A fire risk assessment is not just a report for a file. It is the process of looking at a building as it is actually used and deciding whether people can be protected if a fire starts. That means looking at ignition risks, combustible materials, escape routes, fire doors, alarm systems, emergency lighting, staff training, housekeeping, maintenance records and the people who may need help to get out.

Irish businesses sometimes confuse this with a Fire Safety Certificate. The two are not the same. A Fire Safety Certificate is part of the building control process and relates to proposed works or a proposed change of use. A fire risk assessment deals with the occupied building in real life. A premises may have had a Fire Safety Certificate and still be unsafe today if fire doors are damaged, escape routes are blocked, alarm systems are poorly maintained or the building is being used differently from the original design.

This article explains the Irish legal position, who needs a fire risk assessment, what the assessment should cover, how often it should be reviewed, and how to choose a competent assessor.

The Legal Position in Ireland

Irish law does not contain one single sentence saying that every business must hold a report called a PAS 79 fire risk assessment. The legal position is wider than that. Employers must assess workplace risks under health and safety law, and persons having control of relevant premises must provide and maintain reasonable fire safety measures and procedures under fire safety law.

For workplaces, Section 19 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 requires employers and those who control workplaces to identify hazards and assess risks. The findings feed into the safety statement required by Section 20. The HSA's fire guidance states that a fire safety risk assessment should be conducted and should cover fire prevention, fire detection and warning, emergency escape and fire-fighting.

The Fire Services Acts add a separate duty for persons having control of certain premises. The 2003 amendment to Section 18 of the Fire Services Act 1981 requires the person having control to take reasonable measures to guard against the outbreak of fire, provide reasonable fire safety measures and appropriate fire safety procedures, apply those measures and procedures at all times, and ensure the safety of persons on the premises so far as reasonably practicable.

Section 18 also allows an authorised person to require a person having control of premises to carry out a fire safety assessment and notify the fire authority of that assessment. Fire authorities also have inspection and enforcement powers. The practical conclusion is straightforward: if you control a workplace, public premises, care setting, hospitality premises, school, residential common area or similar building, you need a defensible way of assessing and managing fire risk.

Who Needs One?

Employers need to assess fire risk as part of their workplace risk assessment duties. Building owners, occupiers, landlords, managing agents and operators may also have duties depending on who controls the premises and who is exposed to risk. In leased buildings, the duty may be shared. The landlord may control the common parts, structure and landlord systems, while the tenant controls the work activity, staff, stock, equipment and daily housekeeping.

Typical premises requiring a fire risk assessment include offices, shops, warehouses, factories, restaurants, pubs, hotels, guesthouses, nursing homes, schools, clinics, creches, community buildings, places of worship, sports facilities, apartment common areas and mixed-use buildings. Construction sites and temporary events also need specific fire safety planning, although the assessment method and responsible parties may differ.

Higher-risk premises need more care. Sleeping accommodation, healthcare, residential care, buildings with large numbers of visitors, premises with disabled or elderly occupants, hazardous processes, heritage buildings, complex layouts and multi-tenant buildings usually require a more detailed assessment. A simple checklist that might be adequate for a very small office will not be adequate for a nursing home or hotel.

What the Assessment Should Cover

A good fire risk assessment starts with fire hazards. The assessor looks for sources of ignition such as electrical equipment, cooking, heating, hot works, smoking, battery charging, machinery, arson risk and poorly controlled contractors. They also look for fuel, including waste, packaging, stock, furnishings, flammable liquids, gas, plastics, laundry, bedding and combustible linings. Oxygen sources such as medical oxygen or process gases also need attention where relevant.

The assessment then considers people at risk. This includes employees, visitors, contractors, residents, patients, pupils, customers and members of the public. Particular attention is needed where people may be sleeping, unfamiliar with the layout, under the influence of alcohol, very young, elderly, disabled, cognitively impaired, working alone or unable to self-evacuate.

The assessor should then examine the fire safety measures. This includes escape routes, exits, doors, emergency lighting, fire detection and alarm systems, manual call points, alarm audibility, compartmentation, fire doors, fire stopping, signage, portable fire-fighting equipment, suppression systems, smoke control, external access for the fire service and water supplies where relevant.

