How quickly can you arrange a fire risk assessment in Kensington & Chelsea?

Standard bookings in Kensington & Chelsea are confirmed within one working day. For PPM contract customers, emergency call-outs (fire alarm fault, enforcement notice, post-incident) carry a 4-working-hour response.

Our building is a Victorian terrace converted into flats — does the FRA now cover the flat front doors and the external walls?

Yes. Since the Fire Safety Act 2021 clarified the Fire Safety Order, the FRA for a multi-occupied residential building explicitly includes the structure, the external walls (including cladding, balconies and windows) and the flat entrance doors — not just the internal common parts. For converted terraces this matters: the conversion’s compartmentation and the age and condition of the flat front doors are usually where the risk actually sits, so expect the assessor to look hard at both.

How often does my FRA need reviewing?

There is no fixed cadence in law, but the FRA must be kept "under review". Industry good practice is a full review annually for higher-risk premises and at every material change of use, layout or occupancy.

Do I need a Type 4 FRA?

Not always. Type 1 is the default for most blocks. Type 4 (intrusive, sampling within flats and common areas) is appropriate where there is reason to suspect concealed compartmentation defects.

Fire Risk Assessments in Kensington & Chelsea

Fire Risk Assessments in Kensington & Chelsea: what’s different here

Few boroughs combine as much listed and converted stock as Kensington and Chelsea — period buildings altered over a century, with concealed voids, modified compartmentation and flat entrance doors of every vintage. Fire risk assessments in Kensington and Chelsea run from Type 1 walkovers to Type 4 intrusive surveys, and the intrusive ones have to be planned around heritage constraints or they never get done. Our assessors are NFRAR-registered; the methodology is PAS 79-1 for non-domestic buildings and BS 9792:2025 for housing.

RBKC has run a borough-wide additional HMO licensing scheme since 1 June 2023: any HMO occupied by three or more people forming two or more households needs a licence, alongside the national mandatory scheme for five-plus occupants. Check the scheme’s current status on the council’s pages — and remember shared houses need a suitable and sufficient FRA under the Fire Safety Order regardless of licensing.
Over 3,800 listed buildings sit in the borough. Intrusive Type 3 and Type 4 assessment work in listed stock has to be planned — sample locations chosen deliberately, openings limited and made good — and the action plan must be workable within heritage constraints.
Three London Fire Brigade stations operate inside the borough: Chelsea (264 Kings Road), Kensington (Kensington High Street) and North Kensington (242 Ladbroke Grove).

Fire Risk Assessments for Kensington & Chelsea buildings

A Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) is the legal cornerstone of UK fire safety. Under Article 9 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the Responsible Person must carry out — and keep under review — a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks from fire. MetroFire delivers Type 1 to Type 4 FRAs for commercial, residential and infrastructure assets, with assessors registered on the IFSM's National Fire Risk Assessors Register (NFRAR) and aligned to BS 8674:2025 — the new British Standard for individual assessor competence (Foundation / Intermediate / Advanced tiers matched to building risk).

Whether you call it a fire risk assessment or a fire safety assessment, the duty is the same — and we assess offices, HMOs, blocks of flats, shops and mixed-use buildings, from a single premises to a managed portfolio.

What we deliver in Kensington & Chelsea

Site walkover with the duty holder, identifying fire hazards, people at risk and existing precautions.
Methodology aligned to PAS 79-1 (non-domestic) and BS 9792:2025 (housing) with photographic evidence.
Action plan prioritised by risk (Intolerable / Substantial / Moderate / Tolerable / Trivial).
Assessor competence demonstrated via NFRAR registration (Foundation / Intermediate / Advanced) and BS 8674:2025 SKEB criteria — Skills, Knowledge, Experience, Behaviours.
Digital report delivered via secure dashboard with annual review reminders and CPD-audited methodology.
Type 2/3/4 destructive surveys available where intrusive investigation is needed.

Why this matters in Kensington & Chelsea

Since the Fire Safety Act 2021, the scope of the FRA explicitly includes the building structure, external walls and flat entrance doors of multi-occupied residential buildings. The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced parallel Accountable Person duties for higher-risk residential buildings (18m+ or 7+ storeys). And from April 2026, BAFE SP205 V6.0 became the in-force life-safety FRA scheme — raising the bar for organisational competence. Failure to comply can mean unlimited fines and, since the Grenfell reforms, prosecution of Responsible Persons.

Standards we work to

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005Fire Safety Act 2021Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022PAS 79-1 (non-domestic) & BS 9792:2025 (housing)BS 8674:2025 — assessor competence frameworkNFRAR (IFSM National Fire Risk Assessors Register)Aligned to BAFE SP205 V6.0 (not BAFE-certified)

Frequently asked

Cost depends on building size, complexity and access. Most bookings in Kensington & Chelsea are quoted within one working day of survey — call 0208 059 4836 for an immediate ball-park.