Fire risk assessment for restaurants: what UK law requires

Fire safety is one of the few restaurant duties that applies to every premises from day one, no matter how small — and a commercial kitchen, with its naked flames, hot oil and stored packaging, is exactly the high-risk environment the law has in mind. This guide explains what the Fire Safety Order requires, when you must write things down, and the records that prove you're keeping on top of it.

What does UK fire safety law require of a restaurant?

The governing law in England and Wales is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (often called the RRO or FSO). It places the duty on a "responsible person" — whoever controls the premises, usually the owner or manager — to:

• carry out a fire risk assessment and keep it up to date;
• record the significant findings in writing if five or more people are employed;
• put in place and maintain general fire precautions — detection and warning, escape routes and exits, signage, emergency lighting, and firefighting equipment;
• provide staff with information, instruction and training;
• review the assessment regularly and after any change.

Scotland (Fire (Scotland) Act 2005) and Northern Ireland have their own equivalent regimes — the same five-step shape, different citations.

How do you actually carry out the assessment?

The Home Office guidance for small and medium places of assembly sets out a five-step process that works well for a restaurant:

1. Identify the fire hazards — ignition sources (cookers, grills, electrics, naked flames), fuel (oils, alcohol, packaging, cardboard storage), and oxygen sources.
2. Identify people at risk — staff, customers (including anyone with mobility or sensory impairments), lone workers and contractors.
3. Evaluate, remove, reduce and protect — detection, means of escape, emergency lighting, and firefighting equipment, plus a maintenance regime.
4. Record, plan, instruct and train — write up the significant findings (required at 5+ employees), set the emergency plan, run drills and train staff.
5. Review — regularly, and after any change or incident.

One honest note: this five-step structure comes from guidance, not the statute itself — the law requires a "suitable and sufficient" assessment, not a particular format.

Can I do it myself, or do I need an assessor?

The responsible person can carry out the assessment themselves if they are a "competent person" — i.e. they have the knowledge to do it properly. For a straightforward single-unit restaurant that's often achievable. But premises with sleeping accommodation above, an unusual layout, or open-flame/charcoal cooking with extraction and suppression usually warrant a third-party fire risk assessor. If in doubt, get it assessed — this is not a corner to cut.

What records prove you're compliant?

Beyond the written assessment, a restaurant is expected to maintain a set of ongoing fire-safety records:

• Fire drill log — date, evacuation time, observations.
• Fire alarm test log — weekly call-point test rotation.
• Emergency lighting test — monthly check plus an annual full-duration test.
• Extinguisher service record — annual professional service.
• Training log — per staff member.

These are what turn "we have a fire extinguisher" into "our fire precautions are maintained and our team is trained" — the difference an inspector and an insurer both care about.

The part that slips: staff training and the drill record

Equipment gets installed once; staff change constantly. The fire-safety duty that actually lapses is the one tied to people — every new starter instructed on the escape routes and the assembly point, every drill logged, every training record kept current. That's the loop frunt helps close.

frunt turns your fire-safety procedure into induction training new starters complete on their phones, and keeps a dated record of who's been trained — so the training half of your fire-safety duty is evidenced, not assumed. Get started with frunt, or book a walkthrough.