Management arrangements are just as important as the building. The assessment should review training, fire drills, maintenance records, alarm tests, emergency lighting tests, extinguisher servicing, contractor control, hot work permits, housekeeping, waste management, storage practices, evacuation procedures and the way defects are reported and closed out.

PAS 79 and Competent Methodology

PAS 79-1 is widely used as a structured fire risk assessment methodology for non-domestic premises. It gives assessors a recognised framework for identifying hazards, considering people at risk, evaluating fire protection measures, recording significant findings and preparing an action plan. It is useful because it brings discipline to the assessment and makes reports easier to compare and review.

The important point is that PAS 79 is a methodology, not the Irish statute. A report should not rely on the name of the methodology alone. It should still show clear judgement, evidence, prioritised recommendations and an understanding of Irish legislation, Irish Standards, building control records and the actual use of the premises.

For fire risk assessors, competence matters. Ireland does not have a single statutory register that every assessor must join before offering this service. Duty holders should therefore look closely at qualifications, experience, professional registration, sector knowledge, insurance and report quality. A person may be competent for a small office but not for a hospital, nursing home or complex industrial site.

Fire Safety Certificate Versus Fire Risk Assessment

A Fire Safety Certificate is issued by a Building Control Authority and certifies that the proposed works or building, if constructed in accordance with the submitted plans and specifications, will comply with Part B of the Building Regulations. It is usually required for new non-domestic buildings, material alterations, certain extensions and material changes of use.

A fire risk assessment is different. It looks at the building as occupied and managed today. It asks whether the fire precautions are adequate for the current people, use, contents, maintenance condition and procedures. That is why an older building, a refurbished building or a building with a Fire Safety Certificate can still require a detailed operational fire risk assessment.

This distinction matters after alterations. A business may add partitions, change storage, introduce lithium battery charging, increase occupancy, change opening hours or convert an area to a new use. Each of those changes can affect escape, detection, alarm strategy, fire load or management procedures. A Fire Safety Certificate may be needed for the works, but the operational fire risk assessment still has to be updated afterwards.

How Often Should It Be Reviewed?

There is no single Irish statutory interval that fits every premises. Annual review is a sensible working rule for many premises, but the more important test is whether the assessment remains valid. It should be reviewed after a fire, near miss, significant false alarm trend, building works, change of use, increase in occupancy, change in resident or patient dependency, new hazardous process, new fire safety system, or enforcement finding.

Higher-risk premises often need more frequent review. Nursing homes, hotels, hospitals, schools, assembly buildings, industrial premises and multi-occupied buildings can change quickly. If the risk changes, the assessment should change with it. A report that has not been opened since the day it was issued is not a management tool.

The action plan should be reviewed more often than the full report. If the assessment identifies urgent fire door defects, blocked escape routes or alarm coverage issues, the business should not wait until the next annual review to check progress. Actions need owners, dates and evidence of completion.

What Happens During a Visit?

Before attending site, a competent assessor will normally ask for floor plans, previous assessments, fire safety certificates where available, alarm and emergency lighting details, servicing records, fire drill records, training records and information on occupancy and building use. The more accurate the information provided, the stronger the assessment is likely to be.

On site, the assessor will walk the premises systematically. They will check escape routes, exits, doors, compartmentation, fire stopping, alarm devices, detection coverage, call points, emergency lighting, signage, extinguishers, plant rooms, kitchens, stores, external areas and areas where contractors or staff may create fire risk. In many buildings, roof voids, service risers and above-ceiling spaces are important because compartmentation defects are often hidden.

The assessor should also speak to people. Management can explain the fire strategy, maintenance arrangements and known problems. Staff can explain what actually happens day to day. Those conversations often reveal issues that drawings and certificates do not show, such as a final exit that is hard to open, a store that regularly blocks a corridor, or a drill procedure that night staff do not understand.

What a Useful Report Looks Like

A useful report is clear enough for management to act on. It should identify significant findings, explain why they matter, prioritise actions and distinguish urgent life safety issues from routine improvements. It should avoid vague recommendations such as "review fire doors" without saying which doors, what is wrong and what should happen next.

A good action plan should include timescales. Immediate or urgent matters may include locked or obstructed exits, defective fire alarm arrangements, serious compartmentation breaches, missing emergency lighting on escape routes or a lack of credible evacuation arrangements for vulnerable occupants. Longer-term actions may include policy updates, training improvements, minor signage changes or planned system upgrades.

