CareHomeDeskCareHomeDeskThe Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires a competent person to carry out fire risk assessments. For care homes this means a specialist with experience in sleeping risk premises.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires that a fire risk assessment is carried out by a competent person, defined by reference to their training, knowledge and experience rather than by a single named qualification. For care homes, competence must specifically extend to sleeping-risk premises and the particular evacuation challenges posed by residents with reduced mobility or cognitive impairment.
The most widely recognised markers of competence are third-party certification through the BAFE SP205 scheme for fire risk assessment organisations, and individual membership of the Institution of Fire Engineers register of fire risk assessors at an appropriate grade. Neither is a strict legal requirement, but both provide independently verified assurance that is difficult to replicate through a provider's own due diligence alone.
Scheme membership alone does not guarantee sector-specific expertise. Providers should ask prospective assessors for evidence of recent, specific experience assessing care and nursing homes, request a sample redacted report to gauge the level of detail and site-specific analysis provided, and confirm the assessor understands PEEPs, evacuation strategy for evacuation-impaired residents, and healthcare-specific hazards such as oxygen storage and medical equipment.
An assessment produced by someone without genuine competence can create a false sense of security, listing generic control measures that do not reflect the actual risks in the building. Fire and Rescue Services have taken enforcement action, including prosecution, against care home operators whose fire risk assessments were found to be inadequate, and the quality of the original assessor's work is a central issue in such cases.
Choosing a competent assessor is a critical first step but does not remove the Responsible Person's own duty to satisfy themselves the assessment is suitable and sufficient, to act on its findings, and to keep it under review. A good assessor reduces risk substantially, but ultimate accountability for fire safety at the premises cannot be outsourced.
CareHomeDesk gives you compliance checklists, maintenance logs, and contractor management tools built around exactly this kind of knowledge.