The underlying legal duty: Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 on legislation.gov.uk.
HSG185 is guidance published by the Health and Safety Executive to help employers, building owners and fire risk assessors understand how to identify, evaluate and control fire risk in non-domestic premises. It is not law in itself, but it sets out a practical, structured method for meeting the legal duty to carry out a fire risk assessment under Article 9 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. If you have any control over non-domestic premises in England or Wales — as an employer, occupier, landlord or managing agent — this guidance is directly relevant to you.
The guidance exists because fire kills, injures and destroys livelihoods, and because a single piece of consolidated fire safety law now applies across almost every type of workplace, shop, warehouse, care home and shared residential building. Understanding what HSG185 covers helps you produce a fire risk assessment that will stand up to scrutiny from a fire and rescue service enforcing officer.
What HSG185 requires
HSG185 does not itself impose legal requirements — that duty comes from the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (often shortened to the Fire Safety Order or RRFSO). Under Article 9 of the Order, the "responsible person" for a premises must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed for the purpose of identifying the measures needed to comply with the Order. HSG185's guidance describes how to do this in practice.
The guidance sets out a recognised five-step method: identify fire hazards; identify people at risk; evaluate, remove or reduce the risks; record your findings, prepare an emergency plan and provide training; and review the assessment regularly. This structure mirrors the approach used in official fire safety risk assessment guides and is widely accepted by enforcing officers as evidence of a suitable and sufficient assessment.
Article 9(1) requires the assessment to be "suitable and sufficient" and proportionate to the size, layout and use of the premises. A small single-storey shop needs a far simpler assessment than a multi-storey care home with sleeping occupants and mobility-impaired residents. HSG185's value is in giving assessors a consistent framework to apply regardless of premises type, so that nothing significant is missed.
Where a premises has five or more employees, Article 9(6) of the Fire Safety Order requires the significant findings of the assessment to be recorded in writing, along with any group of persons identified as especially at risk. Even where this specific recording duty does not strictly apply, HSE guidance strongly recommends keeping a written record as good practice and as evidence of compliance.
Who HSG185 applies to
The guidance is aimed at anyone responsible for assessing and managing fire risk in a non-domestic setting, including:
- Employers — responsible for the fire safety of employees and anyone else who may be affected by their business, such as visitors, customers and contractors.
- Building owners and landlords — responsible for common parts of multi-occupied buildings, including shared stairwells, corridors, plant rooms and communal areas in blocks of flats and HMOs.
- Occupiers and managing agents — anyone who has a degree of control over premises, even where they do not own the building, such as tenants of commercial units and facilities managers.
- Fire risk assessors and health and safety consultants — professionals producing fire risk assessments on behalf of clients, for whom HSG185's method provides a consistent, defensible framework.
- Self-employed people and sole traders — anyone running a business from premises they control, regardless of whether they employ any staff.
The guidance does not apply to private domestic dwellings occupied by a single household — these fall outside the scope of the Fire Safety Order. It does apply to the common parts of blocks of flats, HMOs, holiday lets, and any part of a home used to run a business, such as a home office visited by clients or a workshop attached to a house.
Key duties at a glance
Following HSG185's five-step approach in practice means covering these specific requirements:
- Identify fire hazards (Step 1) — sources of ignition (electrical equipment, smoking, cooking, hot works), sources of fuel (furniture, packaging, waste, flammable liquids), and sources of oxygen (ventilation systems, oxidising materials).
- Identify people at risk (Step 2) — employees, visitors, contractors, members of the public, and anyone especially at risk such as lone workers, people with mobility or sensory impairments, sleeping occupants, and young or inexperienced workers.
- Evaluate, remove or reduce the risks (Step 3) — assess the likelihood of a fire starting and spreading, and put in place physical measures (fire doors, alarms, extinguishers, means of escape) and management measures (housekeeping, permits for hot work, restrictions on smoking) to control the risk so far as reasonably practicable.
