Posted September 8, 2025

Updated Guidance On Scope Of Services For Fire Risk Assessors

The Fire Industry Association (FIA) has published Version 2 of its Fire Risk Assessors “Standard Scope of Services”, setting out clearer expectations for the fire risk assessment process. This long-awaited update provides stronger legislative alignment, improved transparency, and a shared understanding for both assessors and their clients.

Released in August 2025, the revised scope builds on the original 2014 edition and reflects today’s regulatory landscape, emerging fire safety risks, and more precise definitions of roles and responsibilities. The new guidance is designed to support both Responsible Persons and Fire Risk Assessors in navigating the scope and limitations of an assessment, ensuring that duties are properly understood and met.

Across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, those responsible for most types of non-domestic premises are legally required to assess the risks to people from fire and to implement suitable fire precautions. However, many duty holders lack detailed fire safety knowledge, and understandably seek help from professional fire risk assessment companies.

Here, clarity is critical. Clients may expect a scope of work that is broader or narrower than intended, and misalignment can lead to costly disputes, or worse, unintentional breaches of fire safety legislation. The Standard Scope of Services aims to prevent this by defining exactly what an assessment should cover, giving clients a transparent understanding of the service being offered.

The FIA recommends that all organisations committed to high standards of quality, competency, and ethics adopt this scope when submitting proposals for fire risk assessments. Doing so not only supports legal compliance but also promotes consistency and trust across the fire safety sector. As the UK’s largest fire protection trade association, representing over 1,000 member companies from manufacturers to installers and maintainers, the FIA continues to lead efforts in raising standards, improving competency, and strengthening fire safety nationwide.

The Nine Steps To Fire Risk Assessment

  • Step 1: The fire risk assessor will require relevant information about the premises, the processes carried out in the premises, and the occupants of the premises. Information about previous fires will be of value to the assessor, particularly where the organization has multiple sites with common operations. Much of the relevant information will be obtained by interviewing a relevant representative or the management, prior to carrying out a physical inspection of the premises. At this stage, it is important that relevant information is obtained about the occupants of the premises, particularly those especially at risk in the event of fire.
  • Step 2: The second step is fire hazard identification and the determination of measures for the elimination or control of the identified fire hazards. This will normally involve a combination of interviewing management and inspection of the premises.
  • Step 3: The third step is to make a subjective assessment of the likelihood of fire. This will be based primarily on the findings of step two. However, the assessment of the likelihood of fire will also take into account any relevant information in step 1.
  • Step 4: The fourth step is to determine the physical fire protection measures, relevant to the protection of people in the event of fire. The relevant information can, again, be obtained partly from the initial discussion with management, but will, primarily, be obtained by inspection of the premises, so that the standard of fire protection can be determined.
  • Step 5: The fifth step is to determine relevant information about fire safety management. This will, primarily, involve discussion with management, but might also involve examination of documentation, such as records of testing, maintenance, training, drills, etc.
  • Step 6: The sixth step is to make a (subjective) assessment of the likely consequences to occupants in the event of fire. This assessment will take account of the fire risk assessor’s opinion of the likelihood of various fire scenarios, the extent of injury that could occur to occupants in these scenarios, and the number of people affected. This assessment is principally based on the assessor’s findings in steps four and five, but will take account of information obtained in the first step.
  • Step 7: The seventh step is to make an assessment of the fire risk and to decide if the fire risk is tolerable. The fire risk is assessed by combining the likelihood of fire and the consequences of fire.
  • Step 8: The eighth step is to formulate an action plan, if this is necessary to address shortcomings in the fire precautions in order to reduce the fire risk. Even if the fire risk is assessed as tolerable, there is often a need for minor improvements in fire precautions.
  • Step 9: Thereafter, in the ninth step, the fire risk assessment is subject to periodic review. Review of the fire risk assessment is necessary after a period of time defined in the fire risk assessment, or at an earlier time if changes take place, or if there are other reasons to suspect that the fire risk assessment is no longer valid, such as if a fire has occurred.

Since 2006, it has been a legal requirement for a UK business to carry out a fire risk assessment. Find out more about SS Systems and its approach to Fire Risk Assessment here https://sssystems.co.uk/fire-risk-assessment/.

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