Primary & Secondary Fire Risk Assessments

A Primary FRA is a whole building assessment which considers the overarching fire safety arrangements for the building including the fire safety systems installed, the standard of compartmentation, coordination of the fire safety management and the building-wide maintenance and inspection regime. Primary FRAs are completed for either a whole building or for a large, shared area within a large building. They should be completed by competent Fire Risk Assessors who are able to demonstrate a higher standard of technical competence than for assessors carrying out Secondary FRAs and other types of FRAs.

A Secondary FRA is an assessment of a small defined area within a hospital or healthcare building. It may be an individual Ward, department or a non-patient area. During the assessment, the assessor reviews the standard of fire safety within the area, the fire safety training and awareness of the area's staff and the standard of housekeeping within the area.

Whilst a Primary FRA for a building provides an overarching assessment of the building's fire safety infrastructure, the Secondary FRAs completed alongside the Primary FRA assess and review how the fire safety infrastructure is implemented and managed in each individual area of the building. The Primary and Secondary FRAs for a building should be read and considered in conjunction with each other and both must be completed.

BlueLight Fire Engineering are experienced in completing Primary and Secondary FRAs for large and complex hospital estates for our healthcare clients. We are able to demonstrate all necessary competencies, and we ensure that our Fire Risk Assessors maintain their technical knowledge and that they receive regular training where necessary. We use FRA templates developed in accordance with the HTM 05-03 Part K guidance and our completed FRAs are easy to navigate allowing for a clear understanding of the significant findings and required actions to improve the assessed level of risk.