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Law and regulation
Do you need a new fire risk assessment every year?You need a fire risk assessment, recorded in full. You do not need to pay for a new one every year unless people sleep on the premises or the risk is high.Required by lawDo you actually need annual PAT testing?No. You need PAT testing. You do not need all of it every year, and you do not need every phone charger in the building on the invoice.Good practiceSeven compliance services small businesses are commonly oversoldThe law names very few of the things you are sold. Each of these seven is either not required, not required at that frequency, or not required from a supplier.Optional, often oversoldC3: the EICR code that pays for the electrician’s vanC1, C2 and FI are yours to fix. C3 is a recommendation. A report with only C3s is satisfactory, whatever the covering letter says.Optional, often oversoldDoes an office really need a fire alarm service contract?You need the system serviced twice a year. You do not need a multi-year contract to achieve that, and you should not pay anyone to do the weekly test.Good practiceLegionella sampling or a legionella assessment: which one does the law require?The assessment is the law. Sampling is a tool the assessment might call for, and for an ordinary premises it almost never does.Required by lawThe notice clause: how a 90-day window becomes a three-year renewalNothing in compliance law requires a term. Every term you sign is a commercial choice, and the notice clause is where the choice gets taken away from you.Insurers, landlords or clients ask for itCan you do your own weekly fire alarm test?Yes. The weekly test is the user’s job under BS 5839-1. It needs a key, a log book and five minutes. It does not need a contractor.Good practice
Industry and business
Buyer guides
Do I need a health and safety risk assessment?Yes. For a low risk business a trained person on your own staff can do it. Competent means trained. It must be written down once you have five or more employees.Required by lawDo I need a fire risk assessment?Yes. If you are responsible for non domestic premises in England or Wales it is the law. Since 1 October 2023 the whole assessment must be recorded, however small you are.Required by lawDo I need PAT testing?Yes. The law does not name it, but it is the cheapest proof that you are keeping your equipment safe.Good practiceDo I need a legionella risk assessment?Yes. Every employer and anyone in control of premises with a water system must assess the legionella risk. The assessment is the legal requirement. Whether to sample is where HSE and the editor differ, and both views are below.Required by lawDo I need a fire alarm system?You must have a means of warning people. Whether that is a full system and what grade of system is decided by your fire risk assessment. Not by an alarm company.Required if…Do I need emergency lighting?Required where your fire risk assessment says escape routes would not be safely lit if the power failed. That is most premises with more than one room or any use after dark.Required if…Do I need an EICR?Yes for almost every premises, on roughly a five year cycle. But only the C1 and C2 findings are yours to fix. C3 is a recommendation and that is where the money gets made.Good practiceDo I need a gas safety check?Landlords of rented homes: an annual gas safety check is the law. Businesses with gas: annual maintenance by a Gas Safe engineer is the recognised way to meet the duty. Commercial catering is where it is non negotiable.Required if…Do I need an asbestos survey?Required if the building dates from before 2000. The duty is to manage asbestos. In practice that means a management survey and a register and a plan. It does not mean removal.Required if…Do I need fire extinguishers?Yes. The Fire Safety Order requires appropriate fire fighting equipment. The number and type come from your fire risk assessment. Once you own them they must be serviced annually.Required by lawWhat safety training do I actually have to provide?Yes. You must train people for the risks they face. But almost no specific course is named in law. What you buy should follow your risk assessment and not the training company's brochure.Required by law