Short answer. A fire risk assessment for a non-domestic premises is priced on the size of the building, its use, its complexity and how many buildings are involved. A small single-storey office is at the bottom of the range; a large industrial site or a hotel is at the top. Any assessor who quotes a single price before asking about the building is pricing a template, not an assessment.
If you want the number first, York Green's published range and the fixed-price route are on the fire risk assessment service page.
What decides the cost of a fire risk assessment?
Four things, in roughly this order of weight.
Floor area and number of floors. The assessor has to walk every escape route, open every riser and plant room, and check compartmentation on every floor. Time on site scales with the building.
Use and occupancy. An office with thirty staff who know the building is a different assessment from a hotel, a school or a care setting where people sleep, are unfamiliar with the layout or need help to evacuate. Sleeping risk and vulnerable occupants add time on site and time in the report.
Complexity. Industrial processes, flammable or combustible materials, multiple tenants, listed buildings, atriums and basements all add work. Where dangerous substances are present a DSEAR assessment is a separate duty, and the two are best done in conjunction.
Number of buildings and sites. Each building is its own assessment. Multi-site clients are usually priced with a discount because the scoping and the report format are shared.
Why are some fire risk assessments so cheap?
Because they are not assessments. A £99 fire risk assessment is a form filled in on a tablet, often by someone with no fire safety training and no register entry, producing a document that lists generic hazards and generic controls. It will not stand up to a fire and rescue service audit, an insurer's query after a fire, or a licensing officer, and the Fire Safety Order puts the consequences on the responsible person, not the assessor.
The things the cheap version leaves out are the things that take time: checking compartmentation and fire stopping, testing whether escape routes actually work for the people in the building, reviewing the detection and alarm system against the risk, and writing an action plan with priorities and timescales that a contractor or a board can act on.
What should a fire risk assessment include?
A written assessment to a recognised methodology (PAS 79-1:2020 for premises other than housing), a survey of ignition sources, fuel and oxygen, an assessment of the people at risk including anyone vulnerable, a review of detection, alarms, escape routes, emergency lighting, signage and firefighting equipment, compartmentation and fire-resisting construction, photographic evidence, and a prioritised action plan with timescales. The assessor should be registered on a recognised register at a level that matches the building; NFRAR Advanced covers complex and higher-risk premises.
How is a fire risk assessment priced at York Green?
Scope first, price second. A twenty-minute Greenlight Call covers the building, its use and who occupies it. Scope, a fixed price and a turnaround date are then confirmed in writing before anyone comes to site. No hourly billing, no day rate, no extras afterwards. The published range on the service page is there so you can budget before you enquire.
Is a fire risk assessment a legal requirement?
Yes, for every non-domestic premises in England and Wales. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 puts the duty on the responsible person, and since October 2023 the assessment has to be recorded in writing regardless of how many people are employed. There is no small-business exemption.
How often does a fire risk assessment need redoing?
There is no fixed interval in law. It must be reviewed when the building, its use or its occupants change, after a fire or near miss, and otherwise at a sensible interval set by the risk; annual review with a full reassessment every three years is common practice for most commercial premises. The full answer is in how often a fire risk assessment should be reviewed.
Can the cost be reduced?
Yes, honestly, in three ways: have the building's drawings, previous assessment and maintenance records ready, which cuts time on site; assess several buildings in one programme; and fix the obvious things before the visit so the action plan is shorter. What does not reduce the cost is choosing an assessor who skips the parts that take time.