Does a fire risk assessment expire?

No. There is no statutory expiry date. An assessment stays valid only while it still reflects the building, the people in it and the fire precautions. An old assessment that no longer matches the premises can be treated as unsuitable by a fire inspector or insurer.

Is an annual fire risk assessment review a legal requirement?

Not in those words. Annual review is common practice, used in PAS 79-1:2020 programmes and expected by many insurers, but the legal test is that the assessment remains suitable, sufficient and up to date.

How often should an HMO or care home review its fire risk assessment?

Plan for at least an annual review. Care homes and supported living often review every six to twelve months, and every sleeping-risk premises should review straight away after changes to residents, layout, occupancy or fire systems.

What is the difference between a review and a new fire risk assessment?

A review checks that a suitable existing assessment still matches the premises, records the outcome and updates the action plan. A new assessment is needed when the old one is missing, incomplete, years out of date, based on a different layout, or never suited the complexity of the building.

Who is the responsible person in a multi-let building?

Usually the employer, owner, landlord or managing agent in control of the premises. A building can have more than one responsible person, for example a freeholder for the common parts and a commercial tenant for their unit, and Article 22 of the Fire Safety Order requires them to cooperate and coordinate.

Do I need a BAFE-registered fire risk assessor?

The law requires a competent person, not a named qualification or register. Third-party certification such as BAFE SP205 and professional registers such as those run by the IFE or IFSM are common ways to show competence, so ask any assessor for evidence of competence and insurance.

What changed for fire risk assessments in October 2023?

From 1 October 2023, amendments made by the Building Safety Act 2022 require the assessment or review to be recorded in full, including findings, measures taken or planned and groups especially at risk. The old exemption for businesses with fewer than five employees no longer applies to recording.

How Often Should a Fire Risk Assessment Be Reviewed?

Q: How often should a fire risk assessment be reviewed?

UK law sets no fixed interval. Article 9(3) of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the assessment to be reviewed regularly so it stays up to date, and whenever it may no longer be valid or after a significant change. A recorded review at least annually is the defensible default for HMOs, blocks of flats, hotels, care and healthcare premises.

How often should a fire risk assessment be reviewed? No fixed legal interval or expiry date applies. Article 9(3) of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 says the responsible person must review the assessment regularly so it stays up to date, and straight away if it may no longer be valid or after a significant change. In practice, plan a recorded review at least annually for HMOs, blocks of flats, hotels, care and dental premises, and sooner after works, incidents or occupancy changes.

If your last assessment is years old or has no recorded review, commission a fresh fire risk assessment rather than hoping a light-touch note will satisfy an inspector. Safety Certificates UK matches vetted assessors and does not assess in-house.

Need your FRA reviewed or renewed? Get a fire risk assessment quote · FRA service

What does the law say about reviewing a fire risk assessment?

Article 9 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to relevant persons. Article 9(3) then requires that assessment to be reviewed regularly so that it is kept up to date, and particularly if:

there is reason to suspect that it is no longer valid; or
there has been a significant change in the matters to which it relates (including significant changes, extensions or conversions to the premises, the fire safety measures, or how work is organised).

Where a review shows changes are needed, the responsible person must make those changes. Since 1 October 2023, the Order (as amended by the Building Safety Act 2022) also requires the assessment or review to be recorded in full, including the findings, the measures taken or planned, and any groups of people identified as especially at risk. The old exemption for businesses with fewer than five employees no longer applies to recording.

GOV.UK’s workplace fire safety guidance puts the same duty in plain English: as the responsible person you must carry out and regularly review a fire risk assessment, and keep a written record. There is no statutory “every 12 months” or “every five years” rule in the Order itself, which is why comparing a fire risk assessment to an EICR validity period is a common and risky mistake. This guide covers England and Wales; Scotland uses the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005.

Is an annual fire risk assessment a legal requirement?

Not in those exact words. The legal duty is continuous: the assessment must remain suitable, sufficient and up to date. Annual review is industry practice for many premises (PAS 79-1:2020 is a methodology, not law, and insurers and fire and rescue services commonly expect to see a recent review), but the law focuses on whether your assessment still reflects the real risks on site.

Treat “annual” as a planning default, not a certificate date. If nothing has changed in a low-risk office, a documented annual review may confirm the existing assessment is still valid. A recorded review still needs enough inspection to know that nothing has changed. If you run sleeping accommodation, care premises, a busy HMO or a site that has been altered, waiting a full year between meaningful checks is often too long.

How often should different premises review their FRA?

These are defensible review cycles, not statutory deadlines. Any trigger in the right-hand column means review now, whatever the date.

