Care Home Fire Risk Assessments: CQC & FRS Expectations

Running a care home carries a unique set of fire safety challenges. Residents often have reduced mobility, cognitive impairments, or sensory issues, making a standard evacuation plan completely unviable. Because of these heightened risks, care homes face intense scrutiny from both the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the local Fire and Rescue Service (FRS).

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO), the responsible person—usually the registered manager, owner, or operating company—must carry out and maintain a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment. This article explains what regulators expect from your care home fire risk assessment and how to stay compliant.

The Legal Framework for Care Homes

In the UK, fire safety in care homes is governed by the RRO 2005 and the broader duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Unlike standard commercial premises, care homes must factor in the needs of highly vulnerable individuals. The guidance used to structure your assessment should align with recognised frameworks, such as PAS 79, which provides a standardised methodology for carrying out fire risk assessments in residential care settings. Furthermore, any physical fire safety systems must meet relevant British Standards, such as BS 5839 for fire detection and alarm systems.

What the CQC Expects

The CQC does not enforce fire safety legislation directly—that is the role of the FRS—but it does assess whether your premises are safe. Under the CQC’s Safe key question, inspectors will look for evidence that you are actively managing fire risks to protect residents, staff, and visitors.

The CQC expects to see:

• An up-to-date, comprehensive fire risk assessment.
• Clear evidence that the assessment has been reviewed regularly or following any significant change to the building layout or resident demographics.
• Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) for each resident, detailing their specific evacuation needs.
• Staff training records demonstrating that employees know how to respond to a fire emergency.
• Robust maintenance logs for fire doors, alarms, extinguishers, and emergency lighting.

If the CQC finds that your fire safety management is lacking, they can take enforcement action, which may ultimately impact your registration or rating.

What the Fire and Rescue Service Expects

The local FRS is the enforcing authority for the RRO 2005. Fire safety inspectors can visit your care home unannounced or as part of a targeted audit. Their primary goal is to ensure that the responsible person has fulfilled their legal duties.

During an audit, the FRS will want to see that your fire risk assessment is not just a box-ticking exercise. They will assess whether the assessment accurately reflects the building's current state and whether the resulting mitigations are adequate for a highly dependent population.

If the FRS identifies serious deficiencies, they have the power to issue Enforcement Notices or Prohibition Notices. A prohibition notice can effectively shut down parts of your care home if the risk to life is deemed unacceptable.

Key Areas to Get Right

To satisfy both the CQC and the FRS, your care home fire risk assessment must address several critical areas:

Means of Escape: Because many residents cannot self-evacuate, the assessment must evaluate whether progressive horizontal evacuation—moving residents to a safe adjacent compartment rather than immediately outside—is viable.

Fire Compartmentation: Care homes rely heavily on compartmentation to contain a fire. Your assessment must check that fire doors are correctly fitted, self-closing, and that fire-stopping in walls and ceilings has not been compromised by recent building work.

Detection and Alarm Systems: The assessment must verify that alarms are adequate for the premises. In care homes, this often means considering staged evacuation alarms to avoid distressing vulnerable residents unnecessarily.

Arson Prevention: The assessment should evaluate external security, waste management, and access controls to mitigate the risk of deliberate fire setting.

Reviewing Your Assessment

A fire risk assessment is a living document. The RRO requires it to be reviewed regularly and immediately if there are material changes to the premises. In a care home, a material change could include:

• Building extensions or internal renovations.
• A change in the type of care provided (e.g., taking on more complex dementia patients).
• A significant change in staff numbers or shift patterns.
• Following any near-miss fire incident.

If you are unsure whether your current assessment meets the exacting standards required for a care environment, it is highly recommended to seek professional guidance.

At HawkSwift Ltd, our NEBOSH-qualified assessors understand the specific compliance demands of the care sector. We provide thorough, practical fire risk assessments from £199 + VAT, delivering detailed 48-hour reports to help you keep your residents safe and your business compliant. To ensure your premises meet the required standards, book a fire risk assessment with our team today.