What does it involve?

A fire risk assessment involves a physical inspection of the building to determine the adequacy of the existing fire precautions and the need for any additional measures.

However, of equal importance to the physical inspection is a review of the fire safety management in the organisation and consideration of the human factors – who occupies the building and how they will respond to an emergency and whether they will take appropriate action.
There are practical limits to the extent of the survey and evaluation of the fire precautions. For example, in undertaking a fire risk assessment, we would not carry out an invasive survey but would endeavour to visually sample above false ceilings, in risers, voids, lofts and roofs where access is permissible and it is safe to do so. If we considered that more thorough examination of such areas was necessary, we would highlight this to you.

We would not conduct detailed engineering evaluation or testing of fire protection systems, emergency escape lighting, etc. However, we would inspect such systems visually.
In the case of a fire risk assessment aimed at satisfying the requirements of legislation, the objective of the risk assessment will primarily be the life safety of the occupants of the building.
While some of the recommendations we may make could also be beneficial to property protection, we would not be specifically addressing this objective or the objective of avoiding business interruption from fire. However, we do have the expertise to address these objectives, if required.