Premises	Defensible review cycle	Review straight away after
Care home or supported living	At least annually, often every 6–12 months	Change in resident dependency, works, any fire or near miss
HMO or student let	At least annually	Licence application or renewal, new rooms or layout, new letting year
Hotel, B&B or holiday accommodation	Annually	Refurbishment, extra rooms, change of evacuation strategy
Block of flats (common parts)	Annually; taller or complex blocks more often	Fire door defects, external wall findings, works to common parts
School or education site	Annually, ahead of the new school year	New block, change in room use, incident
Dental or healthcare premises	Annually	New surgeries, oxygen or gas storage changes, occupancy changes
Stable office or shop	Annually as the safe default; some low-risk sites use 1–3 years only if triggers are actively monitored	Fit-out, new tenant, change in staff numbers or working hours

For HMOs and blocks, the Fire Safety Act 2021 confirmed that the structure, external walls and flat entrance doors fall within the fire risk assessment for multi-occupied residential buildings. Housing assessments in scope should now follow BS 9792:2025 rather than the withdrawn PAS 79-2. Landlords can also see our guide to fire risk assessments for HMOs.

Not sure which cycle fits your building? A competent assessor sets the review programme as part of the assessment. Request a fire risk assessment quote.

Extra fire door and resident checks in blocks of flats (England)

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, in force since 23 January 2023, add routine duties that sit alongside the fire risk assessment rather than replacing its review:

All multi-occupied residential buildings: give residents fire safety instructions and information about the importance of fire doors.
Over 11 metres: quarterly checks on all communal fire doors and annual checks on flat entrance doors.
High-rise (at least 18 metres or 7 storeys): a secure information box, wayfinding signage, at least monthly checks on firefighting lifts and essential firefighting equipment, and sharing external wall information and building plans with the local fire and rescue service.

If these checks find defects, that is a reason to review the fire risk assessment.

What counts as a “significant change”?

Trigger an immediate review when any of the following happen:

Change of use (for example office to short-let sleeping rooms, or adding HMO rooms)
Structural alterations, extensions or new partitions that affect escape routes
Changes to fire detection, alarm, emergency lighting, extinguishers or compartmentation
New processes, storage of dangerous substances, or higher fire load
Material change in who uses the building (more vulnerable occupants, night working, higher occupancy)
A fire, near miss, enforcement visit, or serious false-alarm pattern

A review can conclude that the existing assessment remains valid, but that conclusion should be recorded. A rubber-stamp date change with no thought behind it will not help you if something goes wrong.

Do I need a brand-new assessment or just a review?

A review is appropriate when the original assessment was suitable and sufficient, the building is broadly the same, and a competent person can confirm findings, update the action plan, and record the review.

A new assessment is the safer route when the previous document is missing, incomplete, clearly out of date, based on a different layout, or was never suitable for the complexity of the premises. Thin historic “significant findings only” paperwork is often no longer enough on its own after the October 2023 recording changes.

If an inspector or insurer challenges an outdated FRA, the practical outcome can look a lot like a failed assessment. See our related guide on what happens if you fail a fire risk assessment.

How should you document a review?

Record the date of the review and who carried it out (and their competence).
Note what was checked: layout, occupancy, escape routes, detection and warning, extinguishers, emergency lighting, fire doors, housekeeping, and people especially at risk.
State whether the assessment remains valid or what has changed.
Update the action plan with owners and timescales.
Set the next review date and store the record with the current assessment so it can be produced quickly.

Responsible persons stay responsible for a suitable and sufficient assessment even when they appoint someone else to carry it out.

Common myths about FRA “validity”

A fire risk assessment does not “last five years” like an EICR, and PAS 79 is not the law. Almost all non-domestic premises, and the common parts of many residential buildings, are in scope of the Order. The old fire certificate regime ended in 2006; what you need now is a living assessment and working precautions. Do not assume the freeholder, tenant or managing agent has sorted the common parts. Where there is more than one responsible person, each must cooperate, and gaps between them are enforceable.

Next steps

Find your latest recorded fire risk assessment and last review note, and ask whether it still matches the building you operate today. Diary the next review and add trigger-based reviews after works or occupancy changes. If the document is missing, vague or years old, commission a competent reassessment. Typical costs are £180–£350 for small premises and £350–£750 for medium or sleeping-risk premises; see our 2026 FRA cost guide.

Next step: Request a fire risk assessment, a legionella risk assessment, or both through Safety Certificates UK’s matching network, or read more about our fire risk assessment service. We match you with vetted assessors and do not carry out assessments in-house.

How Often Should a Fire Risk Assessment Be Reviewed? (UK Law)