A Fire Risk Assessment is a thorough, systematic examination of your Premises. The assessment includes both the building’s interior and exterior. The primary objective of the assessment is to reduce or eliminate potential fire hazards and risks to a level that is safe and compliant with current legal standards, thus ensuring your property is equipped with appropriate fire protection measures. If you are the owner of a building, an employer, a landlord, or occupier, or have au

This photo was taken during a recent fire risk assessment at an HMO. The reason for taking the photo was to show the client that the optical smoke detector had been installed too close to the wall. But why does this matter? Smoke detectors and smoke alarms (the distinction being domestic smoke alarms are self-contained units containing both the sensor and the siren in one device, and a smoke detector being the sensor only) are critical fire safety devices that provide early w

The answer to this question is technically, “Yes”. You can do the fire risk assessment yourself with the help of relevant government guidance documents. However, the law (The Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order 2005) states the fire risk assessment must be ‘suitable and sufficient’. This means it must be carried out by a competent person with sufficient training, qualifications, experience, and attitude, also known as ‘SKEB’ (Skills, Knowledge, Experience & Behaviour). Ther

In recent years, e-cigarettes, more often known as vapes or vape pens, have become a very popular stop smoking aid in the UK. As of May 2026, there were approximately 5.5 million adult vapers in the UK, which is 10.4% of the adult population. However effective they may be in helping the many thousands of people in the UK quit smoking, they do pose a fire risk. The fire risk with vapes is linked to the lithium-ion battery inside them. Although they may look harmless, vapes can