What Happens After a Fire Risk Assessment?

The first step after a fire risk assessment is to check whether the report is complete, clear and usable.

It should identify:

• The premises and areas assessed
• The people at risk
• Existing fire precautions
• Significant findings and recommended actions
• Priorities or proposed timescales
• Any limitations, exclusions or inaccessible areas
• The assessor and assessment date

A report can still be difficult to use even when it contains a long list of recommendations. A statement such as “repair defective fire doors” does not identify the affected doors, the defects present or the appropriate remedy.

Before acting on fire risk assessment findings, check whether each recommendation is detailed enough to manage internally, send for further investigation or issue for pricing.

The responsible person must carry out and regularly review a written fire risk assessment, record its findings and use it to identify the measures needed to reduce fire risk and protect people. Further information is available through the government guidance on workplace fire risk assessments.

Where the assessment is unclear, outdated or unsuitable for the building, competent Fire Risk Assessment Companies may need to clarify the findings or complete a further assessment.

Not every recommendation has the same priority. The definitions inside the report should be reviewed first because assessors do not all use identical rating systems.

Immediate risks may require same-day action, such as:

• A locked final exit
• A serious fire alarm fault
• Combustible storage blocking an escape route
• A critical defect affecting a protected escape route

Other findings, including planned fire door replacements, emergency-lighting upgrades or record-keeping improvements, may be managed through a structured programme.

Where permanent work cannot be completed immediately, temporary controls may be required. These could include increased inspections, restricting access to an affected area or removing combustible materials.

The action should remain open until the underlying issue has been resolved. The practical method for recording ownership, timescales, interim measures and completion evidence is covered in Understanding a Fire Risk Assessment Action Plan.

Each recommendation should have a named person or organisation responsible for progressing it.

Day-to-day actions may sit with a managing agent, facilities team, landlord or specialist supplier, but they still need clear ownership.

An action register should record:

• The person or organisation responsible
• The target completion date
• The current status
• Any funding or approval dependencies
• The evidence required before closure

Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 strengthened recording requirements under the Fire Safety Order. Responsible persons must record the fire risk assessment in full, including all findings, and record their fire safety arrangements.

They must also take reasonable steps to identify and cooperate with other responsible persons who share duties within the same premises. Further details are set out in the Section 156 fire safety guidance.

Clear ownership is particularly important in multi-occupied buildings where several parties control different areas.

A standard FRA assesses fire risk. It does not automatically provide a full condition survey, design or remedial specification for every building element.

Further investigation may be needed where the report raises concerns about:

• Fire doors
• Compartmentation and fire stopping
• Alarm coverage
• Emergency lighting
• Smoke control
• External walls
• Evacuation arrangements
• The building’s fire strategy

For example, an FRA may note visible breaches around service penetrations but cannot confirm the full condition of concealed compartment walls.

Asking installers to price “all required fire stopping” at that stage would produce different assumptions and quotations that cannot be compared fairly.

The distinction is explored further in Fire Risk Assessment vs Compartmentation Survey. Where defects have already been confirmed, Remedial Fire Stopping After Failed Inspections explains how inspection findings can become a corrective work package.

A similar issue applies to fire doors. A broad FRA recommendation may justify a door-by-door inspection before repairs or replacements are tendered.

Once the findings are understood, group them into practical workstreams such as:

• Management actions
• Staff training
• Fire alarms and detection
• Emergency lighting
• Fire doors
• Fire stopping and compartmentation
• Fire extinguishers
• Escape-route improvements

These actions should not automatically be issued as one general “fire remedials” enquiry.

A fire door specialist may not be suited to alarm work, while a fire-stopping installer should not be expected to interpret an undefined compartmentation concern without supporting survey information.

Consider a managing agent responsible for eight residential blocks. The findings include missing fire-door self-closers, unsealed service penetrations, outdated resident instructions and concerns about alarm audibility in two plant rooms.

Resident information can be updated internally. Door defects may need inspection, compartmentation concerns may require a survey, and the alarm issue may need testing and design advice.

Separating the work by trade, building and priority creates clearer responsibility and more reliable pricing.

Where external work is required, the next step is not simply to email the full FRA to several companies and ask for a price.

A usable tender pack should identify:

• The exact actions being procured
• The buildings, areas and assets included
• Relevant schedules, drawings and photographs
• The required outcome
• Access, resident or operational restrictions
• The pricing format and programme
• Competence and certification requirements
• Handover and completion evidence
• How variations will be managed

The same information should be issued to every bidder. Clarifications should also be shared consistently so one company is not pricing from an updated scope while another works from the original documents.

