There isn't a single figure, and anyone who quotes one before seeing your premises is guessing. The honest answer is: it depends on what's being assessed — and a fair assessor will tell you why before they tell you a number.
What actually drives the price
A handful of factors decide what a fire risk assessment costs for any given premises:
- Size and complexity — a small single-let office is a different job from a multi-storey care home or a warehouse with complex compartmentation.
- Sector — care homes, HMOs, licensed premises and industrial sites each carry sector-specific risks (sleeping risk, licensing conditions, high fire load) that take longer to assess properly than a standard commercial unit.
- First assessment vs. review — a first-time assessment on a premises with no existing documentation takes longer than a review of an existing FRA where little has changed.
- Location — travel time is a real cost, even within Hampshire.
None of these are reasons to pad a quote. They're reasons a fixed fee has to be agreed against the actual premises, not pulled from a rate card.
Why two quotes for the "same" job can differ
Two premises that look similar on paper can be very different jobs. A single-storey office with one clear escape route and existing documentation is quick to assess. A converted three-storey building with altered layouts, no paperwork to work from, and open questions over compartmentation takes far longer to do properly — more to inspect, more to verify, more to write up. Neither quote is wrong; each reflects the actual work involved. It's also why a figure quoted before anyone has seen the building is either padded to cover the unknowns or too low to be real.
First assessment or review?
There's a real cost difference between the two. A first assessment on premises with no existing, valid documentation means starting from the building itself — every escape route, every door, the compartmentation, the management arrangements. A review of an assessment that's already in place, where little has changed, is a smaller and quicker piece of work. If you already hold a suitable and sufficient assessment and only the details have moved on, you're likely looking at a review, not a fresh assessment — and it's worth saying so when you enquire.
Why the fee is fixed, not variable
SimplyNeat Fire Solutions agrees a fixed fee in writing before any work is instructed. No hidden charges, no scope creep — the price agreed at the outset is the price on the invoice.
That matters for a reason beyond convenience. Under the FSO, the duty to hold a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment sits with you, the Responsible Person — not with whoever you hire to write it. Commissioning the cheapest available assessment doesn't transfer that liability if the report turns out to be inadequate. A fixed, transparent fee agreed against your specific premises is part of knowing what you're actually paying for.
What's included at that fee
- A full on-site visit, carried out personally by Brian Neat — no sub-contracted assessors, no junior staff
- A written report identifying findings specific to your premises, not generic observations copied from guidance
- A prioritised, actionable list of what needs doing and why
- £5 million Professional Indemnity Insurance behind the work
Not the cheapest, and we say so
SimplyNeat isn't positioned as the cheapest fire risk assessment in Hampshire, and doesn't try to be. If the goal is the lowest possible price for a document that satisfies a box on a form, there are cheaper options. If the goal is an assessment that holds up if it's ever examined by an enforcing officer, an insurer, or in the aftermath of an incident, the assessor's experience is part of what you're paying for — not the printed page count.