Fire Risk Assessment
for Offices, Shops
and Warehouses

Every business operating from non-domestic premises in England and Wales must have a fire risk assessment. There is no size threshold and no exemption for small operations — a two-person office above a shop is caught by the same legislation as a distribution warehouse.

This guide explains who holds the duty, what the assessment covers across different types of business premises, and what enforcement actually looks like in practice.

Who Holds the Duty?

For a workplace, the Responsible Person is normally the employer where they have control of the premises. Duties may also fall on the occupier, the owner, or anyone else with control of part of the premises — for example a facilities company or a managing agent.

In a multi-occupied building, several parties will hold duties over different areas. The Order requires them to co-operate and co-ordinate. In practice this is where things fall down: each tenant assumes the landlord has covered it, and the landlord has assessed only the common parts.

When It Must Be Written Down

The significant findings of the assessment must be recorded in writing where:

• You employ five or more people — counted across the business, not per site.
• The premises are licensed — for example licensed for alcohol, entertainment or childcare.
• An alterations notice is in force for the premises.

Below that threshold a written record is not strictly mandatory, but it is strongly advisable. If an inspector calls, or an insurer investigates a claim, an undocumented assessment is extremely hard to evidence.

Offices and Professional Premises

Generally lower risk, but the common issues are consistent: escape routes obstructed by storage or deliveries, fire doors wedged open for convenience, electrical loading from extension leads and personal appliances, and server or comms rooms with concentrated electrical risk. Assessments should also address lone working and out-of-hours occupation, and how visitors and contractors are accounted for in an evacuation.

Retail, Cafés and Restaurants

Higher risk because of the public, and because of what happens behind the counter.

• Members of the public who do not know the layout and will instinctively try to leave the way they came in.
• Cooking equipment — deep fat fryers, grills and extraction ductwork, which requires regular cleaning to prevent grease build-up.
• Stock and packaging creating high fire loading in stockrooms and rear corridors.
• Final exits that must be openable without a key whenever anyone is on the premises — a recurring enforcement issue where staff lock rear doors for security.
• Seasonal peaks where occupancy rises well above the norm.

Warehouses, Factories and Industrial Units

These carry the highest complexity, and usually the highest fire loading.

• Racking and storage height — tall racking affects fire spread, sprinkler design and firefighting access.
• Travel distances — large floor plates can put staff a long way from a final exit.
• Processes — hot work, welding, spraying, dust-generating operations and battery charging areas each need specific control.
• Flammable materials — storage quantities, segregation and compatibility.
• Vehicle movements — forklifts and LGVs interacting with escape routes and assembly points.
• Mezzanines — frequently installed without the fire protection or escape provision they require.
• Compartmentation between production, storage and office areas.

What a Proper Assessment Delivers

Whatever the premises, the assessment should follow a consistent structure and produce something you can act on:

• Identification of hazards — sources of ignition, fuel and oxygen.
• Identification of people at risk — employees, visitors, contractors, members of the public, and anyone needing assistance to evacuate.
• Evaluation and control — removing or reducing risk so far as reasonably practicable.
• A prioritised action plan with clear risk ratings and timescales.
• Recorded findings in a format an inspector, insurer or lender will accept.
• A stated review date.

What Enforcement Looks Like

Fire and rescue authorities inspect business premises and can act where they find breaches:

• Alterations notice — requires you to notify the authority before making changes to the premises or its use.
• Enforcement notice — sets out failings and a deadline to fix them.
• Prohibition notice — restricts or prohibits use of all or part of the premises, and takes effect immediately. For a trading business this is the one that hurts.
• Prosecution — for serious or persistent breaches, with unlimited fines and, in the gravest cases, custodial sentences.

Insurance

Commercial policies commonly require compliance with fire safety legislation as a condition of cover. After a fire, insurers will ask for the assessment and check whether the actions it identified were carried out. An assessment that flagged a problem which was never addressed is materially worse for a claim than no assessment at all — it evidences that the risk was known.

When to Review

• Annually as standard practice for most business premises.
• After any change to layout, processes, equipment or occupancy.
• After refurbishment or the installation of a mezzanine or partitioning.
• Following a fire, near miss or a pattern of false alarms.
• When staff numbers grow — particularly on crossing the five-employee threshold.
• After enforcement contact from the fire authority.