Fire risk assessment checklist
A free fire risk assessment checklist you can take on site, organised the way PAS 79 orders an assessment: describe the building and the people, identify the hazards, evaluate the protection, judge the management, then record the significant findings and the action plan. No sign-up and no email required.
It is a field aid for a competent assessor rather than a script — the judgement is still yours. If you want the reasoning behind what an assessor covers on site, the walkthrough of a fire risk assessment goes through it, and what a PAS 79 assessment is explains the methodology itself.
Fire risk assessment
Site record and significant findings
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Premises and assessment
1. The building
Everything downstream is judged against this. Height and sleeping risk in particular change which duties apply.
1.1 Use of the premises, and any mixed or ancillary uses
1.2 Storeys above and below ground, and height to the top occupied storey
1.3 Construction, including the external wall system and any known cladding
1.4 Approximate floor area, per floor and in total
1.5 Do people sleep on the premises?
1.6 Hours of occupation, including out-of-hours and contractor access
1.7 Maximum likely number of occupants
1.8 Date of construction and of any significant alteration or refurbishment
2. People at risk
Name the groups, not just the number. An assessment that does not identify who would struggle to escape has not assessed the risk.
2.1 Employees, including those working alone or at night
2.2 Visitors, contractors and members of the public
2.3 Residents, and whether any live alone
2.4 People with mobility, sensory or cognitive impairment
2.5 People in areas remote from an escape route or unlikely to hear an alarm
2.6 Children, or anyone in the premises unsupervised
2.7 Are personal emergency evacuation plans in place where they are needed?
3. Fire hazards and sources of ignition
Record what you saw, not the category. "Trailing leads under desks in the open-plan office" is a finding; "electrical" is a heading.
3.1 Electrical installation: periodic inspection in date, appliance testing, trailing leads and adapters, damaged accessories
3.2 Smoking: policy, designated area, provision for safe disposal, evidence of smoking where it is prohibited
3.3 Arson: security of the perimeter, external bin storage, combustibles stored against the building, unsecured voids
3.4 Heating and ventilation: fixed plant serviced, portable heaters, clearance from combustibles
3.5 Cooking: extraction and ductwork cleaned, suppression where fitted, fixed and portable appliances
3.6 Lightning protection, where the building warrants it
3.7 Housekeeping: accumulation of combustible waste, storage in escape routes, plant and riser cupboards
3.8 Contractors and building works: permit-to-work, hot works controls, temporary arrangements during the works
3.9 Dangerous substances: what is held, quantity, storage arrangement, DSEAR assessment where required
3.10 Any other significant hazard particular to this building
4. Means of escape
Walk every route, in both directions, and open every final exit door yourself.
4.1 Travel distances, and whether escape is in one direction or more
4.2 Number and separation of alternative escape routes
4.3 Width of routes and stairs against the occupancy served
4.4 Protection of escape routes: enclosure, fire doors, and storage within them
4.5 Final exits open readily and give onto a safe place
4.6 Escape routes clear of obstruction, storage and combustibles
4.7 Inner rooms, and how an occupant would be warned
4.8 External escape stairs: condition, protection and lighting
4.9 Escape for people who cannot use stairs: refuges, evacuation lifts, communication
4.10 Assembly point, and whether it is far enough away and reachable
5. Measures limiting fire spread
Compartmentation fails at the penetrations. Lift the ceiling tiles and open the risers.
5.1 Compartment walls and floors, and whether they are continuous to the structure
5.2 Fire stopping at service penetrations: cables, pipes, ductwork, structural gaps
5.3 Cavity barriers in voids, ceilings and roof spaces
5.4 Fire doors: rating, condition, gaps, seals, self-closing, held open only on approved devices
5.5 Fire and smoke dampers where ductwork crosses a compartment line
5.6 Surface linings and any combustible finishes on escape routes
5.7 External wall construction, balconies and anything attached to the façade
6. Fire protection systems
For each system, record the category or standard it was designed to, not just that it exists.
