Fire safety insights & guidance.

Practical writing on the Fire Safety Order, risk assessments and sector-specific compliance — from a former Fire & Rescue Service enforcement officer.

Latest articles

Written by Brian Neat, from the enforcement side of the desk.

Every article here is written from direct experience of fire safety enforcement — what the law actually requires, how it is audited in practice, and where premises most often fall short.

26 September 2026 · Fire Safety FAQ Fire risk assessments in Hampshire Who needs a fire risk assessment in Hampshire, why a local assessor matters, and how a fixed-fee, personally delivered assessment works across the county. Read the article → 16 September 2026 · Enforcement What happens if you receive a Fire Safety Enforcement Notice? What the notice means, the timescales that apply, and the one thing not to do. Read the article → 9 September 2026 · HMOs FSO vs HHSRS: the two enforcement routes for HMOs explained Two regimes, two enforcing bodies, one building. Where they overlap - and where they don't. Read the article → 2 September 2026 · Fire Safety FAQ How often does a fire risk assessment need to be reviewed? There's no fixed legal interval — what the law requires, what counts as a significant change, and when a review is actually due. Read the article → 26 August 2026 · Fire Safety FAQ How much does a fire risk assessment cost? There's no single figure — what drives the price, why the fee is fixed and agreed in writing, and what's included. Read the article → 12 August 2026 · HMOs Do I need a fire risk assessment for my HMO? Yes — and for most landlords it's a condition of your HMO licence. The legal basis, what's assessed, and what happens without one. Read the article → 5 August 2026 · Care Homes What is progressive horizontal evacuation? Why care homes move residents sideways into a protected compartment instead of evacuating the whole building, and the compartmentation the strategy depends on — Approved Document B, BS 9991:2024 and what a fire risk assessment actually has to check. Read the article → 5 August 2026 · Care Homes CQC inspections and fire safety: what inspectors look for CQC doesn't assess fire risk technically — it checks whether a qualified assessment already exists and has actually been acted on. What inspectors ask for under the "Safe" key question, and the common gaps that get flagged. Read the article → 30 July 2026 · Care Homes Do care homes need a fire risk assessment? Yes — and the duty is statutory. What Article 9 of the Fire Safety Order 2005 requires of the Responsible Person, how it overlaps with CQC's safe-care inspections, and why a care home assessment cannot be lifted from a template written for a different sector. Read the article →

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