Understanding BS 9792:The New Standard for Fire Risk Assessments

If you own or manage housing in England & Wales, Understanding BS 9792 is essential. BS 9792:2025 is the new British Standard setting out a code of practice for fire risk assessments (FRAs) in housing, including blocks of flats, HMOs, sheltered and extra-care schemes, supported housing and student accommodation. It brings a rigorous, structured approach to how FRAs are planned, carried out, documented, reviewed and acted on in residential settings. It also sits alongside legal duties under the Fire Safety Order (FSO) and the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, so aligning your processes to the standard helps demonstrate compliance.

How BS 9792 fits with the law (and other guidance)

BS 9792 is guidance, not legislation. But it is written to support legal duties under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the FSO), which requires the “responsible person” to make a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, keep it under review, and record significant findings. Using the structure recommended by BS 9792 is a credible way to evidence that your assessment is systematic, proportionate, and up to date.

For multi-occupied residential buildings in England, you must also meet the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 (FSER). Among other things, these require secure information boxes (SIBs) and wayfinding signage in high-rise buildings, plus quarterly checks of communal fire doors and annual checks of flat entrance doors in buildings over 11 m. BS 9792 expressly expects FRAs to verify that these facilities exist where required and are maintained correctly, and to record them in the assessment.

Finally, BS 9792 acknowledges the wider ecosystem of guidance and standards you’ll reference in an FRA (e.g., LGA guidance on purpose-built blocks of flats; NFCC guidance; BSI standards such as BS 8629 for evacuation alert systems and BS 5839-6 for domestic detection). It includes these in its references and expects you to cite the ones you used.

Understanding Scope - What BS 9792 covers

The standard is written for housing (not for non-domestic premises). It applies across the housing spectrum, including blocks of flats, maisonettes, HMOs, sheltered and extra-care housing, supported housing and student accommodation. The model pro-forma expects you to identify the type and use of the premises, height, construction, and any external wall issues (including whether a separate FRAEW has been carried out for cladding/external wall systems).

External walls: BS 9792 requires you to consider “external wall assessment” as a topic within the FRA and to signpost to any separate FRAEW where relevant (e.g., PAS 9980 assessments). The FRA should note the presence of cladding/over-cladding and reference any FRAEW undertaken.

The four Types of FRA (and when to use them)

A major strength of Understanding BS 9792 is the clarity it brings to four Types of FRA, which scale from non-intrusive to intrusive and from common parts only to common parts and dwellings:

Type 1 - Common parts (non-intrusive):
The default for most buildings with evidence of integrity. No opening up; includes examination of a sample of flat entrance doors. Roof voids should be included where practicable.

Type 2 - Common parts (intrusive):
As Type 1 but with opening up (e.g., sample penetrations/shafts/risers/voids) to confirm fire separation and construction. Use where there’s poor evidence of integrity or concerns about compartmentation.

Type 3 - Common parts and dwellings (non-intrusive):
Adds checks inside a sample of dwellings (e.g., provision of smoke/heat alarms, sprinklers/water-mist where provided, escape within flats, landlord-controlled electrical/heating systems). Also considers resident alterations that might compromise precautions.

Type 4 - Common parts and dwellings (intrusive):
As Type 3 but intrusive in both common parts and dwellings (opening up on a sampling basis). Typically requires a contractor to open and make good.

Choosing the Type depends on building risk, the quality of existing information (drawings, previous surveys), and whether there is evidence that compartmentation and protection are intact. The dutyholder must be clear what Type is required; the assessor must be clear what Type is being delivered.

Understanding the Nine-Step FRA process in BS 9792

BS 9792 sets out a structured, repeatable nine-step method. Your documented FRA should follow this flow so that the logic behind your conclusions and action plan is transparent:

Record premises and occupant information (Step 1; Clause 12).

Identify fire hazards and controls (Step 2; Clause 14).

Assess likelihood of fire (Step 3; Clause 14).

Assess fire protection measures - detection, warning, means of escape, doors, signs, emergency lighting, manual firefighting, separation/compartmentation, structure, external walls, smoke control, and facilities for firefighters (Step 4; Clause 15).

Assess fire safety management - roles, maintenance, records, false alarms, training, contractors (Step 5; Clause 16).

Estimate likely consequences of fire (Step 6; Clause 17).

Assess overall fire risk and select a risk level (Step 7; Clause 18).

Develop an action plan - clear, prioritised, proportionate measures (Step 8; Clause 19).

Set review/renewal period - based on risk, building factors and change dynamics (Step 9; Clause 20).

Tip: BS 9792 expects your FRA to describe key systems and facilities (not just tick-box them) and to verify testing and maintenance and the competence of maintainers. That includes EAS (evacuation alert systems), smoke control, SIB contents, wayfinding signage, fire mains/hydrants and access for appliances.

Documentation - Understanding BS 9792 model pro-forma

Annex A of BS 9792 provides a model pro-forma. If completed properly by a competent person, it is expected to satisfy the standard’s recommendations. You may adapt the format, but you must still cover every relevant clause (e.g., Annex C’s factors for means of escape). The pro-forma includes sections to capture what was inspected, sampled or excluded, and why (e.g., inaccessible roof voids).

The pro-forma also aligns the FRA with applicable legislation and guidance used, prompting you to list the FSO/FSER and other guidance (LGA, NFCC, etc.) - helpful when a regulator or insurer asks, “What did you base this on?”

Competence and Access - getting the assessment right first time

BS 9792 emphasises the practical pre-conditions for a good FRA:

If you have an in-house competent person, they can carry out or oversee the FRA. Otherwise, appoint a competent external assessor.

The assessor should ensure they have access to appropriate people, documents and all relevant areas (including representative flats and, where practicable, roof voids). If full access isn’t possible, the action plan should flag further investigation.

In blocks of flats, the assessor should inspect a representative sample of entrance doorsets (by archetype) and, where practicable, roof voids.

This isn’t just about quality; it’s about legal defensibility. Under the FSO, the responsible person must keep the assessment suitable and sufficient, review it regularly, and record findings and measures - all of which depend on access and robust scoping.

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