The Complete Guide to PAS 79 Fire Risk Assessments

Fire risk assessments are a legal requirement for virtually all non-domestic premises in England and Wales under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. PAS 79 provides the gold standard framework for conducting these assessments. Whether you are a fire safety consultant, property manager, or building owner, understanding PAS 79 is essential.

What Is PAS 79?

PAS 79 is a Publicly Available Specification published by the British Standards Institution (BSI). It provides guidance on fire risk assessment in all types of premises, from offices and shops to blocks of flats and schools. The latest revision, PAS 79-2:2020, specifically addresses housing and includes guidance on assessing the external walls of blocks of flats — a critical area of focus since the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Who Needs a Fire Risk Assessment?

If you are a Responsible Person under the Fire Safety Order, you must ensure a fire risk assessment has been carried out. This typically includes:

- Employers for workplaces
- Landlords or management companies for residential blocks
- Owners or occupiers of commercial premises
- Anyone with control over non-domestic premises

Single private dwellings are generally exempt, but houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and blocks of flats are firmly within scope.

The Five Steps of Fire Risk Assessment

PAS 79 follows a structured five-step approach:

Step 1: Identify fire hazards. Look for sources of ignition, fuel, and oxygen. Common hazards include faulty electrical equipment, cooking appliances, smoking materials, and stored combustible materials.

Step 2: Identify people at risk. Consider occupants, visitors, contractors, and anyone who might be especially vulnerable — including the elderly, disabled persons, and young children.

Step 3: Evaluate, remove, reduce. Assess whether existing fire safety measures are adequate. Can hazards be eliminated? If not, can the risk be reduced to an acceptable level?

Step 4: Record, plan, train. Document your findings, prepare an emergency plan, and ensure relevant people receive appropriate fire safety training.

Step 5: Review. Fire risk assessments are living documents. They must be reviewed regularly, especially after any significant changes to the building or its use.

How Technology Is Improving Fire Risk Assessments

Traditionally, fire risk assessments involved extensive note-taking, manual photography, and days of report writing. Modern tools like AnyInspect allow assessors to record video walkthroughs while narrating their findings. The AI transcribes the commentary, extracts key frames showing fire hazards, and generates a structured PAS 79 report draft.

This approach is faster, more thorough (video captures everything, not just what the assessor remembers to photograph), and produces more consistent reports across different assessors.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

- Generic templates. Every premises is different. A fire risk assessment must be specific to the building being assessed.
- Ignoring common areas. In residential blocks, common areas like corridors, stairwells, and bin stores are frequent sources of fire risk.
- Failing to review. An out-of-date fire risk assessment can be worse than having none at all, as it creates a false sense of security.
- Not acting on findings. Identifying risks is only useful if the recommended actions are actually implemented.

A thorough, well-documented fire risk assessment is not just a regulatory box-ticking exercise — it saves lives.