A fire risk assessment does not have an expiry date stamped on it. There is no legal rule that says you must have a new one every year. But that does not mean you can file it away and forget about it. The law requires your fire risk assessment to remain suitable and sufficient at all times, which means reviewing it regularly and updating it whenever your circumstances change.
This post explains what “suitable and sufficient” means in practice, when a review is due, and what can trigger the need for a new assessment altogether. If you are unsure whether your current assessment is still valid, call Paul on 07966 511750 for a straight answer.
What does the law actually say?
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the responsible person for any non-domestic premises in Wales must ensure that the fire risk assessment is kept under review. The exact wording of the legislation is that the assessment must be reviewed if there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid, or if there has been a significant change in the matters it relates to.
There is no mandatory annual review written into the law. What matters is whether your assessment still reflects the actual state of your premises and the people who use them. If it does, it remains valid. If it does not, it needs to be updated.
So how often should you review it?
In practice, most fire safety professionals recommend reviewing your fire risk assessment at least once a year. This is good advice for most premises, even if nothing obvious has changed. It gives you a structured opportunity to check that the findings still hold, that action points have been addressed, and that staff are still receiving appropriate training.
For some premises, a more frequent review makes sense. Care homes and other high-risk environments, for example, tend to see more regular changes to occupancy, layout and staffing that can affect the validity of an assessment. HMOs also warrant closer attention because tenant turnover affects evacuation procedures and fire safety awareness. If you manage an HMO in South Wales, it is worth building in a review whenever a new tenancy begins.
For lower-risk premises such as small offices or retail units with stable occupancy, an annual review is usually sufficient provided nothing has changed.
What triggers a review outside the normal cycle?
Certain changes to your premises or how they are used should prompt an immediate review, regardless of when the last one was carried out. These include:
- Building work, refurbishment or a change to the layout
- A change in how the premises are used
- A significant increase or decrease in the number of people present
- Changes to escape routes or fire doors
- New equipment or processes that introduce a fire hazard
- A fire, near miss or false alarm on the premises
- A change in the people responsible for fire safety
- Feedback from a fire safety inspection or enforcement notice
If any of these apply to your premises, your existing assessment may no longer be suitable and sufficient even if it was completed recently. In some cases, a full reassessment is the right course of action rather than a minor update to an existing document.
What is the difference between a review and a new assessment?
A review checks whether your existing fire risk assessment is still accurate. It involves going back through the document, checking the premises against the findings, and updating anything that has changed. If the changes are minor, a review and update is usually all that is needed.
A new assessment starts from scratch. This is appropriate when significant changes have been made to the premises, when the existing document is out of date or poorly written, or when there has never been a competent assessment carried out in the first place.
If you are looking at a fire risk assessment that was done several years ago by an unqualified person with no supporting evidence, a new assessment from a qualified professional is the right approach. A document that does not accurately reflect your premises is not just useless, it is a liability.
What happens if your fire risk assessment is out of date?
If your fire risk assessment no longer reflects the actual state of your premises, you are in breach of the Fire Safety Order. Enforcement authorities including the Fire and Rescue Service can issue enforcement notices, prohibition notices, and in serious cases pursue prosecution.
Beyond the legal risk, an out of date assessment also leaves you exposed if there is a fire. Insurance claims can be complicated or refused if it becomes apparent that fire safety obligations were not being met. You can read more about the consequences of non-compliance in our post on what happens if you do not have a fire risk assessment.
Need your assessment reviewed or updated?
Paul Williams is a Level 4 qualified Fire Risk Assessor with over 26 years of experience and more than 1,800 assessments completed across South Wales. If your existing assessment needs reviewing, updating or replacing, FireBugged can help.
We cover Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Bridgend, Pontypridd, the Vale of Glamorgan and the wider South Wales region.
