Fire safety audit: what is checked and what you get

In short

A fire safety audit compares a building with the fire safety rules and ends in a written report with an action plan. In England, fire and rescue services audited 50,195 premises in the year to March 2026 and judged about 40% of them unsatisfactory. The most common breach was escape routes and exits. UK law requires whoever controls a building to assess its fire risks and, since October 2023, to record that assessment in full. In Russia, an independent "fire safety audit" is a legal procedure with its own rules. We found no statutory audit in Azerbaijan's fire safety law, so here a private audit works best as a check before a state inspection. Fire safety inspections continue despite the country's moratorium on business inspections.

What an audit is

England and Wales. When a fire and rescue service audits a building, it makes "a planned visit ... to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the level of compliance with the requirements" of the fire safety law. The owner's side of the same work is the fire risk assessment:

• Who is responsible. The responsible person must make "a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks". That person is the employer, owner, landlord or occupier, or "anyone else with control of the premises", such as a facilities manager or managing agent. The fire service checks the assessment, but "cannot carry out risk assessments for you".
• When to review it. The assessment must be reviewed regularly, and in particular when there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid or something significant has changed.
• Recording it. Since October 1, 2023, every assessment and every review must be recorded in full, including the findings, the measures taken or planned and any groups of people especially at risk. Before that, only significant findings had to be written down, and only in some cases, such as employers with five or more staff.
• Who may do it. A law requiring a competent assessor has been passed but is not yet in force; until then, the government recommends using one.

Russia. Federal Law 123-FZ lists "independent fire risk assessment (fire safety audit)" among the forms of checking compliance. Under Government Decree No. 1325:

• it is done under a contract with the owner;
• it includes a review of documents and a site survey, including a check that the fire protection systems work;
• it ends in a conclusion that the building complies, or with recommended measures;
• a copy goes to the fire supervision authority within 5 working days.

A positive conclusion lowers the building's score in the supervision risk system, which can move it to a lower risk category and so to less frequent inspections. It does not exempt the building from supervision. Since August 4, 2026, the procedure is set by the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MChS) instead of the government; earlier acts remain in force.

Azerbaijan. The basic act is the Law "On Fire Safety" No. 313-IQ of June 10, 1997, last revised in 2024. Its English translation on the Ministry of Emergency Situations website dates from 2009. In that text, enterprises must:

• comply with fire safety requirements and develop fire safety measures;
• train their staff;
• maintain fire safety systems and primary firefighting equipment;
• let inspectors in and report defects in fire safety systems.

The ministry's State Fire Control Service inspects buildings, issues binding instructions and can suspend operations. We found no procedure for an independent audit in the law. According to Deloitte, fire safety inspections may still be carried out during the moratorium on business inspections, which runs until January 1, 2027.

What is checked

The UK government sums up a fire risk assessment in five steps: "Identify the fire hazards. Identify people at risk. Evaluate, remove or reduce the risks. Record your findings, prepare an emergency plan and provide training. Review and update the fire risk assessment regularly."

The official checklist (updated January 2025) goes through:

• Fire hazards: electrical equipment, smoking, arson, heating, cooking, housekeeping, contractors and dangerous substances.

• Protection: escape routes, fire alarm and detection, extinguishers, emergency lighting, signs and notices.

• Management: a named person, written procedures, staff training, daily checks that exits are clear.

• Routine tests:

  • weekly fire alarm tests;
  • monthly and annual emergency lighting tests;
  • yearly extinguisher maintenance;
  • records of all of these.

  It also asks whether fixed installations are "periodically inspected and tested every five years".

For premises other than housing, the British code of practice PAS 79-1:2020 describes "nine steps to fire risk assessment". Its table of contents lists them as:

1. Information about the premises, the people in them and the processes.
2. Fire hazards and how to remove or control them.
3. How likely a fire is.
4. The fire protection measures.
5. Fire safety management.
6. The likely consequences of a fire.
7. The level of fire risk.
8. An action plan.
9. Periodic review.

For housing, BS 9792:2025 defines four types of assessment. Type 1 covers the common parts without opening up construction and "is generally sufficient for most buildings". Type 4 also covers the flats and opens up construction.

In buildings with two or more flats, English law also covers the building's structure, its external walls including windows and balconies, the common parts and the doors between the flats and the common parts.

What inspectors find most often

In England's fire service audits in the year to March 2026, the most frequently breached articles of the fire safety law were:

Only 60% of the 50,195 audits (29,909) were satisfactory, similar to the year before (59%). Fire services issued 3,355 formal notices, 6.7% of the number of audits. An audit took 5.6 hours on average. Purpose-built blocks of flats with 6 to 9 storeys fared worst: 51% of their 1,303 audits were unsatisfactory.

In Baku, on April 28, 2025, the State Fire Control Service suspended the operation of a market in Nasimi district. It listed these deficiencies:

• incomplete automatic fire alarm and primary firefighting equipment;
• wiring not installed according to the "Installation Rules of Electrical Equipment", and cable insulation resistance not tested;
• no fire water pool;
• combustible waste on the premises;
• flammable finishes in the stairwell and untreated timber;
• no evacuation plan;
• no compulsory real estate insurance certificate.

What the owner gets

• An action plan. The UK checklist lists each deficiency with the proposed action, a timescale and the person responsible. It calls the plan "an inventory of actions, normally prioritised and time constrained". The owner also keeps a dated record of every review.
• A full record. In England and Wales the law requires the assessment and its findings to be recorded in full. Home Office guidance adds the fire safety arrangements and the name and organization of the assessor.
• In Russia, a conclusion on compliance, or a list of recommended measures, with a copy sent to the fire supervision authority.

The details of fire alarm testing and emergency lighting are covered in our articles on addressable and conventional fire alarms and on voice evacuation and emergency lighting.

How often

• UK: no fixed interval. The law says "regularly", and whenever the assessment may no longer be valid or something significant has changed.
• Blocks of flats in England, from 2023. In buildings taller than 11 m, fire doors in the common parts are checked at least every 3 months, and flat entrance doors every 12 months on a best-effort basis. In buildings of at least 18 m or 7 storeys, firefighting lifts, evacuation lifts and essential firefighting equipment are checked monthly. A fault not fixed within 24 hours is reported to the fire service.
• From April 6, 2026, owners of residential buildings in England that are at least 18 m or 7 storeys tall, or over 11 m with simultaneous evacuation, must offer residents who cannot evacuate unaided a person-centred fire risk assessment.

Independence

Russian rules forbid an expert organization from auditing a building where it has already carried out other fire safety work or services. It is a fair question to ask any auditor, anywhere: have you designed, installed or serviced this building's systems before?

Common mistakes

• Waiting for the fire service to do the assessment. In the UK it checks the assessment but cannot make it for the owner.
• Writing down only the "significant findings". Since October 2023, England and Wales require the full record.
• Blocked or unclear escape routes. The most common breach in English audits.
• Skipping maintenance. The second most common breach.
• Never reviewing the assessment. A change of layout, use or occupancy is a reason to review it.