Fire Risk Assessments in Blocks of Flats: What the Law Says
What the Fire Safety Order, the Fire Safety Act 2021 and the 2022 Regulations require in a block of flats: who is responsible, which type, how often.
Photo: Jan van der Wolf / Pexels
Every building in England containing two or more flats needs a fire risk assessment of its common parts, and someone has to own that duty by name. The law is article 9 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, amended by the Fire Safety Act 2021 and by section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022, plus the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, in force since 23 January 2023. None of it sets a fixed renewal date, which is the point most directors get wrong.
Who the Responsible Person Is
Article 3 defines the responsible person. For premises that are not a workplace, it is whoever has control of the premises in connection with carrying on a trade, business or other undertaking, or, failing that, the owner. In a leasehold block that is usually the freeholder, the resident management company or the right to manage company, so normally an organisation rather than an individual.
Two consequences get missed. The duty can sit with more than one person at once, and article 22 requires responsible persons for the same building to co-operate and co-ordinate, and since 1 October 2023 to exchange names and a UK address for service. And appointing a managing agent does not move the duty off the company: the Home Office guidance says an agent will normally be either a responsible person in its own right or another person having control, with the same duties, and that responsibility for the adequacy of the assessment cannot be delegated. It sits alongside a director’s Companies Act duties.
What the Assessment Has to Cover
Article 9(1) requires a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed, in order to identify the general fire precautions needed. Article 6(1) excludes domestic premises, so the inside of a flat is outside the Order. Article 6(1A), inserted by the Fire Safety Act 2021 and in force in England from 16 May 2022, then applies the Order to the building’s structure and external walls and any common parts, and to all doors between the domestic premises and the common parts. External walls include doors and windows in them and anything attached to their exterior, including balconies.
So the assessment must reach compartmentation between flats and common parts, flat entrance doors, escape routes, signage, emergency lighting, any detection in the common parts, cladding and balconies, and the arrangements for maintaining all of it. One that stops at the bin store and the stairwell carpet is not suitable and sufficient. Where the external wall construction is genuinely in doubt the answer is a separate appraisal of external walls under PAS 9980, and how the building is meant to behave in a fire is set by its evacuation strategy and compartmentation.
Which Type of Assessment Your Block Needs
The Fire Safety Order does not name types of assessment. The four types come from the Home Office guide Fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats, and differ in how far the building is opened up. Being able to say which type you commissioned, and why, is part of showing the assessment was suitable and sufficient.
| Type | Scope | When it is appropriate |
|---|---|---|
| Type 1 | Common parts only, non-destructive. Includes a sample of flat entrance doors and, so far as practicable, the separating construction, without entering flats. | The baseline for satisfying the Fire Safety Order. The guide says it will normally be sufficient for most purpose-built blocks. |
| Type 2 | Common parts only, with destructive opening up on a sampling basis, usually needing a contractor to open up and make good. | A one-off exercise where there is good reason to suspect serious structural deficiencies. Age of the block alone is not enough to justify it. |
| Type 3 | Common parts plus non-destructive inspection inside at least a sample of flats, including means of escape and smoke alarms within them. | Goes beyond the Fire Safety Order. Normally not possible in long leasehold blocks, because there is no right of access to flats. |
| Type 4 | Common parts and flats, with destructive inspection in both on a sampling basis. | The most comprehensive and the most limited in use, for example a new landlord taking on a block with an unknown history of works. |
For a typical leasehold block a Type 1 is the right instruction. Type 3 and Type 4 are usually unavailable, because the freeholder or RMC has no general right of entry into a demised flat. If an assessor recommends a Type 2 as a matter of routine, ask what specific doubt about the construction triggered it: the guide warns against generic recommendations.
How Often It Must Be Reviewed
There is no legal renewal interval. Article 9(3) requires review regularly so as to keep the assessment up to date, and particularly if there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid or there has been a significant change in the matters to which it relates. Where the review shows changes are needed, they must be made. The Home Office guide adds the practical triggers: material alterations, a widespread change in the type of residents, a fire in or spreading to the common parts, and completion of works done to fix earlier shortcomings. The review date should be set as part of the assessment.
