What Actually Happens If You Don't Have a Fire Risk Assessment

 Short answer: nothing happens until something does, and then it happens fast. There's no automatic fine that lands on your doormat for not having one. But if an inspector visits, or worse, there's a fire, not having a fire risk assessment turns a bad situation into a genuinely serious one.


THE LAW YOU'RE ACTUALLY BREAKING


The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 makes a suitable fire risk assessment a legal duty for the person responsible for most non-domestic premises and the shared areas of multi-occupied buildings. Not having one, or having one that's clearly inadequate, is a failure to meet that duty, full stop.


WHAT AN INSPECTION ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE


Fire and rescue authorities can and do visit premises to check. What happens next depends on what they find. Minor issues might just get verbal advice. More significant gaps can bring a formal notice: an enforcement notice giving you a minimum of 28 days to fix specific breaches, an alterations notice requiring you to notify them before making certain changes, or, where the risk is serious enough, a prohibition notice that can restrict or shut down use of the premises immediately.


THE PENALTIES IF IT GOES FURTHER


Where a failure exposes people to risk of death or serious injury, or where you ignore a statutory notice, this stops being an administrative matter. It becomes a criminal offence that can mean an unlimited fine in a magistrates' court, or an unlimited fine and up to two years in prison in the Crown Court. That's not just aimed at the business, directors, managers, and anyone else responsible can be prosecuted individually.


WHAT ABOUT YOUR INSURANCE


Not having a fire risk assessment doesn't automatically void your policy, insurers aren't handed veto power just because a document is missing. But if there's a claim and the lack of assessment is relevant to what went wrong, or your policy specifically requires one, that's exactly the kind of thing that can complicate or reduce a payout. It's a risk you're carrying quietly whether or not it ever gets tested.


WHY WAITING IS THE EXPENSIVE OPTION


The properties that end up with prohibition notices and prosecutions are very rarely ones where someone got a fire risk assessment done and got it slightly wrong. They're the ones where nobody got one done at all. Getting a proper assessment in place is a fixed, predictable cost. Not having one is an open ended risk that only gets more expensive the longer it sits there.


GETTING ONE SORTED


If you don't currently have a fire risk assessment for your property or business, or you're honestly not sure if the one you have would hold up, that's what I do. You can see what's included here: https://www.fiverr.com/tonycarlyon/write-a-professional-fire-risk-assessment-for-your-uk-property-or-business

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