BS 9792 has introduced a schedule for the reviews of Fire Risk Assessments, improving upon previous guidance.
The British Standards Institution (BSI) has published its Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) in housing standard, BS 9792. This standard clarifies the necessary frequency of reviewing and renewing for FRAs, depending on different risk ratings.
Regulation emphasises the need for ‘regular review’, which is up to interpretation and this new guidance offers an additional, more structured system.
What is the difference between regulation and guidance?
Health and safety law is categorised into 4 levels:
- Acts are the formal description of the law, setting out key duties, obligations and rights. These can only be created and adapted by MPs sitting in Parliament.
- Regulations support Acts, providing specific requirements to supplement to broader nature of Acts. They are more readily changeable than Acts but are still subject to scrutiny from Parliament.
- Approved Codes of Practice (ACOPs) provide guidance and are admissible in court as evidence. If a duty holder chooses to ignore an ACOP and is brought into court, they must demonstrate why the system they have used is better aligned with Acts and Regulations.
- Guidance material is provided by a variety of regulatory bodies and offers advice on how to best comply with duties under acts and regulations.
BS Standards like BS 9792, sit under the umbrella of ACOPs. This means that if you were legally challenged over your FRA management of a property, for example, and you had not achieved the minimum standard set out within BS 9792, you would need to provide reasonable justification as to why you didn’t use the standard as suggested.
What is the standard?
Code BS 9792 applies to FRAs in the following building types, but not exclusive to:
- Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs).
- Blocks of flats or maisonettes (purpose-built or converted).
- Other specialised housing as defined in the standard.
- Student accommodation in any of the above forms.
- Access areas to residential spaces in mixed-use buildings.
- Other sleeping accommodations, such as hotels
It categorises buildings into 4 categories: Low risk, moderate risk, higher risk and highest risk.
The risk level is determined by more than just building height, but any high-rise buildings of 18 metres/7 storeys will be considered highest risk.
If significant findings in an assessment note a need for fire precautions, the level of risk can be affected, meaning you will need more frequent reviews and renewals. Remediation works may also affect the frequency of necessary reviews.
| Building risk level | Recommended Review Frequency | Recommended Renewal Frequency |
| Low risk | 2 years | 4 years |
| Higher risk | Yearly | 3 years |
| Highest risk | Yearly | Yearly |
What has stayed the same?
A new FRA must still be undertaken if:
- A material alteration takes place in the building.
- There is a significant change in legislation or guidance.
- There is a significant change in the fire precautions.
- An incident, such as a fire, occurs.
- The building’s use is changed.
What do property managers and PAPs need to do?
Now is a great time to update your internal policy around reviewing and renewing your FRAs, making sure they’re in line with the new standard. Check for any outstanding reviews in your portfolio and communicate with your FRA provider to check that they’re updating their own processes to help you align with BS 9792.
How are 4site responding?
We have updated our process and report structure to align with BS 9792. Current risk assessment reports include a review date, so we are updating the layout to include an additional renewal date, for when a refreshed assessment is due.
We have also added guidance for moderate risk, where a review would be needed every year, with a complete renewal every three years. All our reviews and renewals will continue to be conducted with a site visit to maintain quality and ensure your ongoing compliance.
To help keep reports manageable and comprehensible, we will be changing the format of our non-compliance reporting, separating instances of documentation reviews into either critical or non-critical categories.
If you want to ask a question about BS 9792 or any of our FRA services, our friendly team are always happy to help! Give us a call on 01376 572 936 or drop us an email at [email protected]
