. A good report tells a story: how the building is laid out, where the hazards concentrate, who’s at risk and why, how the existing measures perform, what the residual risk is, and what to do about it in priority order.
The PAS 79-1:2020 revision specifically sharpened what a report should record — the reasoning behind each risk rating, and even what couldn’t be inspected and why. That matters, because it’s the reasoning that makes a report usable: it lets you, an inspector, or an insurer understand why a finding was reached, not just that a box was ticked. If the document is a checklist with no reasoning, you haven’t really had an assessment, however neat it looks.
What isn’t included?
An assessment tells you what needs doing — it doesn’t do the remedial work, and it isn’t a certificate. This is worth being clear about, because it’s where expectations sometimes slip. A fire risk assessment evaluates your premises and gives you a prioritised action plan. Carrying out those actions — fitting a door, servicing an alarm, adding emergency lighting — is separate work.
It also isn’t a fire alarm or extinguisher service, and it doesn’t “pass” or certify your building the way an MOT certifies a car. And it doesn’t cover the inside of individual domestic dwellings — for residential buildings, the duty applies to the common parts. In my case, the line is simple: I assess and report, and I sell none of the remedial work — so the action plan only ever contains what your premises genuinely needs, with no follow-on job to inflate it.
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People also ask
Is a fire risk assessment just a checklist?
No. A suitable and sufficient assessment is a narrative report with risk ratings and reasoning, not a tick-box form. A checklist with no professional judgement behind it doesn't meet the legal test, however complete it appears.
How long does a fire risk assessment take?
A typical commercial site visit is two to three hours depending on size and complexity, but writing the report up properly takes longer than the visit — that's where the professional judgement happens.
Does it include an action plan?
Yes. A prioritised action plan is part of the assessment, not an extra. It sets out what to fix, in what order, with realistic timescales.
Will it tell me exactly what to fix?
Yes — that's the point of the action plan. A good report is specific and actionable, so you can work through it rather than guess at what a vague finding means.
Is a fire risk assessment the same as a fire alarm service?
No. An assessment evaluates the whole picture and recommends what's needed; servicing the alarm or other equipment is separate, ongoing work carried out by others.
See what your assessment would cover.
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