6.1 Detection and alarm: category (for example L1 to L5, or M), coverage, audibility, zoning
6.2 How the alarm is raised, and whether it is monitored
6.3 Emergency escape lighting: coverage of routes, exits, changes of level and firefighting equipment
6.4 Fire safety signs and notices: exit signage, fire action notices, door signage
6.5 Portable extinguishers: type appropriate to the risk, siting, signage, in date
6.6 Sprinklers or other fixed suppression, and the standard designed to
6.7 Smoke control and ventilation, natural or mechanical
6.8 Dry or wet rising mains, firefighting shafts and firefighting lifts
6.9 Fire service access, hydrants and the premises information box
7. Management of fire safety
The most common significant finding in any building is not a missing system. It is a system nobody tests.
7.1 Named responsible person, and who discharges the duty day to day
7.2 Fire safety policy and emergency plan, and whether either matches what staff describe
7.3 Evacuation strategy: simultaneous, phased, stay put or progressive horizontal
7.4 Fire drills: frequency, date of the last, and what it recorded
7.5 Staff training on induction and refresher, and training for fire marshals
7.6 Testing regimes and their frequency: alarm, emergency lighting, extinguishers, dampers, doors
7.7 Servicing contracts in place and certificates available
7.8 Records kept, and whether the logbook is actually up to date
7.9 Arrangements for contractors, permits and out-of-hours working
Significant findings and action plan
This is the part the responsible person acts on, and the part an enforcing authority reads first. Every finding needs an action, an owner and a date — without those three it is an observation.
Outcome
Free fire risk assessment checklist from AssessHub, fire risk assessment software for UK assessors. Run PAS 79 and BS 9792:2025 checklists on a phone with no signal, attach photographs to findings as you take them, and produce the report and prioritised action plan in one click — assesshub.co.uk/fire-risk-assessment-software
What turns a filled-in checklist into a suitable and sufficient assessment
A completed form is not an assessment. Three things decide whether it holds up when somebody asks about the building two years later.
The findings are evidenced
A tick records an opinion. A photograph, a location and a description of what was wrong record a finding — and a year later, the photograph is the only part anybody can still verify.
The rating is reasoned, not asserted
“Moderate” on its own is a word. The assessment has to show how the likelihood of a fire and the consequence for the people in the building led to that rating, so that someone else could follow the same reasoning.
Every action has an owner and a date
The action plan is what the responsible person actually uses. An action with no priority and no deadline will not be done, and an assessment full of them has described the risk without reducing it.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an official fire risk assessment checklist?
No form is prescribed in law. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires a suitable and sufficient assessment and, where five or more people are employed, that the significant findings are recorded — but it does not say what the document looks like. PAS 79-1 and PAS 79-2 set out a nine-step methodology that most professional assessors follow, and BS 9792:2025 does the same for housing. This checklist is organised around those topic areas.
What must a fire risk assessment record as a minimum?
The significant findings, the people identified as being especially at risk, and the action taken or to be taken. In practice a defensible assessment also records who carried it out and on what basis they were competent, what was and was not accessible on the day, the evidence behind each finding, and a review date. A finding without an action and an owner is an observation, not an assessment.
How often should a fire risk assessment be reviewed?
The convention is an annual review with a full reassessment every three years, but the Fire Safety Order requires review whenever there is reason to believe the assessment is no longer valid — a change of use or occupancy, building work, a fire or near miss, new legislation, or a significant change to the people at risk. The interval is a default, not the duty.
Can I use this checklist for a commercial fire risk assessment?
Yes — print it, copy it, adapt it and use it on client work freely. There is no sign-up and no restriction on use. It is a field aid for a competent assessor, though, not a substitute for competence: the Fire Safety Order places the duty on the responsible person to ensure the assessment is carried out by someone competent to do it.
What is the difference between this and a fire risk assessment report?
This is what you fill in on site. The report is what the client receives: the building described, the findings evidenced with photographs, a risk rating that is reasoned rather than asserted, and a prioritised action plan they can work through. Turning site notes into that report is the slow part of the job, and it is what AssessHub does.
Does this cover BS 9792:2025 for housing?
The topic areas overlap substantially, but BS 9792:2025 is structured around residential buildings and addresses things a general checklist does not — flat entrance doors, stay-put strategies, common parts, and the resident engagement that goes with them. If you are assessing housing, work to BS 9792 rather than adapting a general form.
The checklist is the quick part
Writing it up afterwards is what takes the evening. AssessHub runs the same checklists on a phone with no signal, attaches photographs to findings as you take them, drafts the wording in your voice, and assembles the report and action plan into a branded PDF in one click.