How Often Should a Fire Risk Assessment Be Reviewed?

There is no single UK-wide rule stating that every fire risk assessment expires after 12 months, two years or five years.

In England and Wales, the Fire Safety Order requires the Responsible Person to review the assessment regularly. It must also be reviewed where there is reason to suspect that it is no longer valid or where a significant change has affected the matters covered by it.

Scotland and Northern Ireland use different legislation, but their guidance follows the same practical principle: assessments should be reviewed regularly and updated when relevant circumstances change.

A date printed on an assessor’s report is normally a recommended review date or the provider’s stated validity period. It does not remove the dutyholder’s responsibility to review the assessment sooner where necessary.

For the underlying legal framework, see Fire Risk Assessment Legal Requirements Across the UK.

An annual review is widely used as a practical baseline, particularly for managed buildings, workplaces with changing activities and premises occupied by vulnerable people.

It gives the dutyholder an opportunity to confirm that:

• The building use and occupancy remain the same
• Fire precautions are maintained
• Previous actions have been completed
• Escape routes and procedures remain suitable
• No significant new hazards have been introduced

An annual review is not a substitute for ongoing fire-safety management. Defects, changes and incidents should be considered when they occur rather than held until the next anniversary.

Some official guidance gives more specific intervals for particular settings. Scottish guidance for existing high-rise domestic buildings, for example, gives an annual review and a new assessment every three years as a general guide. This should not be treated as a universal rule for every UK premises.

A review checks whether the existing assessment remains accurate and whether its precautions and recommendations are still appropriate.

It may involve:

• Checking the previous report and action plan
• Confirming whether the premises or occupancy have changed
• Reviewing maintenance, testing and incident records
• Inspecting areas affected by changes or concerns
• Recording the review date and any revisions

A completely new assessment may be more appropriate where:

• The existing report is poor or incomplete
• The building has changed substantially
• Important areas were excluded
• The original assessment no longer reflects the occupancy or activities
• The assessor cannot verify the basis of the previous findings

The review should still consider whether the original assessment was suitable and sufficient. See What Should a Fire Risk Assessment Include?.

A review should not wait for the scheduled date where there has been a significant change or reason to doubt the existing assessment.

Typical triggers include:

• Alterations to the building or internal layout
• A change of use
• Increased occupancy or different occupant needs
• New equipment, machinery or work processes
• Increased storage or combustible materials
• Changes to escape routes or final exits
• New alarm, smoke-control or suppression systems
• Changes to the evacuation strategy
• A fire, near miss or concerning false-alarm pattern
• New information about compartmentation or external walls
• A change of owner, tenant, employer or managing agent

Factories and warehouses may require particularly prompt review when production processes, storage arrangements or hazardous materials change. See Fire Risk Assessments for Factories and Warehouses.

Official guidance also identifies alterations, changes in activities, new equipment and changes to stored materials as reasons to review an assessment.

Yes. A fire or near miss may show that assumptions in the assessment, management procedures or physical precautions were not reliable.

The review should consider:

• How the incident started
• Whether detection and warning operated as intended
• How occupants responded
• Whether escape routes remained usable
• Whether fire doors and compartmentation performed as expected
• Whether similar risks exist elsewhere

The review should not be limited to the location where the incident occurred. The findings may indicate a wider management, maintenance or construction issue.

Scottish residential guidance expressly recommends review after a fire or near miss as well as following changes in circumstances.

Where door condition or performance is in doubt, a dedicated Fire Door Survey may be required.

Significant remedial works should normally be reflected in the FRA.

The review can confirm that:

• The recommended work was completed
• Completion evidence is available
• Temporary measures can be removed
• New systems or construction are represented accurately
• Remaining risks and actions are understood

Completing an action does not automatically prove that the underlying issue has been resolved. The dutyholder should retain reports, certificates, photographs and other evidence showing what was completed.

See Understanding a Fire Risk Assessment Action Plan for guidance on assigning, monitoring and closing findings.

