Defining competence: The role of BS 8674:2025 in modern fire risk assessment
The introduction of BS 8674:2025 marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing evolution of safety and competency within the built environment.
Developed in alignment with regulatory reforms and increasing expectations on fire safety, BS 8674:2025 Built Environment – Framework for Competence of Individual Fire Risk Assessors – Code of Practice delivers a structured, transparent and verifiable framework for defining individual competence in fire risk assessment.
Its importance extends across a spectrum of stakeholders, from individual practitioners to regulatory authorities and professional bodies, and it arrives at a time of significant cultural and legislative shift in how safety is managed within our buildings.
Post-Grenfell landscape and regulatory reform
The tragic Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 served as a watershed moment for fire safety regulations in England and Wales. It exposed widespread inadequacies in the competence of those tasked with assessing and managing fire risk. In response, the Government introduced the Building Safety Act 2022. Though yet to be applied, a new requirement was created for building owners (Responsible Persons) to ensure that fire risk assessments are carried out by competent individuals.
This new legislative environment led to the development of BS 8674:2025.
Join us for an exclusive member event in London on 5 November. We'll explore the changing landscape of construction product regulations. Learn how upcoming reforms will affect UK businesses and gain practical guidance to ensure your organisation remains compliant, competitive, and ready for the future. Book your place here.
Understanding the scope and purpose of BS 8674:2025
The standard provides recommendations for competence criteria that individual fire risk assessors are expected to meet to be deemed competent for conducting fire risk assessments in occupied buildings. It offers a common, consistent set of expectations that can be used by assessors, employers, certification bodies and regulators.
Key features of BS 8674 include:
Defines three competence levels: Foundation, Intermediate, and Advanced, offering a career pathway and measurable progression for assessors.
Focuses on non-invasive assessments based on visual examination and relevant records.
Aligns with the core framework outlined in BS 8670-1:2024, enabling consistency across the wider built environment competency framework.
This standard specifically addresses the competence of individuals, not organizations, and is limited to general fire risk assessments. It excludes competence relating to fire risk appraisals of external walls (FRAEWs), invasive inspections and fire engineering services.
Visit our Built Environment industry page to explore the role of standards in shaping a safer, more resilient future.
What the standard covers and what it doesn’t cover
BS 8674:2025 defines what a fire risk assessor is expected to be able to do at each level of competence, including:
Understand a building’s construction, use and occupancy.
Evaluate fire risk through systematic analysis.
Identify measures for fire prevention, protection and safety management.
Interpret documentation, including prior reports and maintenance records.
The three levels of competence outlined in the standard are:
1. Foundation: For assessors working in low-risk environments such as small offices or shops.
2. Intermediate: For those assessing medium complexity buildings, such as public venues or mid-rise residential properties.
3. Advanced: For highly experienced professionals working in complex, multi-occupancy environments, where advanced risk understanding is necessary (e.g., care homes, large residential blocks).
This tiered structure is designed to prevent assessors from overstepping their capability and enables organizations to match the right level of expertise to the risk profile of the building.
It’s also important to understand that BS 8674:2025 deliberately:
does not prescribe how to perform a fire risk assessment; that is the domain of PAS 79-1 and BS 9792:2025.
excludes assessments requiring destructive inspection, fire engineering, external wall analysis, and assessments in specialist environments (e.g. nuclear facilities).
does not cover the design, testing or maintenance of fire protection systems.
These exclusions enable BS 8674:2025 to remain a focused tool for individual competence, rather than a procedural guide.
Who would benefit from using BS 8674:2025?
1. Fire Risk Assessors
For practitioners, BS 8674:2025 is transformative. It provides:
A structured competency framework they can use to demonstrate capability.
A clear career progression route, from Foundation to Advanced.
A benchmark to seek certification or professional recognition where such schemes are available.
2. Professional Bodies and Trade Associations
BS 8674:2025 supports organizations in:
Validating the competence of their members.
Guiding membership criteria, CPD development and disciplinary procedures.
Providing a reference standard for collaboration with regulators or insurers.
3. Certification Bodies
This standard enables:
Third-party verification schemes for individual assessors, improving public trust.
Objective, consistent assessment of applications, audits and renewals.
4. Academic and Training Institutions
The standard lays the groundwork for:
Developing curricula and qualifications that reflect real-world competence needs.
Creating practical training programmes aligned with industry expectations.
Supporting learners to transition from education into professional roles with clarity and assurance.
BS 8674:2025 in the context of broader reform
This standard does not stand in isolation. It was developed by CPB/1, BSI’s technical committee for competence in the built environment, as part of a cohesive programme of standards supporting the Industry Competence Steering Group (ICSG) - formerly the Competence Steering Group (CSG).
The standard reflects the recommendations of CSG Working Group 4, which specifically focused on fire risk assessors. It aligns with BS 8670-1:2024 and fits within a larger body of competence standards that aim to:
Improve life safety outcomes.
Create a more professionalized workforce.
Enhance accountability across the building lifecycle.
BS 8674:2025 thus becomes an essential instrument in realizing the aspirations of the Building a Safer Future report and the Hackitt Review.
Help us create a competent built environment
BS 8674:2025 fills a long-standing gap in the UK’s fire safety landscape. It provides the structured, scalable and transparent competence framework that fire risk assessors need. One that aligns with new legal duties under the Building Safety Act 2022 and complements other standards such as PAS 79-1, BS 9792, PAS 9980 and BS 8670-1.
This standard lays the foundation for a professional, recognized and accountable fire risk assessor community. Through measurable competence, we inch closer to a built environment where safety is not an aspiration, but a guarantee.