Fire Risk Assessment for
Commercial Property.

Named assessor

Fixed fees from £225

Reports from 48 hours

PAS 79-1 methodology

Multi-site discounts

MK, Bedford & London

•  The basics  ——

It applies to virtually any non-domestic building, including offices, shops, warehouses, workshops and mixed-use premises, and is a legal duty under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, not an optional extra. The law requires the assessment to be “suitable and sufficient” for your specific building and how it is actually used. A generic checklist, downloaded from the internet or copied from a similar-looking building, will not hold up if it is ever tested by an enforcing authority or an insurer following an incident.

Under the legislation, the “responsible person” is whoever has control of the premises, typically the employer, the building owner or the occupier. Where a building has multiple occupiers, such as a serviced office block or a parade of shops with a shared rear access, there can be more than one responsible person, each accountable for the parts of the building they control.

In practice, a fire risk assessment produces two things: a written record of the hazards found, and a prioritised action plan setting out what needs fixing immediately, in the short term, and in the longer term.

•  Cost & process  ——

Commercial fire risk assessments start from £225 for smaller premises, scaled to size and complexity, with a fixed-fee quote agreed before any work begins. Floor area and storeys, shared plant rooms or communal areas, how complex the use of the space is, and whether this is a first assessment or a periodic review all affect the price. You’ll have a fixed number in writing before the site visit is booked.

•  Who needs one  ——

Anyone responsible for a non-domestic building (employer, owner, occupier or landlord) is legally required under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 to hold a current, suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment.

If you’re a landlord or managing agent responsible for a mixed-use or multi-let building, the duty typically extends to shared corridors, stairwells and plant rooms, even where individual tenants are separately responsible for their own units. Getting this split wrong is one of the most common gaps we find.

•  Scope  ——

Whether people can get out quickly and safely from anywhere in the building, including whether escape routes stay clear in practice.

Suitability and coverage for your building type, and whether the system matches how the building is actually used today.

Adequate illumination of escape routes if the power fails, particularly in internal corridors with no natural light.

Whether fire and smoke are contained long enough for safe evacuation, including whether doors are maintained and not wedged open.

A common failure point in retail and industrial premises, where stock accumulates faster than storage is reviewed.

Staff training, drills, and how the fire safety policy is documented. Even a well-designed building fails if people don’t know what to do.

•  Standards & compliance  ——

Commercial premises are assessed to PAS 79-1, the recognised methodology for general fire risk assessment across offices, retail, industrial and mixed-use buildings. This is different from BS 9792:2025, the standard for housing, used for our blocks of flats and HMO assessments. An assessment that cites the wrong standard is a warning sign that it may have been adapted from a template.

•  Sectors we cover  ——

Not every commercial building need is met by a fire risk assessment alone. A fire risk assessment reviews an occupied building’s ongoing fire safety management, while a fire strategy report sets out how a building’s design achieves fire safety in the first place. If you’re developing a new building, carrying out a major refurbishment, or need to show fire safety design principles for planning or building control, you may need one instead of, or alongside, an assessment.

•  Why Vigilance  ——

Fire risk assessments are only as good as the person carrying them out and the methodology they’re assessed against.

Every assessment is carried out personally by Ray Amoah: ABBE Level 4, DipFRA, MIFSM, FPA member. You deal directly with your assessor, not a call centre.

Assessed to the current recognised methodology, not a legacy template carried over from an older standard.

Quoted before the site visit. What you’re told is what you pay.

Digital report delivered from 48 hours after the site visit.

•  Credentials & memberships  ——

•  FAQs  ——

Can’t see your question? Call Ray directly on 07922 690085.

•  Related services  ——

Also covering: Milton Keynes · Bedford · St Albans · Aylesbury · Northampton · Luton. New to this? Read our plain-English guide to fire risk assessments.