How much does a fire risk assessment cost?
Most of this industry will not put a number on a page. These are our actual fixed fees, what sits behind them, and the honest answer on what pushes a price up.
Our prices
Quoted from a short description of the property, usually within a few hours. No site visit is needed to give you a price.
Single rented property
One flat or a house in single occupation, up to three storeys.
HMO, 3 to 5 lettable rooms
Shared house or bedsit conversion, including the escape route.
HMO, 6 or more rooms
Larger licensable HMOs, typically three storeys and above.
Small commercial premises
Shop, office, salon or cafe up to roughly 1,500 sq ft.
Block of flats, communal areas
Common parts only, priced on number of flats and storeys.
Larger or complex premises
Industrial units, care settings, licensed premises, multi-tenant buildings and anything over three storeys.
All figures exclude VAT. Prices held for 30 days from quotation.
Six things that change the fee
If you know these before you ring round, you can tell straight away whether a quote is sensible or whether someone is guessing.
Floor area and number of storeys
The single biggest factor. Every additional storey adds escape route to check and usually another compartmentation issue to write up.
How many people use the building
Occupancy drives the required escape capacity. A premises with sleeping accommodation is always more work than one without.
What happens inside
Cooking, hot works, chemical storage and battery charging all raise the fire loading and the depth of assessment needed.
How many responsible persons
Multi-tenant buildings need the boundaries between duty holders mapped out, which takes longer than a single-occupier site.
Whether drawings exist
If there are no floor plans, we produce a basic one as part of the report. That is included, but it adds time.
Type of assessment
A type 1 assessment of common parts is the standard. Type 3 and 4 assessments that involve opening up construction cost more.
The cheapest assessment is rarely the cheapest outcome
A £99 desktop assessment that never looked in the loft is not a bargain. It is a document that will not survive contact with a licensing officer, and the liability stays with you.
What a cheap assessment usually skips
Loft and roof void inspection, fire door checks on every door, testing that detection is genuinely interlinked, and any look at compartmentation between flats. These are the findings that matter.
What it costs you later
A licence application held up, a notice to comply with a short deadline, or an insurer questioning cover after an incident. Any one of those costs more than the difference in fee.
Questions about cost
How much does a fire risk assessment cost in the UK?
For most small premises the market sits between £200 and £500. Our fixed fees start at £195 for a single rented property, £245 for an HMO and £295 for commercial premises. Large or complex buildings are quoted individually.
Is the price fixed or does it change after the visit?
It is fixed. We quote from a short description of the property and that figure does not move, provided the property matches what you described. If it turns out to be materially different we tell you before starting, not after.
Are there extra charges for travel?
No. There is no travel surcharge anywhere in our coverage area across Greater Manchester and east Lancashire.
Do you charge for the review the following year?
A review of an assessment we carried out is charged at a reduced rate, because the baseline work is already done. A first assessment of a property someone else assessed is charged at the full rate.
Can I do the fire risk assessment myself?
Legally you can, if you are competent to do so. For a simple, low risk single let that may be realistic. For an HMO, a block of flats or any commercial premises, the practical problem is that if the assessment is later found not to be suitable and sufficient, the liability sits with you.
Why do some companies not publish prices?
Usually because they price on what they think you will pay. The work is quantifiable, so a fee can be quoted from a short description in almost every case.
Get your fixed price
Tell us the property type and roughly how many rooms or how much floor area. You will get a fixed price back the same working day, with no site visit needed to quote.
Mon to Fri, 8am to 6pm. Emergency callouts by arrangement.