On intervals the guide offers only a general steer, and it is guidance rather than law: broadly, a two-yearly review and a new assessment every four years for a low risk, modern, low-rise block, and an annual review with a new assessment every three years for a higher risk or taller block. Treat that as a starting point. The guide dates from 2011 and the Home Office says it should no longer be viewed as comprehensive.
What a Director Must Be Able to Evidence
Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 changed this on 1 October 2023. Article 9(6) now requires a record of the assessment or review as soon as practicable, in every case: the exemption for organisations employing fewer than five people has gone, and the word significant was removed from article 9(7)(a), so the record must set out the findings including the measures taken or to be taken, and any group identified as especially at risk. Article 11(2) separately requires the fire safety arrangements to be recorded.
Article 21A, in force from the same date, requires the responsible person for a building with two or more sets of domestic premises to give residents comprehensible and relevant information about the risks identified, the preventive and protective measures, the name and UK address of the responsible person, and the identity of anyone appointed to assist with the assessment. Article 21A(5) requires records of those matters, which is where the assessor’s name belongs on file. A board should be able to produce, without hunting:
- The current recorded assessment in full, with its date, scope, type and author.
- The action plan, with an owner and a target date against each item, and evidence of what is done.
- The recorded fire safety arrangements required by article 11(2).
- What was sent to residents and when, covering article 21A and the evacuation instructions required by regulation 9 of the 2022 Regulations.
- Fire door check records, including where access to a flat entrance door was not granted.
- Board minutes showing the directors considered the action plan and decided how to fund it.
The Extra Duties That Come with Height
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 sit on top of the assessment and impose fixed, checkable duties by height. Regulation 3 defines a high-rise residential building as one containing two or more sets of domestic premises that is at least 18 metres above ground level or has at least seven storeys, measured to the top storey in accordance with Appendix D to Approved Document B, with underground storeys excluded.
| Building | What is additionally required | Regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Any building with two or more sets of domestic premises and common parts used for evacuation | Instructions to residents on the evacuation strategy and how to report a fire, to new residents as soon as reasonably practicable and to all residents within each 12 month period; information about fire doors on the same cycle | Regulations 9 and 10 |
| Buildings above 11 metres | Check communal fire doors at least every three months, and use best endeavours to check flat entrance doors at least every 12 months, including that self-closing devices work, keeping a record of the steps taken on flat entrance doors including where access was not granted | Regulation 10 |
| High-rise: at least 18 metres or at least seven storeys | Secure information box; external wall design and materials information to the fire and rescue authority; monthly checks of firefighting lifts, evacuation lifts and essential firefighting equipment, with any fault that cannot be fixed within 24 hours reported to the fire and rescue authority; floor plans and a single-page building plan; wayfinding signage in stairwells | Regulations 4 to 8 and 11 |
Below 11 metres none of the height-triggered duties bite, but the assessment duty does, in full. What applies to buildings under 11 metres is worth pinning down first, and the door checks above 11 metres are covered in what the law requires on fire door checks.
Residential Evacuation Plans, from 6 April 2026
The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025, SI 2025/797, came into force on 6 April 2026 and apply in England only. They cover buildings containing two or more sets of domestic premises that are at least 18 metres above ground level or have at least seven storeys, and buildings more than 11 metres in height that have a simultaneous evacuation strategy in place.
The responsible person must use reasonable endeavours to identify relevant residents, meaning those whose ability to evacuate without assistance is compromised by a cognitive or physical impairment or condition, offer each of them a person-centred fire risk assessment, and carry one out where the resident asks. Where risks are found, reasonable and proportionate measures must be discussed and put in place, though a measure whose cost falls to the resident need not be implemented unless the resident pays for it. The responsible person must then use reasonable endeavours to agree with the resident what they should do in the event of a fire, and where an approach is agreed, record it as an emergency evacuation statement in writing and give the resident a copy. It must be reviewed within 12 months and annually after that, and specified information can be shared with the fire and rescue authority where the resident has given explicit consent. No resident can be compelled to take part. There is more in evacuation plans and PEEPs.
