How Often Do You Need to Renew a Fire Risk Assessment?

A quick, genuinely useful answer to a question we get asked all the time.

There's no fixed expiry date in law

Unlike some certificates and inspections, there's no single hard rule saying "your Fire Risk Assessment expires after X months." What the law actually requires is that your assessment stays "suitable and sufficient" — in other words, it needs to accurately reflect your premises as they currently are, at all times.

That's a meaningful difference. It means the real question isn't "when does it expire," it's "has anything changed that makes the existing assessment no longer accurate."

What actually triggers the need for a review

A new or updated assessment is needed whenever there's a material change to the premises or how it's used, including:

• Change of use — an office converted to serviced accommodation, a shop unit split into two, a building repurposed for a different type of occupancy
• Structural changes — an extension, internal wall removed, new staircase, altered escape routes
• Change in occupancy numbers — significantly more staff, guests, or residents than when the assessment was carried out
• New tenants or a change of building management, particularly in multi-let premises
• An incident or near-miss — any fire, even a small one, should prompt a review regardless of when the last assessment was done
• Enforcement action or fire service feedback from a previous inspection

Even without a trigger, don't leave it indefinitely

As a general rule of thumb, even where nothing obvious has changed, we'd recommend a review at least every 12 months for most commercial premises — more frequently for higher-risk occupancies like hotels, HMOs, and serviced accommodation. This isn't a legal minimum, but it's a sensible, defensible interval that most fire services and insurers would expect to see.

Waiting several years between reviews with no documented reason is a weak position to be in if anything ever goes wrong or the fire service asks to see your records.

What a review actually involves

A review doesn't always mean starting from scratch. Often it's a matter of checking what's changed since the last assessment, confirming existing measures are still adequate, and updating the written record to reflect current reality. It's a much smaller job — and a much smaller cost — than leaving it too long and needing a full reassessment under pressure.

Bottom line

If you can't remember when your last assessment was carried out, or you know something's changed since it was done, that's your answer: it's time for a review.

Fire Check Scotland can review an existing assessment or carry out a full new one, whichever your premises actually needs. Get in touch to find out which applies to you.