Fire Risk Assessments and Asbestos Surveys
If you own or manage a building with shared areas, such as a block of flats or a converted house, the law requires a fire risk assessment of the communal areas and the safe management of any asbestos. Solicitors also commonly ask for both reports when a flat is sold.
Who needs a fire risk assessment?
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the responsible person for any building with shared areas must have a suitable fire risk assessment in place. That is usually the freeholder, management company or managing agent. It covers the communal escape route, fire doors including flat front doors, alarms, emergency lighting and anything that could help a fire spread.
Who needs an asbestos survey?
Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, whoever is responsible for the shared areas of a building built before 2000 must find out whether asbestos is present and manage it safely. An asbestos management survey identifies any asbestos-containing materials, assesses their condition and gives you a register to manage them.
How often are they needed?
A fire risk assessment should be reviewed regularly, typically every year for a block of flats, and whenever something significant changes in the building. An asbestos management survey stays in place unless the building is altered, with the asbestos register checked periodically. If refurbishment work is planned, a more detailed survey may be needed first.
What KPC does
Kent Property Compliance coordinates both on a single visit through qualified assessors. Fire risk assessments follow PAS 79, and asbestos management surveys are carried out to HSE guidance HSG264 by BOHS-qualified surveyors, with samples analysed by a UKAS-accredited laboratory. We arrange access, meet the assessor on site and send you the reports. A fast-track option is available if a sale depends on them.
Converted houses and small blocks across Kent
Much of the rented housing in Dartford, Gravesend, Maidstone, Medway and along the coast at Folkestone and Hythe is Victorian or Edwardian houses converted into flats. If a building has a shared hallway or stairwell, the freeholder or management company is the responsible person for fire safety in those areas, even if the building only has two or three flats. We arrange fire risk assessments and asbestos surveys for these buildings across Kent, and can book both on the same visit.
What the 2022 fire safety regulations added
Since January 2023, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require the responsible person in any building with two or more flats to give residents fire safety instructions, including what to do if there is a fire, and to tell residents why fire doors matter and that they must not be tampered with. The Fire Safety Act 2021 also confirmed that flat front doors and external walls fall within the fire risk assessment. Assessors now check these routinely, so older assessments may no longer cover everything that is required.
After the assessment
Most fire risk assessments list a few actions, such as a fire action notice in the entrance, a self-closer on a flat door, an emergency lighting test or an EICR for the communal electrics. We can quote for and arrange this follow-up work, so you have one point of contact from the assessment to the last action signed off.
Recent job: converted house, Hythe
A landlord selling a flat in a converted house of three flats needed a fire risk assessment and an asbestos management survey of the communal areas for his solicitor. We booked both for the same morning. The fire risk assessment came back as tolerable risk with a short list of actions. The asbestos survey found no asbestos, confirmed by a UKAS-accredited lab. Both reports were checked and sent to the client within a week of the visit.
Areas we cover
We arrange fire risk assessments and asbestos surveys for blocks of flats, converted houses and other buildings with shared areas across Kent and London. If you are unsure whether your property is covered, get in touch and we will confirm.
How to book
Send us the property address, the number of flats and floors, and when you need the reports. We will come back to you with a quote, usually within 48 hours, and arrange the visit with you.
Need a fire risk assessment or asbestos survey?
Call: 07384 363770
Email: Kentpropertycompliance@gmail.com