Who Is Responsible for Carrying Out Fire Risk Assessments?
Every business and non-domestic premises must take appropriate steps to identify and manage its fire risks. However, there can be uncertainty over who is responsible for fire risk assessments and who should complete them.
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, responsibility normally sits with the person or people who have control over the premises. They’re legally known as the ‘Responsible Person’.
In this blog, we explore who the Responsible Person is in more detail, who can carry out a fire risk assessment, and what duties continue after the assessment has been completed.
Who is responsible for carrying out fire risk assessments?
The Responsible Person has the legal duty to ensure a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment is carried out and regularly reviewed.
Depending on the premises and how it’s managed, there can be more than one Responsible Person for the same building. Where responsibilities overlap, everyone involved must cooperate, coordinate their fire safety arrangements, and clearly understand which parts of the premises and which fire safety measures they’re responsible for.
It’s best practice that the Responsible Person appoints a competent and suitably qualified fire risk assessor – like ours here at Hoyles Fire & Safety – to inspect the premises, identify potential hazards, and provide clear recommendations. Appointing an assessor doesn’t remove the Responsible Person’s legal duties, as they remain accountable for ensuring the assessment is completed, regularly reviewed, and acted upon.
Who is the Responsible Person?
The Responsible Person is the individual or organisation with legal responsibility for fire safety within a building. This isn’t necessarily a specially appointed fire safety employee, as the role typically arises from the level of control a person has over the premises.
This might include:
- An employer
- A business owner
- A landlord
- An occupier
- A building or facilities manager
- A managing agent
- Another person with control over the premises
In practice, an employer may be responsible for protecting employees, while a landlord or managing agent may retain responsibility for shared escape routes, communal fire alarms, or other building-wide systems.
The Responsible Person must understand the extent of their control and make sure their responsibilities aren’t overlooked or incorrectly assumed to belong to someone else. This is particularly important in multi-occupied buildings, where weaknesses can arise if landlords, tenants, and managing agents fail to share relevant fire safety information.
What is the Responsible Person responsible for?
The Responsible Person’s duties usually extend beyond simply arranging the initial fire risk assessment. They must manage fire safety on an ongoing basis and take appropriate action to protect everyone who may be affected by a fire.
For example, their responsibilities will typically include:
- Arranging and regularly reviewing the fire risk assessment
- Recording the assessment and its findings
- Identifying fire hazards and the people who may be at risk
- Removing hazards where reasonably possible
- Introducing measures to reduce remaining risks
- Providing suitable fire detection and warning systems
- Maintaining emergency routes and exits
- Providing appropriate firefighting equipment
- Planning what should happen during an emergency
- Considering people who may require additional evacuation support
- Providing employees with fire safety information and training
- Maintaining fire safety equipment and systems
- Completing any remedial actions identified by the assessment
The Responsible Person must also ensure that the fire risk assessment reflects how the premises are actually being used. A fire risk assessment shouldn’t be treated as a document that is completed once and then filed away.
Who can carry out a fire risk assessment?
A fire risk assessment should be carried out by a competent and suitably qualified fire risk assessor with the knowledge, training, and experience required to evaluate your specific premises.
A competent fire risk assessor will be able to:
- Recognise potential sources of ignition, fuel, and oxygen
- Identify everyone who could be affected by a fire
- Evaluate the adequacy of existing fire precautions
- Understand relevant fire safety legislation and guidance
- Assess escape routes, fire doors, and compartmentation
- Review fire alarms, emergency lighting, and fire fighting equipment
- Identify where specialist advice or further investigation is needed
- Record clear, proportionate, and prioritised findings
- Recommend practical measures to reduce fire risk
Using a qualified professional, like Hoyles Fire & Safety, helps provide reassurance that the assessment is thorough, appropriate for the premises and supported by informed recommendations.
What should a fire risk assessment cover?
A suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment should consider the whole premises and the people who could be affected by a fire.
The assessment process should:
- Identify potential fire hazards
- Identify the people who may be at risk
- Evaluate the risks and remove or reduce them where possible
- Record the findings and establish appropriate fire safety arrangements
- Review and update the assessment regularly
This should include the consideration of escape routes, exits, fire detection, alarm systems, firefighting equipment, emergency lighting, dangerous substances, and evacuation procedures.