The report should also connect with the safety statement, emergency plan, training programme and maintenance records. Fire risk assessment is not separate from fire safety management. It should lead to practical changes in the way the premises is run.

Cost and Scope

The cost of a fire risk assessment depends on scope. A small single-storey office with good records and simple occupancy will take far less time than a nursing home, hotel, school, warehouse, industrial process or multi-building campus. Size matters, but complexity usually matters more. Sleeping risk, vulnerable occupants, complex compartmentation, poor records, older construction, hazardous materials and previous enforcement findings all increase the work required.

A good quote should be clear about what is included. It should state whether the assessor will review records, inspect roof voids or service risers where accessible, comment on fire doors, consider alarm and emergency lighting records, provide photographs, issue a prioritised action plan and discuss findings with management. If two quotes are very different, compare the scope before comparing the price.

Sector Differences

Different premises need different judgement. In a nursing home, the assessor must consider resident dependency, progressive horizontal evacuation, night staffing, evacuation equipment and HIQA Regulation 28. In a hotel, sleeping risk, alarm strategy, wayfinding and staff response are central. In a warehouse, storage height, fire load, battery charging, racking, vehicle movements and smoke spread may be more important. In a school, pupils, supervision, assembly arrangements and out-of-hours use all matter.

This is why sector experience is important. Fire safety is not only a matter of checking whether equipment exists. The assessor has to understand how the building is used, how people behave in it, and what would realistically happen in the first few minutes of a fire.

Common Problems Found

The same problems appear repeatedly across Irish premises. Fire doors are wedged open, damaged or poorly adjusted. Escape routes are used for storage. Final exit doors are locked or difficult to open. Fire alarm zones are not understood. Emergency lighting tests are missing. Extinguishers are present but badly located. Waste is stored beside the building. Electrical rooms become storage areas. Fire stopping is incomplete after cabling works.

There are also management failures. Staff have not had suitable fire safety training, drills are unrealistic, lone workers are forgotten, disabled evacuation arrangements are weak, contractors are poorly controlled and remedial actions from previous reports remain open. These issues are often cheaper to fix than structural defects, but they require management attention.

Choosing an Assessor

When choosing an assessor, ask about fire safety qualifications, experience with your type of premises, professional registration, insurance and the methodology used. Ask for a redacted sample report. The sample will tell you more than a sales pitch. Look for clear findings, photographs where helpful, prioritised recommendations and practical wording that a manager can act on.

Be cautious with very cheap assessments for complex buildings. A proper assessment takes time. The assessor has to inspect, review records, understand the fire strategy, consider the people at risk and write a report that stands up to scrutiny. A superficial checklist may look tidy but still miss the issues that matter.

Phoenix STS provides fire risk assessment services across Ireland, including offices, healthcare premises, nursing homes, education, hospitality, retail, industrial and multi-site portfolios. We can also support related work such as safety statements, fire alarm audits and fire safety management reviews.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a fire risk assessment a legal requirement in Ireland?

Employers must assess workplace risks under Section 19 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, and the HSA states that a fire safety risk assessment should be conducted. Persons having control of relevant premises also have duties under the Fire Services Acts to provide and maintain reasonable fire safety measures and procedures.

Does a Fire Safety Certificate replace a fire risk assessment?

No. A Fire Safety Certificate relates to proposed building works or change of use under building control. A fire risk assessment deals with the occupied building, current use, occupants, maintenance and management arrangements.

How often should a fire risk assessment be reviewed?

Annual review is a sensible benchmark for many premises, but review should happen sooner after significant changes, incidents, enforcement findings or changes in occupancy, layout, use, staffing or resident dependency.

Can I complete my own fire risk assessment?

For a very simple low-risk workplace, an employer may be able to complete a basic assessment using HSA guidance. For larger, higher-risk or complex premises, a competent fire risk assessor should be used.

What should I do after receiving the report?

Assign each action to a responsible person, set realistic dates, complete urgent actions first, keep evidence of completion and update the safety statement, emergency plan and training programme where required.

Contact Phoenix STS

For a fire risk assessment or fire safety review, contact Phoenix STS on 043 334 9611 or use the Phoenix STS contact page.

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Fire safety duties depend on the building, use, occupants and management arrangements. Always refer to current legislation, fire authority guidance and competent fire safety advice for your own premises.