If you find out that your building does not have a fire risk assessment (FRA), you should contact the freeholder, managing agent, or management company and ask them to carry out an assessment as soon as possible.
They have a legal duty to carry out an FRA on the building’s communal areas, external walls and structure, and front doors to flats opening on to common areas.
What if the freeholder, management company or managing agent do not carry out the assessment?
If they do not carry out an FRA, they have not met their legal duty to keep residents safe and ultimately could face an unlimited fine or up to 2 years in prison or both.
Complaining to your freeholder or management company
If the person responsible for carrying out the assessment is your freeholder or a management company, you can complain to them directly.
If they still will not carry out an assessment, you should contact your local fire and rescue authority. Ask your local fire service or council who your authority is.
Your fire and rescue authority is responsible for enforcing fire safety regulations and they can order your freeholder or management company to carry out an FRA.
Complaining to your managing agent
If the person responsible for carrying out the assessment is a managing agent, you should complain directly to them.
If that does not work, you should make a formal complaint through the internal complaints procedure at the agent’s company.
If you are still unhappy, you can complain to one of the organisations below. All managing agents in England must be a member of one of these two organisations:
As well as complaining to these organisations you could also speak to your fire and rescue authority, as mentioned above.
More information you might find useful
- I’m responsible for fire safety in a block of flats. Do I need a fire risk assessment?
- What is a fire risk assessment?
- How do I get a copy of my building’s fire risk assessment?
- How often should a building have a fire risk assessment?
- Who is responsible for carrying out a fire risk assessment?
- What are the leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act 2022?
- More Frequently Asked Questions on fire safety
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