The assessment must also consider people who may be particularly at risk, including employees working alone, visitors unfamiliar with the building, children, older people, and anyone who may need assistance to evacuate.
When should a fire risk assessment be reviewed?
A fire risk assessment should be reviewed regularly and whenever there is reason to believe it may no longer be valid.
A review may be required following:
- Alterations to the building or its layout
- A change in how the premises are used
- A significant increase or decrease in occupancy
- The introduction of new equipment or work processes
- The storage of new hazardous substances
- Changes affecting escape routes
- The arrival of people with additional evacuation needs
- Damage to fire safety equipment
- A fire, near miss, or other relevant incident
- Evidence that existing precautions may be inadequate
Even where no obvious changes have occurred, periodic reviews are important to confirm that the assessment remains accurate and that actions have been completed.
A review doesn’t always mean starting again. However, significant changes may require a new assessment or a substantial update to the existing document.
What happens after a fire risk assessment?
Completing the assessment is only part of the Responsible Person’s duty. Any shortcomings must be prioritised and addressed within an appropriate timeframe.
Some actions may include:
- Improving fire alarm coverage
- Repairing or replacing fire doors
- Removing obstructions from escape routes
- Installing or upgrading emergency lighting
- Providing additional fire extinguishers
- Improving fire signage
- Updating evacuation procedures
- Introducing personal emergency evacuation plans
- Providing staff or fire warden training
- Arranging overdue servicing and maintenance
The level of urgency should reflect the seriousness of the risk. Significant issues that could prevent people from being warned or evacuating safely shouldn’t be left unresolved.
Once remedial work has been completed, records should be updated and the effectiveness of the improvements reviewed.
Why use a professional fire risk assessor?
A professional assessor can provide an independent evaluation of the premises and help identify risks that may be missed by someone unfamiliar with fire safety requirements. This can be particularly valuable where a building is complex and the level of risk is higher.
A professional fire risk assessment should provide clear findings, proportionate recommendations, and a prioritised action plan. It should help the Responsible Person understand what needs to be addressed rather than simply providing a generic checklist.
When selecting an assessor, you should consider their training, experience, professional competence, and familiarity with premises similar to your own.
Get in touch to arrange your fire risk assessment
When it comes to who is responsible for fire risk assessments, the Responsible Person is legally accountable for ensuring a suitable and sufficient assessment is completed. However, the assessment itself should be entrusted to a competent and suitably qualified fire risk assessor.
At Hoyles Fire & Safety, we carry out professional fire risk assessments for businesses and organisations across Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, and the wider West Yorkshire region. And with the backing of the LS Fire Group, we can also support clients with a whole range of fire safety products and services across the UK.
Our assessors will inspect your premises, identify potential areas of concern, and provide clear, practical recommendations to help you manage risk and meet your responsibilities.
Don’t hesitate to contact our team today to arrange a professional fire risk assessment for your building.
Fire risk assessment responsibility FAQs
- Who is responsible for carrying out fire risk assessments?
- The Responsible Person is responsible for arranging the fire risk assessment and ensuring its findings are acted upon. The assessment itself, however, should be completed by a competent and suitably qualified fire risk assessor with appropriate knowledge and experience.
- Who is the Responsible Person?
- The Responsible Person is the employer, owner, landlord, occupier, or another individual or organisation with control over a non-domestic premises. More than one Responsible Person may exist in shared buildings, in which case they must cooperate and coordinate their fire safety arrangements.
- Why should I use a professional fire risk assessor?
- A professional assessor will have the specialist knowledge required to identify fire hazards, assess the suitability of existing precautions, and produce a clear action plan. This provides greater confidence that the assessment is suitable for the premises and that important risks haven’t been overlooked.
- Does every business need a fire risk assessment?
- UK fire safety legislation requires commercial and non-domestic premises to have a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment in place. This includes buildings open to the public, workplaces, and communal areas within multi-occupied residential properties.
- Is the Responsible Person still liable if they appoint an assessor?
- Yes. Appointing a qualified risk assessor, like Hoyles Fire &Safety, doesn’t transfer the Responsible Person’s legal duties. They remain responsible for arranging the assessment, considering its findings, and ensuring that necessary fire safety improvements are completed.
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