How quickly can you arrange a fire risk assessment in Southwark?

Standard bookings in Southwark 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.

I let a single flat in Peckham that isn’t an HMO — do I still need anything?

Possibly a selective licence: Southwark’s selective licensing scheme covers ordinary single-family lets in a designated list of wards that includes Peckham, and the council provides an interactive map to check your address — schemes are time-limited, so check the current designation. Licensing and fire risk assessment are separate regimes: if your flat sits in a block, the building’s common parts still need an FRA, but that duty falls on the building’s Responsible Person — usually the freeholder or managing agent — rather than on you as an individual flat landlord.

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 Southwark

Fire Risk Assessments in Southwark: what’s different here

Southwark gives an assessor almost every building type in one borough: offices and hotels around London Bridge, regenerated industrial stock in Bermondsey, one of England’s largest council-housing portfolios, and new districts taking shape at Elephant and Castle, Canada Water and the Old Kent Road. The legal duty is the same everywhere — a suitable and sufficient assessment under the Fire Safety Order — but what it takes to discharge it is not. For fire risk assessments in Southwark, we prioritise findings by real risk, with NFRAR-registered assessors and methodology aligned to PAS 79-1 and BS 9792:2025.

Southwark’s additional licensing covers smaller HMOs — up to four sharers with shared bathrooms or kitchens — plus section 257 converted buildings and flats in multiple occupation in purpose-built blocks of three or more units. Confirm the current designation on the council’s licensing pages before relying on it.
Selective licensing applies to ordinary privately rented properties in a designated list of Southwark wards, including Peckham, Rotherhithe, Old Kent Road and London Bridge & West Bermondsey — the council publishes an interactive map to check an individual address.
Southwark Council owns around 37,000 homes, making it one of the largest local-authority landlords in England — much of the borough’s residential stock is purpose-built blocks, where the Fire Safety Act 2021 puts structure, external walls and flat entrance doors squarely inside the FRA’s scope.
The council’s regeneration programme spans Old Kent Road, Elephant and Castle, the Canada Water Masterplan, Borough/Bankside/Bermondsey and Peckham — newly occupied mixed-use buildings need a first FRA at occupation, and a material change of use or layout triggers a review.

Fire Risk Assessments for Southwark 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 Southwark

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 Southwark

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 Southwark are quoted within one working day of survey — call 0208 059 4836 for an immediate ball-park.