Home Office introduces surveys for fire risk assessors and ‘Responsible Persons’

There is considerable work underway to strengthen the building and fire safety regulatory systems, not least through the changes being brought about by the Fire Safety Act 2021, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and the Building Safety Act 2022. These changes will have a significant impact on the fire risk assessor sector.

With that in mind, the Home Office is keen to gain a better understanding of capacity and capability within the sector. The Home Office is also working with the sector to consider issues in relation to professionalisation within the fire risk assessor industry. Answers elicited from the questions posed in the survey will very much help to support this work.

The Home Office is now inviting anyone who undertakes fire risk assessments (either for a professional fee or for buildings which they or their employers manage) to complete the survey. The survey asks questions about pathways into conducting fire risk assessments, training and Continuing Professional Development completed to date and the types of buildings risk assessed. The findings of the survey will be used to inform policy development work by the UK and devolved Governments.

Members of a number of professional bodies involved in fire risk assessment procedures who took part in a survey early last year may see some similar questions, but this survey focuses more on assessors’ career paths and the professional development activities available to them.

The Home Office has commented: “Please feel free to share this invitation with anyone else you know who undertakes fire risk assessments, as the more responses we receive, the better the picture we will be able to build of the fire risk assessment workforce.”

Survey logistics

The survey should take approximately ten minutes to complete and will remain open until Monday 31 July. Participation is completely voluntary. All answers will remain confidential, while no individual or organisation will be identified in any reporting. Respondents will not be asked to provide their name or that of their employer.

*Complete the survey online at https://www.homeofficesurveys.homeoffice.gov.uk/s/FRAcareerpath/

‘Responsible Persons’ survey

The Home Office would also like to draw attention to a survey of ‘Responsible Persons’, which aims to explore how recent fire safety legislation has affected those individuals and improve its own understanding of how recent fire safety legislation changes have impacted ‘Responsible Persons’ in England.

These changes will have a significant impact on ‘Responsible Persons’ and the Government is keen to gain a better understanding how such individuals have responded to the changes.

Anyone who’s a ‘Responsible Person’ (an individual or an organisation) is invited to complete the survey. For organisations, if you are not the ‘Responsible Person’ within your organisation, you should pass this survey on to such individuals. The survey asks questions about you, the buildings for which you are responsible and about your experiences of current and awareness of future fire safety legislation changes. Again, the findings will be used to inform policy development work in the UK.

The survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete and will remain open until Monday 31 July. Again, participation in this survey is completely voluntary. Answers will be kept confidential, and no individual or organisation will be identified in any reporting. Respondents will not be asked to provide their name or that of their employer.

*Complete the survey online at https://www.homeofficesurveys.homeoffice.gov.uk/s/RP-firesafety/