Controlling fire risks is an important part of managing a property. In order to be able to protect against the risks of fire, the first step is to identify these risks and this is where the fire risk assessment comes in. Fire risk assessments (or FRAs) are a snapshot of how protected any given property is to ensure the safety of its occupants in the event of a fire. The FRA also identifies corrective actions and further steps to achieve an appropriate level of fire safety.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (commonly known simply as the Fire Safety Order) introduced a legal duty for ‘the responsible person’ to take all reasonable steps to ensure that fire safety levels are appropriate at all times.