Key takeaways
- There is no fixed legal expiry date for a fire risk assessment
- You must review it regularly and after any significant change
- Annual review is common practice where people sleep or need help to escape
- A review checks the assessment is still valid; a reassessment starts again
- England now requires every assessment to be recorded; Wales has narrower rules
What the law actually says
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies in both England and Wales. Article 9 requires the Responsible Person to carry out a suitable and sufficient assessment of the fire risk, and then to review it regularly to keep it up to date. It must be reviewed in particular if:
- there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid, or
- there has been a significant change in the matters it relates to, including changes to the premises, the fire safety measures or how the work is organised.
That is all the Order says about timing. There is no "valid for 12 months" rule and no expiry date printed in law. The question is always whether the assessment still reflects the building as it is today.
This is why a fire risk assessment report should always state a recommended review date and the reason for it. If yours does not, ask your assessor to add one.
Events that should trigger a review
Whatever the date on the report, review the assessment as soon as something significant changes. Common triggers include:
- Building works: alterations, extensions, refurbishment or new partitions
- Change of use: a new activity, layout or type of occupancy
- Change of people: more occupants, or people who need help to escape
- New hazards: new equipment, processes, storage or fuels
- Fire safety systems: a new, altered or failed alarm, lighting or sprinkler system
- Incidents: any fire, near miss or false alarm pattern
- Staffing: lower staffing levels, especially at night in care settings
- Enforcement: advice or a notice from the fire and rescue service
Employing a young person is also a specific trigger: the Order says you must not employ a young person unless you have made or reviewed an assessment that takes account of the risks to them.
Where a trigger only affects one part of a building, the review can focus on that area. But it should still consider knock-on effects, such as new works that have left holes in compartment walls or extended travel distances.
Typical review intervals by premises type
Between trigger events, most Responsible Persons set a routine review cycle. The intervals below reflect common practice across the industry. They are not legal requirements, and your own assessment should set the interval based on the risk.
| Type of premises | Commonly reviewed | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Care homes and supported living | At least annually | Sleeping risk and residents who need help to escape |
| HMOs and shared housing | At least annually | Sleeping risk and frequent change of tenants |
| Hotels and other sleeping accommodation | At least annually | People asleep in an unfamiliar building |
| Blocks of flats (common parts) | Annually to every two or three years | Depends on height, complexity and evacuation strategy |
| Schools | Annually is common | Large numbers of young people and frequent changes |
| Offices, shops and low-risk workplaces | Every one to three years | Lower risk, provided nothing has changed |
Taller and more complex residential buildings are usually reviewed more often than small, low-rise blocks. The same applies where the building relies on stay put, because that strategy depends on compartmentation and flat entrance doors staying in good condition.
Review or full reassessment?
People use the words loosely, but there is a real difference.
A review
A review asks whether the existing assessment is still valid. The assessor revisits the premises, checks whether anything has changed, looks at progress on the action plan and checks the testing and maintenance records. If little has changed, the findings are confirmed or updated and a new review date is set. A review should still involve a visit: it is hard to confirm a building has not changed without seeing it.
A full reassessment
A full reassessment starts again from the beginning, following a recognised method such as PAS 79-1:2020 or BS 9792:2025. It is needed when:
- the building or its use has changed significantly
- the original assessment was generic, thin or did not follow a recognised method
- several reviews have been layered on top of each other and the report no longer reads as one coherent document
- there has been a fire or a serious finding that calls the original conclusions into question
- a new Responsible Person takes over and cannot rely on the previous work
Many Responsible Persons plan a full reassessment every few years even where reviews have found little change, so that a fresh pair of eyes looks at the whole building. How often that should be depends on the premises, and your assessor should advise.
Recording the review: England and Wales
In England
Since 1 October 2023, amendments made by the Building Safety Act 2022 require every Responsible Person to record the full fire risk assessment and their fire safety arrangements in writing, whatever the size of the organisation. In practice, each review should be recorded too, with the date, who carried it out and what changed.
In Wales
A written record of the significant findings is required where you employ five or more people, hold a licence, or have an alterations notice. Recording every review is still strongly advised, as it is the only practical way to show it was done.
Whichever nation you are in, keep the previous versions. A clear history of reviews, findings and completed actions is strong evidence that you have managed fire safety properly over time.
Keeping on top of review dates
Missed review dates are one of the most common gaps we find, especially for landlords and organisations with several sites. A few simple habits help:
- Keep a single register of every site with its last assessment and next review date
- Tell your assessor about building works before they start, not after
- Close off action plan items and record the date they were completed
- Ask whether each visit is a review or a full reassessment, and why
If we carry out your assessments, every report and next-due date sits in the Vocus Fire Safety Portal, and we can bring reviews, testing and servicing together under one compliance contract.