Our public response to the UK Government's consultation on the competence, consistency, and accountability of Fire Risk Assessors.
The UK Government is currently consulting on major reforms to the Fire Risk Assessor (FRA) profession. These reforms aim to improve competence, consistency, and accountability across the fire safety sector — especially in higher‑risk buildings.
At Fire-Risk-Assessment.app, we welcome this direction. For too long, Responsible Persons and assessors have faced unclear expectations, inconsistent standards, and a lack of practical support. This consultation is an opportunity to modernise the profession and strengthen life safety across the country.
Our position is shaped by decades of experience in high‑hazard industries, including the post‑Cullen offshore safety reforms and the introduction of SI971. These events taught us a crucial lesson:
"Competence must be both mandated and enabled."
When people are given legal duties without the tools to carry them out, the system fails — not because of lack of effort, but because of lack of support. We must not repeat that mistake in fire safety.
One of the strongest models for defining competence in UK safety law is the LOLER regulations. LOLER is one of the few HSE frameworks that clearly defines competence, embeds it into the process, requires competent planning, and supports duty holders with structured guidance.
This is exactly the kind of clarity the FRA profession needs. If competence is to be regulated, it must also be operationalised — with clear expectations, structured processes, and practical tools that help assessors and Responsible Persons apply competence consistently.
Fire-Risk-Assessment.app supports the following reform principles:
The new FRA regime has the potential to combine three essential elements into a coherent, future‑ready framework:
Empowerment without tools must not be repeated. Duty holders need practical support, not just legal obligation.
Competence must be clearly defined, embedded in process, and supported with structured guidance.
Consistency, transparency, and proportionality — enabled by structured digital frameworks.
We believe the government's consultation is a vital step forward — and we are proud to contribute to shaping a safer future. Fire-Risk-Assessment.app will continue to: