Fire risk assessments

A Type 1 Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) is non-destructive and the most common assessment type undertaken to fulfil Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order 2005 requirements.

A Type 1 FRA assesses all the common parts of a building, such as a lobby area in a shared block of flats – but not individual dwellings. In some cases, a Type 1 FRA will inspect construction points between individual dwellings (such as shared supportive walls), but this is not necessary in most cases.

• A Type 1 FRA purpose is to ensure that common parts of a building have suitable protection and arrangements to allow people to safely escape if there were a fire.
• The results of a Type 1 FRA may reveal the requirement for further FRAs. If this is the case, the Type 1 FRA will list why this would be required.

A Type 2 Fire Risk Assessment is usually only recommended if a Type 1 FRA concludes that serious structural flaws in a building may increase the risk of fire spreading.

• A Type 2 FRA includes destructive sampling, which involves opening up structural elements of the building’s fabric. This increases the cost of this type of assessment because a contractor would be required.

A Type 3 Fire Risk Assessment is comprehensive and covers more than the law requires. This assessment covers all common areas of a building and includes a visual inspection of private, individual dwellings.

• A Type 3 FRA considers all means of escapes (including those within individual dwellings), structures, and compartmentation between flats and any means of fire detection. A Type 3 FRA is non-destructive – and is usually only considered necessary if there are fire risks within individual dwellings.
• Landlords and building owners can find it difficult to arrange Type 3 FRAs because they require entrance into individual dwellings. Often this type of assessment is easier if living spaces are empty.

Type 4 Fire Risk Assessments are similar to Type 2 FRA, as they include destructive sampling in both the common parts of a building and private, individual dwellings. Type 4 FRAs are more comprehensive and complicated to complete. This is because access to individual dwellings is required, and destructive sampling can lead to a need for repairs and making good afterwards.

• Type 4 FRAs are only required in a limited number of circumstances, usually only being suggested if there is reason to believe there are serious defects in both common parts of a building or individual private dwellings.