Understanding a Fire Risk Assessment Action Plan

The action plan may sit within the main report or be issued as a separate schedule. Its purpose is to convert each recommendation into a trackable item rather than leaving the person responsible with a list of broad observations.

A practical schedule should normally record:

• The building, floor, room or asset affected
• The deficiency and associated risk
• The recommended outcome
• The priority and target completion date
• The person or organisation responsible
• Any interim control measures
• Whether further inspection, design or specialist advice is required
• The evidence needed before the item can be closed

Government fire risk assessment guidance describes an action plan as an inventory of actions that is normally prioritised and time constrained. The wider report content is covered in What Should a Fire Risk Assessment Include.

In England and Wales, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the responsible person to arrange a suitable and sufficient assessment and implement appropriate fire precautions.

Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 strengthened recording duties, including the requirement to record the assessment in full, its findings and the fire safety arrangements in place.

The Fire Safety Act 2021 clarified that, for multi-occupied residential buildings, the Fire Safety Order applies to the structure, external walls and flat entrance doors opening onto common parts. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 introduced further duties for certain residential buildings, including checks on communal and flat entrance fire doors.

For higher-risk buildings, action-plan records may also contribute to the wider body of building safety information. Completion evidence should therefore be kept in an organised form rather than being left across disconnected emails, contractor folders and individual staff accounts.

These examples mainly relate to England. Organisations managing premises across the UK should identify the correct legal framework, dutyholder and record-keeping requirements for each location.

There is no single priority system used by every assessor. Reports may use immediate, high, medium and low categories, priority numbers, traffic-light ratings or recommended completion periods. The definitions inside the report matter more than the label itself.

• Immediate: Serious danger may exist and urgent controls or work are required.
• High: A significant deficiency requires prompt attention.
• Medium: The work remains necessary but may be programmed within a managed timetable.
• Advisory: An improvement is recommended, but the report should make clear whether it is optional or required to reduce a recorded risk.

Priorities should not be reduced simply to fit available budgets. Where a target date cannot be met, the item should remain open, the reason should be recorded and suitable interim measures considered.

For example, a managing agent may receive an FRA covering twelve residential blocks. A locked final exit may need same-day action, widespread defective flat entrance doors may require a planned survey and replacement programme, while missing logbook entries may be resolved internally. Treating all three as one general “FRA remedials” package would make ownership, scope and pricing less clear.

An FRA identifies risk, but it is not automatically a detailed remedial specification. Recommendations such as “repair fire doors” or “make good compartmentation” may be too broad for reliable pricing.

Before issuing the work, confirm:

1. Whether the location and extent of each defect are known
2. Whether a specialist survey is required
3. Whether the required performance standard is stated
4. Whether drawings, schedules or photographs are available
5. Whether access, residents or operational restrictions will affect delivery
6. What certification and completion evidence will be required

A fire door recommendation may need a door-by-door survey before suitable Fire Door Contractors can provide comparable prices.

A concern about compartmentation may require Fire Stopping Surveys & Compartmentation Inspections before the remedial scope can be defined and issued to specialist Fire Stopping Contractors.

Where the original assessment is unclear, unsuitable for the building type or no longer current, competent Fire Risk Assessment Companies may need to review the findings before the work is procured.

The action plan should be divided into logical work packages. Management actions, fire alarms, emergency lighting, fire doors and passive fire protection should not be combined unless the tender is deliberately structured for a multi-disciplinary provider.

A clear tender pack should include:

• The relevant FRA actions and reference numbers
• A defined building, floor and asset list
• Survey schedules, drawings and photographs
• Required standards and performance outcomes
• Access and resident-management arrangements
• Programme, pricing and evidence requirements
• Rules for variations and newly discovered defects
• A controlled process for bidder questions

This allows every bidder to price the same information. How Commercial Fire Protection Tendering Works explains the wider procurement process and why a consistent scope is essential.

For multi-site assessment programmes, portfolio reviews or replacement FRAs, opportunities can be published through Fire Risk Assessment Tenders. This gives assessors a common brief for comparing fees, methodology, competence and delivery timescales.

A reliable submission should provide more than a headline total. It should confirm:

• Which actions are included and excluded
• Any assumptions, provisional quantities or access restrictions
• Relevant competence and third-party certification
• Proposed products, methods and quality controls
• The programme and evidence that will be supplied on completion
• How variations and newly discovered defects will be handled

Where an FRA recommendation is not detailed enough to support a fixed price, that should be stated clearly. Hiding uncertainty inside a low tender figure often leads to exclusions, variations and disputes. A stronger response may propose a survey stage followed by a confirmed remedial price.

Where the tender is for fire risk assessment services rather than physical works, the submission should demonstrate experience with the premises type, the proposed report format, quality-assurance procedures, capacity and the method used to prioritise recommendations.

Frequent problems include:

• Issuing the full FRA without identifying the actions being tendered
• Asking for prices before defects have been surveyed
• Combining unrelated trades into one unclear schedule
• Providing different information to different bidders
• Closing actions before completion evidence is checked
• Accepting a low price without reviewing exclusions or competence
• Failing to update the action register when scope or priorities change

Another common issue is managing the process through separate email chains. One bidder receives additional photographs, another receives an updated schedule and a third prices the original report without seeing either.

A structured tender process keeps the current scope, supporting documents, bidder questions, clarifications and quotations within one controlled project record. Everyone prices the same information, submissions can be compared on a consistent basis and the procurement team retains a clearer audit trail showing how the work was scoped, evaluated and awarded.

An effective fire risk assessment action plan should operate as a live compliance record:

1. Confirm the finding, priority and required outcome
2. Assign ownership and a target date
3. Introduce interim controls where required
4. Commission further surveys before pricing uncertain work
5. Tender each package against one consistent scope
6. Check competence, assumptions and evidence requirements
7. Record completion and review the FRA where circumstances have changed

Responsibility may be delegated, but legal accountability remains with the relevant dutyholder. Who Is Responsible for a Fire Risk Assessment explains how duties may be divided between landlords, employers, managing agents and occupiers.

Does Every FRA Recommendation Need Immediate Action?

No. Timescales should reflect the assessor’s priority definitions and the risk involved. Immediate hazards require urgent controls, while other work may be completed through a planned programme. Necessary actions should not be treated as optional because they are expensive or difficult to organise.

Can Remedial Work Be Priced Directly from the FRA?

Sometimes, but only where the location, extent and required outcome are clear. Broad recommendations often require a fire door survey, compartmentation inspection or technical design before comparable fixed prices can be obtained.

Who Should Close Completed Actions?

The relevant dutyholder retains responsibility, even where day-to-day actions are delegated. Someone should oversee the register, verify completion evidence and confirm that the original risk has been addressed.

What Evidence Should Be Retained?

Depending on the work, evidence may include photographs, survey schedules, certificates, marked-up drawings, product information, inspection records and completion reports. The records should be stored alongside the assessment and action plan.

Need the Assessment Reviewed or Clarified?

Where recommendations are unclear, the report is outdated or a new assessment is required, compare suitable Fire Risk Assessment Companies with experience of the relevant building type.

Ready to Put an FRA Requirement Out to Tender?

For multi-building programmes, replacement assessments or clearly defined FRA projects, use Fire Risk Assessment Tenders to issue one consistent scope and compare responses on a like-for-like basis.