Separately, every building in scope needs a building emergency evacuation plan, whether or not anyone has been identified as a relevant resident. A copy goes to the local fire and rescue authority, and into the secure information box where the building has one, and the plan must be reviewed every 12 months.
Competence, Enforcement and What Goes Wrong
Article 18(5) defines a competent person as one with sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities to properly assist in undertaking the preventive and protective measures. Section 156(4) of the Building Safety Act 2022 inserted an article 9A applying that test specifically to anyone appointed to assist with the fire risk assessment, but section 156(4) was left out of the 1 October 2023 commencement and GOV.UK says that requirement will be brought into force at a later date. Either way the responsible person carries the risk if the assessor was not up to the job.
Enforcement is by the fire and rescue authority under article 25. An officer who finds a breach can serve an enforcement notice requiring specified steps, or a prohibition notice restricting or prohibiting use where the risk is serious, with a right of appeal to the magistrates’ court within 21 days of service. Under article 32(1)(a) it is an offence to fail to comply with a requirement or prohibition in articles 8 to 22B or 38 where that failure places one or more relevant persons at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire, carrying on conviction on indictment a fine, up to two years’ imprisonment, or both.
If you are a director working out where your block stands, read the last assessment end to end, list every open action with a date against it, and settle at a board meeting how each is funded. PBM offers independent building safety consultancy for buildings under 11 metres and accredited fire door inspections, and property manager inspections every three months feed straight into the assessment record.
Common Questions
Five questions that come up most often from RMC and RTM directors.
Does a Small Block of Six Flats Need a Fire Risk Assessment?
Yes. Article 9 applies to the common parts of any building containing two or more sets of domestic premises, with no lower size threshold. The Home Office publishes a short guide for blocks of no more than a ground, first and second floor containing no more than six flats, purpose-built or converted under Building Regulations from 1991 onwards and designed for a stay put strategy. It confirms the completed assessment must be recorded.
How Often Does the Fire Risk Assessment Have to Be Redone?
The Fire Safety Order sets no interval. Article 9(3) requires regular review, and review whenever there is reason to suspect the assessment is no longer valid or there has been a significant change. As a general steer only, the Home Office guide suggests a review every two years and a new assessment every four for a low risk, modern, low-rise block, and an annual review with a new assessment every three years for a higher risk or taller block.
Does the Assessment Cover the Inside of the Flats?
Not under the Fire Safety Order. Article 6(1) excludes domestic premises. Article 6(1A) brings in the structure, the external walls including balconies, the common parts, and all doors between flats and common parts, but not the interior of a flat. The Home Office guide notes that conditions inside a flat fall to the Housing Act regime instead. Type 3 and Type 4 assessments do look inside flats, which is why they are usually impossible in leasehold buildings.
Can a Director Carry Out the Assessment Themselves?
There is no legal requirement to use a consultant, and the Home Office guide says that for small or modern blocks it can be an advantage for the responsible person to do it using the guide. For taller blocks, particularly those built before 1992, it says more specialist knowledge may be needed. Either way, the responsible person is liable if an inadequate assessment puts people at risk of death or serious injury, and so is whoever carried it out.
What If a Leaseholder Will Not Allow a Flat Entrance Door Check?
Regulation 10 of the 2022 Regulations requires records of the steps taken, including where access was refused, so document each attempt and the response. Whether the door is yours to inspect or repair turns on the lease, since in many blocks the flat entrance door is part of the demised premises: one of the lease clauses worth reading carefully. The Home Office guidance is that where a landlord and a resident reach an impasse over a door, the matter should be referred to the enforcing authority.
Sources: Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 article 9, article 6, article 21A and article 35; the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022; the Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025; GOV.UK guidance on section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022; the GOV.UK residential PEEPs factsheet; the Home Office guide Fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats; and A guide to making your small block of flats safe from fire.