Fire Compartmentation Survey Report Template

What This Report Covers

Fire compartmentation is the backbone of passive fire protection in any building — the system of fire-resistant walls, floors, doors, and barriers that divides a structure into separate compartments to contain fire spread. A fire compartmentation survey report documents the condition and integrity of every compartment boundary within a premises — identifying breaches, failed fire stopping, penetrations through fire-rated construction, and deficiencies in cavity barriers. Since the Grenfell Tower tragedy and the subsequent Building Safety Act 2022 — fire compartmentation surveys have become essential for responsible persons managing higher-risk buildings. This template is purpose-built for fire safety consultancies, building surveyors, and managing agents who need to produce thorough, defensible compartmentation survey reports that meet the expectations of the Building Safety Regulator and fire safety enforcement officers.

Key Report Sections

Compartment Boundary Identification

Before assessing condition — the survey must first establish what the compartment boundaries are. This section maps the building's fire compartmentation strategy — identifying every fire-rated wall, floor, and barrier that forms a compartment boundary. It records construction types, specified fire ratings, and the design intent for each compartment. Getting this foundational mapping right is critical — everything else in the report is assessed against this baseline.

Penetrations and Breaches

This is where the most significant deficiencies are typically found. Every point where services — cables, pipes, ducts, structural steelwork — pass through a fire-rated wall or floor is a potential breach. This section catalogues each penetration by location, documents its current condition, and identifies whether appropriate fire stopping has been installed. Unsealed or incorrectly sealed penetrations are the most common cause of compartmentation failure — and AnyInspect's AI systematically identifies them from your walkthrough narration.

Fire Stopping Condition

Where fire stopping has been installed — this section assesses whether it remains fit for purpose. Fire stopping materials can degrade over time, be damaged during subsequent building works, or simply be installed incorrectly in the first place. The report evaluates each fire stop against the manufacturer's installation requirements and the relevant fire resistance period — flagging any that are cracked, shrunk, missing, or otherwise compromised.

Service Risers

Vertical service risers — the shafts that carry pipes, cables, and ducts between floors — represent some of the highest-risk areas for fire spread in any multi-storey building. This section specifically examines riser compartmentation — including fire-rated enclosure integrity, penetration sealing at every floor level, and the condition of access panels. Riser deficiencies can allow fire to spread rapidly through a building's height — making this one of the most safety-critical sections of any compartmentation survey.

Cavity Barriers

Modern buildings — particularly those with external cladding systems, rain screen facades, or suspended ceilings — contain concealed voids and cavities that can act as hidden pathways for fire spread. Cavity barriers are designed to close off these voids at compartment boundaries. This section documents the presence, type, and condition of cavity barriers — identifying any gaps, damage, or areas where barriers are missing entirely. Post-Grenfell, cavity barrier integrity has become a primary focus of building safety assessments.

Compartment Integrity Score

Each compartment boundary receives an overall integrity score — reflecting the cumulative condition of all fire-rated elements, fire stopping, and penetrations along that boundary. The scoring methodology provides a clear, quantitative basis for prioritising remediation works — allowing building owners and managers to direct resources where they'll have the greatest impact on fire safety.

How AnyInspect Generates This Report

Step 1: Record Your Walkthrough

Open AnyInspect and select "Fire Compartmentation Survey." Walk through each floor of the building — methodically inspecting compartment boundaries, service risers, ceiling voids, and penetration points. Narrate your findings as you go — describe the construction type, note any breaches or unsealed penetrations, and comment on the condition of fire stopping materials. Film close-ups of deficiencies and problem areas. The app captures your full audio narration alongside the video — creating a comprehensive record of every finding without the need for handwritten notes or manual data entry.

Step 2: AI Processes Your Recording

Once your walkthrough is complete — AnyInspect's AI pipeline processes everything. Deepgram transcribes your narration with high accuracy — capturing technical terminology, location references, and condition descriptions. Key video frames are extracted — providing visual evidence of breaches, penetrations, and fire stopping deficiencies. Google Gemini then analyses the transcription against fire compartmentation requirements — categorising findings by compartment boundary, mapping breaches to specific locations, assessing severity, and generating integrity scores. The AI handles the laborious structuring work — so you don't have to.

Step 3: Review & Generate Your Report

In the AnyInspect dashboard — review each finding against the compartment boundary map. The AI presents findings grouped by location and severity — making it straightforward to accept, reject, or refine each item. Add your professional commentary where needed — particularly for complex deficiencies that require specialist remediation. When you're ready — generate a professional PDF report that includes boundary mapping, detailed breach identification, photographic evidence, integrity scoring, and a prioritised remediation schedule. The output is a document you can confidently submit to building safety regulators and clients.

Compliance Standards

BS 476

BS 476 is the suite of British Standards covering fire tests on building materials and structures — defining the fire resistance periods that compartment elements must achieve. AnyInspect's compartmentation template references BS 476 classifications throughout — ensuring your report uses the correct terminology and performance benchmarks when assessing fire-rated construction.

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

The Fire Safety Order requires that fire safety measures — including passive fire protection like compartmentation — are maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order, and in good repair. A compartmentation survey provides the evidence base for demonstrating compliance with this duty — and AnyInspect ensures your documentation meets the standard expected by enforcement officers.

Building Safety Act 2022

The Building Safety Act — introduced in response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy — places enhanced duties on those responsible for higher-risk buildings. For buildings in scope — typically residential buildings over 18 metres — comprehensive compartmentation surveys form a key element of the building's safety case. AnyInspect's template is designed to meet these enhanced documentation requirements — supporting the ongoing safety case management that the Act demands.

Why Use AnyInspect Instead of a Manual Template?

Fire compartmentation surveys generate vast amounts of data — hundreds of penetrations, dozens of compartment boundaries, multiple fire stopping assessments per floor. Trying to capture and organise this information using a blank Word template or spreadsheet is not just slow — it's a recipe for gaps, inconsistencies, and overlooked deficiencies.

AnyInspect's video-to-report approach transforms how compartmentation surveys are documented. By narrating your findings during the inspection — you capture far more detail than you would ticking boxes on a form. The AI organises everything into a coherent, logically structured report — grouping findings by compartment boundary, cross-referencing locations, and generating integrity scores automatically.

The result is a more thorough, more consistent, and dramatically faster report production process. What previously required 2-3 days of post-inspection write-up can be completed in a single review session — without sacrificing quality or comprehensiveness. For consultancies managing multiple compartmentation survey projects simultaneously — AnyInspect is a genuine game-changer.

Related Templates

Fire Risk Assessment Report — A fire risk assessment often identifies compartmentation concerns at a high level — triggering the need for a dedicated compartmentation survey. The two reports work hand-in-hand — the FRA provides the broad fire safety picture, while the compartmentation survey delivers the detailed passive fire protection assessment.

Fire Door Inspection Report — Fire doors are integral components of compartment boundaries. A dedicated fire door inspection report complements the compartmentation survey by providing door-by-door assessments of every fire door along each compartment boundary — covering gap measurements, hardware, and self-closing mechanisms.

Fire & Smoke Damper Inspection Report — Where HVAC ductwork penetrates compartment boundaries — fire and smoke dampers provide the necessary protection. A damper inspection report documents the operational testing and condition of every damper in the building — completing the passive fire protection picture alongside the compartmentation survey.

Stock Condition Survey Report — For social housing providers — compartmentation findings feed directly into broader stock condition assessments, informing capital investment planning and fire safety remediation programmes across the housing portfolio.