- Record findings, prepare an emergency plan and provide training (Step 4) — write down significant findings where required under Article 9(6), prepare a fire emergency plan covering evacuation procedures and assembly points, and give staff clear fire safety instruction, information and training.
- Review and update regularly (Step 5) — reassess whenever the premises, occupancy, layout or work activities change, and after any fire, near miss or enforcement visit.
- Maintain fire safety equipment and means of escape — keep fire doors, alarms, emergency lighting and extinguishers in good working order, and ensure escape routes are kept clear and unlocked during occupied hours.
- Appoint competent persons where needed — for complex premises or high-risk activities, consider using a qualified fire risk assessor to carry out or verify the assessment.
Penalties for non-compliance
Fire risk assessment duties under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 are enforced by local fire and rescue services, not the HSE. Enforcing officers can issue an alterations notice requiring improvements before a change of use, an enforcement notice requiring specific action within a set timescale, or a prohibition notice closing all or part of the premises with immediate effect where risk to life is judged serious.
Failure to carry out a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, or failure to comply with an enforcement notice, is a criminal offence under Article 32 of the Fire Safety Order. Cases can be heard in the magistrates' court or, for the most serious offences, the Crown Court, where fines are unlimited. Individuals — including directors and responsible persons — can be imprisoned for up to two years for the most serious breaches, particularly where the failure contributes to death or serious injury.
Separately, where the HSE investigates a related workplace safety failing, its Fee for Intervention scheme allows inspectors to charge £163 per hour (2024 rate) for time spent investigating material breaches — meaning even a routine visit that uncovers poor fire precautions can generate a direct cost to the business before any formal enforcement action follows.
The Fire Safety Order consolidated more than 70 separate pieces of earlier fire safety legislation into a single regime covering almost all non-domestic premises in England and Wales. This consolidation was intended to make compliance simpler, but it also means enforcing officers now apply one consistent standard — including the expectation that a proper, documented risk assessment method such as the one described in HSG185 has been followed.
How HSG185 relates to risk assessments
HSG185 is specifically about fire risk, but it sits alongside — not instead of — the general duty to assess workplace risk under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. Fire risk assessment and general health and safety risk assessment are related but legally distinct requirements, and many businesses need both.
A fire risk assessment following HSG185's five-step method should be treated as a live document, not a one-off exercise. It needs to be specific to your premises, cover the hazards and people actually present, and be reviewed whenever things change. If you are unsure whether your premises needs a fire risk assessment at all, or how it fits alongside your wider health and safety obligations, see our guide on whether you need a risk assessment.
Producing a written fire risk assessment from scratch can be time-consuming, particularly for small businesses without in-house health and safety expertise. Anyrisks generates a professional, site-specific risk assessment as a PDF and editable Word document for £29, giving you a documented starting point you can adapt to your premises and keep updated as circumstances change.
HSG185 and the hospitality sector
Pubs, restaurants, hotels and takeaways are some of the highest-risk premises for fire, combining cooking equipment, high customer footfall, alcohol service, and — in hotels and guesthouses — sleeping occupants who may be unfamiliar with the building's layout. Applying HSG185's five-step method to a hospitality business means paying particular attention to kitchen fire hazards (deep fat fryers, gas appliances, extraction systems and grease build-up), clear and unobstructed means of escape from busy dining and bar areas, and evacuation procedures that account for guests who may be asleep, intoxicated, or unfamiliar with fire exits.
A hotel with sleeping accommodation faces a stricter standard than a daytime-only cafe, because the consequences of a fire starting at night while guests are asleep are far more severe. HSG185's approach — identifying who is at risk, not just what could catch fire — is exactly why hospitality businesses need a fire risk assessment tailored to their specific layout, opening hours and customer profile, rather than a generic template borrowed from a different type of premises.
Also see: The Ultimate Guide to Risk Assessment · Do I Need a Risk Assessment · Risk Assessment Legal Requirements · AI Risk Assessment Generator