Residential buildings should be reviewed when changes affect the building, residents or evacuation arrangements.

Examples include:

• A change between stay-put and simultaneous evacuation
• New information about compartmentation
• External-wall investigation or remediation
• Changes to smoke-control or alarm systems
• Alterations to common areas
• Changes affecting residents who may need evacuation support

Where an FRAEW identifies new external-wall risks, or remediation changes the wall construction, the wider building FRA should be reconsidered. See FRAEW Assessments Explained.

In England, specified residential buildings now have separate annual review requirements for person-centred fire risk assessments, associated mitigating measures and emergency evacuation statements.

These arrangements must also be reviewed sooner where there is reason to believe that they require amendment or at the resident’s reasonable request.

See Person-Centred Fire Risk Assessments Explained.

The Responsible Person or equivalent dutyholder remains responsible for ensuring that the review takes place.

A competent member of the organisation may be able to complete a straightforward review where:

• The premises are simple
• No significant changes have occurred
• The existing assessment is clear
• The reviewer understands the building and its fire precautions

Professional assistance is more likely to be required where:

• The building is complex or higher risk
• Vulnerable people are present
• Significant alterations have occurred
• Specialist construction issues are involved
• The dutyholder cannot judge whether the assessment remains suitable

When external assistance is required, compare Fire Risk Assessment Companies with suitable experience of the premises and occupancy.

See How to Choose a Fire Risk Assessor for selection criteria.

The review record should show:

• The date of review
• Who completed it
• The information considered
• Changes since the previous assessment
• Outstanding and completed actions
• New findings or recommendations
• Whether a full reassessment is required
• The next planned review date

Simply changing the date on the front of an old report is not a meaningful review.

Government guidance states that the review and its date should be recorded.

The current FRA, review records and supporting evidence should provide a clear history of how the premises’ fire risk has been managed.

When obtaining quotations, tell each provider:

• The date and author of the existing FRA
• The building type and use
• Changes since the last assessment
• Significant incidents or concerns
• The status of the previous action plan
• Whether a review or complete reassessment is expected
• The required report and programme

Providers should be allowed to explain where an existing report cannot reasonably be updated and a new assessment is needed.

For the wider appointment process, see How Fire Risk Assessment Projects Are Tendered in the UK.

Further procurement guidance is available in How Commercial Fire Protection Tendering Works and Fire Protection Tenders in the UK: The Complete Guide.

Common mistakes include:

• Treating the date on the report as the only review trigger
• Assuming every FRA automatically expires after one year
• Reissuing the same report without checking the premises
• Waiting for an annual review after a significant change
• Failing to record what was considered
• Ignoring incomplete action-plan items
• Using a desktop review where a site inspection is needed
• Failing to update the FRA after remedial works
• Assuming maintenance inspections replace an FRA review

A suitable review process combines a planned review date with immediate consideration of changes, incidents and new information.

For clients and dutyholders

Use Fire Risk Assessment Companies to compare providers for an independent review or replacement assessment.

Provide the existing FRA, action plan and details of relevant changes so each provider can quote on the same basis.

For fire risk assessors and consultancies

View Fire Risk Assessment Tenders for assessment and review opportunities.

How often should a fire risk assessment be reviewed?

It must be reviewed regularly and whenever there is reason to think it is no longer valid or a significant change has occurred. Many organisations use an annual review as a practical baseline.

Does a fire risk assessment expire after 12 months?

Not automatically. A report may state a recommended review date, but there is no universal rule that every FRA expires after one year.

Do I need a completely new FRA every year?

Not necessarily. A recorded review may be sufficient where the existing assessment remains suitable and no significant changes have occurred.

What changes require an FRA review?

Common triggers include alterations, changes of use or occupancy, new work processes, fires, near misses and changes to fire precautions or evacuation arrangements.

Who is responsible for arranging the review?

The Responsible Person or equivalent dutyholder is responsible, even where an external fire risk assessor is appointed to carry out the work.