Fire risk assessments: what the Fire Safety Order reaches

Scope: England and Wales. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to both, though building safety regimes have diverged since — see the divergence map. Verified against the legislation on 14 August 2026.

Landlords ask whether they need a fire risk assessment for a flat they let. The answer is usually not for the inside of the flat — and often yes for something else, depending on what you own and how it is occupied.

What the Order actually covers

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to non-domestic premises, and a single private dwelling is excluded. But in a building containing flats the common parts — the entrance hall, stairs, corridors, plant rooms, bin stores — are within it.

So the assessment attaches to the building's shared areas, not to the interior of a self-contained flat let on an ordinary tenancy.

Who has to do it

The duty falls on the responsible person: broadly, whoever has control of the common parts. In practice:

• A block with a freeholder or managing agent — they are normally the responsible person for the common parts, not you.
• You own the freehold of a converted house split into flats — that is you.
• A share-of-freehold arrangement — the company holding the freehold, of which you are part.
• More than one person can hold the duty, and each must cooperate with the others.

A leaseholder landlord letting one flat in a managed block is usually not the responsible person — but is entitled to ask whether an assessment exists, and should.

If you own the building

Then the duty is yours and it is not a one-off:

• A suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment of the common parts, recorded.
• Review it when the building, the occupation or the risk changes — not on a fixed anniversary.
• Act on what it finds. An assessment identifying a hazard you then ignore is worse evidence than no assessment.
• Maintain escape routes, emergency lighting, signage and fire doors.

Enforcement is by the fire and rescue authority, which can issue enforcement or prohibition notices and prosecute.

Where the HMO rules take over instead

If the property is an HMO, a different and generally stricter regime applies inside the dwelling: fire safety in HMOs covers alarm grades, doors and what an officer looks for, and licence conditions frequently specify works.

Section 257 HMOs — blocks converted into self-contained flats where the conversion did not meet building standards — are the awkward middle case, and worth checking against before assuming a block is outside the HMO regime.

Inside the flat, whatever the building

Regardless of who holds the Fire Safety Order duty, the letting duties are yours:

• Smoke and CO alarms, tested and working on the first day.
• Electrical safety and gas safety.
• Furniture meeting the fire safety regulations where you supply it.
• Not obstructing escape routes — tenants storing items in a shared hallway is a real enforcement trigger and is worth addressing in the tenancy.

What a leaseholder landlord should do

1. Ask the freeholder or managing agent for the current fire risk assessment for the common parts.
2. Keep a copy, and note the date — see record keeping.
3. Check whether anything in it requires action inside your flat, such as a fire door specification.
4. If no assessment exists, raise it in writing. Your lease may give you a route to press for it.

Run the free compliance check to see which safety duties apply to your property.