Northumberland Fire Risk Assessments
If you control a business, holiday let, pub or building with shared areas in Northumberland, you need a written fire risk assessment. That duty sits with the Responsible Person under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Staines Safety Services provides fire risk assessments across Northumberland, including Berwick-upon-Tweed, Alnwick, Hexham, Morpeth, Bamburgh, Seahouses and the surrounding towns and villages. Our assessors hold the Level 5 Diploma in Advanced Fire Risk Assessment, the advanced competence level aligned to BS 8674 for more complex and higher-risk premises.
Why Northumberland properties need a local, competent assessment
Northumberland is not a standard office market. Typical premises include:
- Coastal holiday cottages and B&Bs
- Listed buildings in Alnwick, Hexham and Berwick
- Pubs with rooms above
- Farm buildings used by staff, contractors or visitors
- Shops and workshops in market towns
- Common parts of flats and HMOs
These buildings often have wood burners, older wiring, stone construction, narrow stairs and guests who do not know the layout. Official guidance makes clear that the Fire Safety Order applies to workplaces and to premises with paying guests, including self-catering holiday lets. See Fire safety in the workplace and Making your small paying guest accommodation safe from fire.
Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service is the enforcing authority. They can audit regulated premises and will expect a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment.
Who needs a fire risk assessment in Northumberland?
You need one if you are the Responsible Person for:
- A shop, office, café or workshop in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Alnwick, Hexham or Morpeth
- A pub, hotel, guest house or B&B
- A holiday cottage, barn conversion or Airbnb
- The common parts of flats or an HMO
- A farm or rural business used by employees or the public
- Any other non-domestic premises
Use the Home Office guides for the building type: Fire safety risk assessment: sleeping accommodation and Fire safety risk assessment: offices and shops.The Fire Safety Act 2021 also confirms that, in multi-occupied residential buildings, the assessment must consider the structure, external walls and flat entrance doors where they form part of the common parts.
A single private house let to one household does not always need a formal Fire Safety Order assessment of the dwelling itself. Holiday lets, HMOs and buildings with communal areas do. If you are unsure, we will confirm before you book.
What our Northumberland fire risk assessment covers
A Staines Safety Services assessment follows the five-step method used in government guidance:
- Identify fire hazards
- Identify people at risk, including guests and anyone who may need help to escape
- Evaluate, remove or reduce the risks
- Record the significant findings and produce a clear action plan
- Set a review date
In Northumberland we pay particular attention to:
- Wood burners, open fires and chimney maintenance
- Holiday-let information for paying guests
- Escape routes in listed and historic buildings
- Detection, emergency lighting and fire doors
- Coastal and rural premises with limited attendance times
- Housekeeping, storage and arson risk
You receive a written report with prioritised actions. We do not sell fire alarms or extinguishers as part of the assessment, so the recommendations stay independent.
Level 5 Diploma in Advanced Fire Risk Assessment
There is still no single licence to write a fire risk assessment in England. The law requires the assessment to be suitable and sufficient, and the person doing it to be competent for that building.
Our assessors hold the Level 5 Diploma in Advanced Fire Risk Assessment. That is the advanced route aligned to BS 8674, above the more common Level 4 intermediate qualification, and is intended for more complex and higher-risk premises.
That matters for a Hexham pub with accommodation, an Alnwick listed holiday let, or a Berwick building with mixed use and older construction.
Areas we cover in Northumberland
We carry out fire risk assessments throughout the county, including:
- Berwick-upon-Tweed
- Alnwick
- Hexham
- Morpeth
- Bamburgh and Seahouses
- Wooler, Rothbury, Prudhoe, Ponteland, Cramlington, Blyth and Ashington
- Rural and coastal properties across Northumberland
How to book
Call 07885 982771 or email info@stainessafetyservices.co.uk (mailto:info@stainessafetyservices.co.uk).
Tell us the town, the type of building and roughly how many floors or rooms. We will confirm whether you need an assessment, give a fixed price and arrange the visit.
You can also request a quote at Staines Safety Services.
A fire risk assessment in Berwick, Alnwick, Hexham or Morpeth does not need to be complicated. It does need to be suitable, sufficient and written by someone qualified to judge the building. That is the service we provide.