How Fire Contractors Can Win More Commercial Tenders explains why strong submissions define assumptions, demonstrate relevant competence and respond directly to the issued scope.

For assessment programmes, portfolio reviews or replacement FRAs, opportunities can be issued through Fire Risk Assessment Tenders.

The lowest quotation is not automatically the strongest response.

Compare:

• Scope coverage
• Assumptions and exclusions
• Relevant competence
• Programme and capacity
• Proposed methods
• Completion evidence
• Treatment of variations

A low price may result from missing scope rather than better value. One bidder may include survey work, access equipment and completion records while another excludes all three.

A structured tender process keeps the scope, bidder questions, clarifications and quotations within one controlled project record. This gives each bidder the same information and creates a clearer audit trail for evaluation and award.

An action should not be marked complete merely because someone attended the premises or submitted an invoice.

Before closure, confirm:

• What was completed
• Which locations or assets were covered
• Whether the original deficiency was resolved
• What evidence was supplied
• Whether any follow-up work remains
• Whether the FRA or building records need updating

Evidence may include photographs, certificates, survey schedules, marked-up drawings, product details, inspection reports and completion records.

For higher-risk buildings in England, prescribed building information must be kept digitally, securely and in a usable format as part of the golden thread. The information should be available when required and operate as the building’s single source of truth.

Further information is available in the government guidance on keeping golden-thread information.

Even where the higher-risk building regime does not apply, the same record-keeping approach prevents important evidence being lost when staff, managing agents or suppliers change.

Completing remedial work does not mean the assessment can be filed away indefinitely.

The FRA should be reviewed when there is reason to believe it is no longer valid or where significant changes have occurred, including:

• Building alterations
• Changes in occupation
• New work processes
• A fire or near miss
• Revised evacuation arrangements
• Major changes to fire precautions

Government guidance requires responsible persons to review and update the assessment regularly.

The distinction between a routine review and commissioning a new assessment is covered in How Often Should a Fire Risk Assessment Be Reviewed.

A review may also be appropriate after major remedial works to confirm that the intended outcome has been achieved and that the assessment still reflects the premises.

For multi-occupied residential buildings in England, acting after fire risk assessment findings may involve duties beyond the action schedule.

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require responsible persons in all multi-occupied residential buildings to provide residents with relevant fire safety instructions and information about fire doors.

For buildings over 11 metres, quarterly checks are required on communal fire doors and annual checks on flat entrance doors. High-rise residential buildings have additional requirements concerning plans, external-wall information, firefighting lifts, equipment and wayfinding signage.

Further details are available in the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 guidance.

These ongoing checks sit alongside the remedial programme and do not replace the need to complete defects identified by the FRA.

Frequent problems include:

• Filing the report without assigning the actions
• Ignoring medium-priority work until it becomes urgent
• Requesting prices before the scope has been investigated
• Issuing different information to different bidders
• Appointing solely on price
• Closing actions without evidence
• Failing to update the FRA after significant work or change

Another common mistake is allowing temporary measures to become permanent. Any interim inspection regime or access restriction should have a review date and a defined end point.

How Quickly Must FRA Actions Be Completed?

There is no single timescale for every finding. The priority definitions within the report, the seriousness of the risk and any enforcement requirements should guide the programme.

Immediate risks require urgent action, while lower-priority work may be managed through a planned programme.

Can Remedial Work Be Priced Directly from the FRA?

Only where the location, extent and required outcome are sufficiently clear.

Broad recommendations may require a specialist survey, schedule or design before fixed prices can be compared fairly.

Is Another FRA Needed After Remedial Work?

Not automatically for every repair.

A review may be appropriate after major works, significant changes or where the original assessment no longer reflects the premises.

What Should Be Kept When an Action Is Closed?

Keep relevant photographs, certificates, inspection reports, product details, marked-up drawings and completion records.

The evidence should show what was completed and how it addressed the original finding.

Do the Findings Need Clarification?

Where the findings are unclear, the assessment is no longer suitable or another building requires assessment, compare competent Fire Risk Assessment Companies with experience of the relevant premises type.

Are Surveys or Remedial Quotations Needed?

Where the next step is organising surveys, quotations or remedial specialists, After Your Fire Risk Assessment provides a structured route for turning FRA recommendations into defined work packages.

Is There a Defined FRA Requirement Ready to Issue?

For portfolio reviews, replacement assessments or other defined requirements, Fire Risk Assessment Tenders allows assessors to respond against one consistent commercial brief.