The Home Office has published new research assessing the competency, capacity, and experience of fire risk assessors (FRAs) in England
Published on 30 September 2024, the analysis is based on a survey that took place between July and September 2023. As the Home Office states, there is currently “limited existing evidence” about who FRAs are and how they complete their role. As such, a survey was developed to gain a better understanding of the FRA sector in England, specifically the capacity and competence of FRAs, with the research to be used to inform future policy.
Participating FRAs were asked to answer the following research questions:
- What are the functional characteristics of FRAs?
- What is the competency of FRAs?
- What is the capacity of FRAs?
- To what extent do in-house and fee-earner FRAs differ in their capacity and competency levels?
- To what extent do certificated, professional body members and non-member FRAs differ in their capacity and competency levels?
Of the 1,404 responses received, FRAs were mostly male (87%) and aged 50 years and over (65%). 46% were certificated or registered by a scheme, while 40% were non-certificated professional body members. The most common reason for not being certificated or belonging to a professional scheme was cost:
“Most FRAs have several years’ experience of conducting fire risk assessments. Approximately two-thirds (63%) of FRAs have more than 5 years of experience conducting assessments, with one-tenth (11%) having more than 20 years’ experience. Approximately one-fifth (21%) of FRAs have less than 3 years of experience conducting assessments, with a small proportion (6%) having less than one year of experience,” the report states.
The analysis also found that FRAs generally showed “high confidence” in their abilities to carry out our fire risk assessments, with 48% describing themselves as advanced (that is, leading assessment of all types of building unsupervised, including high-risk) and 46% describing themselves as intermediate (assessing low- to medium-risk buildings). Those who underwent formal annual refresher training were also more likely to assess themselves as “advanced competence” (58%).
In its conclusions, the Home Office stated: “These findings highlight that while there are indicators potentially linked to higher levels of competency and capacity, the sector has a great deal of variety in the background of FRAs in terms of factors like experience, background, and qualifications.
“Equally, the survey highlights that many FRAs are not certificated and do not undertake formal refresher training, something which suggests opportunities to professionalise and establish higher professional standards of FRAs. This suggests opportunities for the standardisation and verification of competence through compulsory channels.”
The research appears to follow the recommendations set out in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report, which called for the government to “establish a system of mandatory accreditation to certify the competence of fire risk assessors”. However, the report also suggests that the data does not provide a fully representative view of all FRAs, with the findings providing partial evidence only.
“Any development of certification schemes should consider potential barriers such as cost, as well as what will draw FRAs to complete them, such as the evidence it can enable them to provide their clients,” the report concludes.
You can access the full report here.