How to check a fire risk assessor is competent
Updated 29 September 2026
Anyone can call themselves a fire risk assessor. There is no licence. Since 2025, though, there is a British Standard for assessor competence and a national register of individual assessors. Company certification has also been updated to match. Here’s how to use them.
1. Match the assessor’s level to your building
BS 8674:2025, published in August 2025, sets out three competence levels for individual fire risk assessors (BSI):
- Foundation is for simple, low-risk premises.
- Intermediate is for more complex premises.
- Advanced is for complex or high-risk premises, such as large sleeping-risk buildings and complex care or residential blocks.
Ask which level an assessor works at and whether it suits your premises.
2. Check the individual on a register
- NFRAR (National Fire Risk Assessors Register). Run by the Institute of Fire Safety Managers, it replaced IFSM’s tiered register in November 2025. Search by name or town and competence level at nfrar.co.uk (IFSM announcement).
- IFE Fire Risk Assessor Register. Run by the Institution of Fire Engineers and aligned to the Advanced level. Search via Find an IFE Professional.
3. Check the company’s certification
- BAFE SP205 is third-party certification for fire risk assessment companies. Version 6 took effect on 31 March 2026 and maps its levels to BS 8674 (BAFE). Check a company on the BAFE register.
- NSI Gold or Silver (fire risk assessment). Check on the NSI Company Finder.
- FRACS no longer counts. Warringtonfire withdrew all FRACS certificates on 31 December 2024 (Warringtonfire). A FRACS badge on a website is out of date.
4. What the law requires today
- Since 1 October 2023, the responsible person must record the whole fire risk assessment, including all findings, and record who carried it out (name and organisation). This comes from section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 (GOV.UK).
- A further duty to use only a competent assessor (Article 9A of the Fire Safety Order, added by the same Act) had not yet been brought into force at the time of writing; GOV.UK says it will come “at a later date”. Choosing a registered or certified assessor now puts you ahead of it.
Questions to ask before you appoint
- Which BS 8674 level do you work at, and are you on NFRAR or the IFE register?
- Is your company BAFE SP205 or NSI certified for fire risk assessment?
- Which code of practice will you follow? (For housing, BS 9792:2025.)
- Will the report record everything section 156 requires, including your name and organisation?
- Is a follow-up review included in the price? (What it should cost.)
How we show this on Fire Safety Finder
Listings show any certification a firm states on its own website in amber, and certification we’ve checked on the register in green with the date we checked. How we check.