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Aipedia: Fire risk assessors
Fire risk assessors can use AI to draft and organise assessments, but the finished assessment must still be suitable and sufficient for the actual premises. Software cannot carry that judgement, and an assessor who relies on it carries the liability if it is wrong.
Part of: AI in fire risk assessment
In short
Fire risk assessors may use AI report writers, survey apps and template tools to turn site visits into finished assessments. No regulator or fire body has published AI guidance, so the existing rules apply: Article 9 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires a suitable and sufficient assessment, and the responsible person keeps legal responsibility. In March 2026 MHCLG consulted on mandatory certification, a code of conduct and a register for assessors. There is no statutory PI requirement, but NFCC tells clients to ask for proof of sufficient PI, and fire safety wordings often carry restrictions.
Fire risk assessment is a high-volume, report-heavy job, which makes it an obvious place for automation. In a Home Office survey of 1,272 assessors in England, 31% said they assess more than 100 buildings a year. Tools that save an hour per report are attractive at that scale.
Common uses fall into a few groups:
None of this is unlawful. The question is whether the assessor still exercised the professional judgement the client paid for, and whether the final document reflects the building that was actually inspected.
Fire risk assessors are not a regulated profession and there is no statutory definition of a fire risk assessor. The legal duty sits with the responsible person (RP). Under Article 9 of the Fire Safety Order the RP must make a "suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks", review it regularly to keep it up to date, and record the significant findings, including any group especially at risk. Article 5 extends duties to others with control of premises, including those with contractual repair or safety obligations.
Fire and rescue authorities enforce under Article 25, and they enforce against RPs, not assessors. The NFCC guidance on choosing an assessor says duty holders "retain responsibility for ensuring that the assessment fulfils the requirements of the law" whoever carries it out. It tells them to check competence against the Fire Risk Assessment Competency Council criteria, experience with the premises type, references, impartiality, a complaints procedure and "sufficient professional indemnity insurance". The assessor's exposure is therefore mainly civil: a client or third party who relied on a deficient assessment. Our fire safety risk assessment explainer covers the basics.
As at October 2026, MHCLG, NFCC, fire and rescue services and the Competency Council had published no AI-specific guidance. The 2026 MHCLG consultation does not mention AI, software, templates or remote assessments, and the 2024 Home Office survey does not mention AI either. That silence does not create a safe harbour. The test is still whether the assessment was suitable and sufficient, and the Hackitt review's criticism that FRAs were often "little more than a 'tick box' exercise" (quoted by MHCLG) describes exactly what careless automation produces. The rules and certification explainer sets out each source.
On 26 March 2026 MHCLG published a consultation on the fire risk assessors profession, closing 18 June 2026. It responds to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 recommendation, accepted by the Government, to establish mandatory accreditation of assessor competence. Proposals include certification of individuals, employers or both; BS 8674:2025 as the competence reference with foundation, intermediate and advanced tiers; restricting higher-risk residential buildings to certified assessors; a mandatory code of conduct; a central register; and offences such as practising above certification level. The Government will legislate "when parliamentary time allows", with no date. PI is not mentioned.
The risks follow from the gap between a fluent document and a real building:
There is no statutory PI requirement for fire risk assessors and none is proposed. Most PI policies are written around negligence in professional services, and AI-assisted work is commonly treated as the insured's own work rather than separately excluded, but that depends on the wording. The bigger issues are fire safety and cladding restrictions, aggregate limits that can be eroded by several claims in one year, and series clauses where one flawed method affects many buildings. Insurers may ask about AI use at renewal, and accurate disclosure matters. See PI for fire engineers and fire risk assessors and fire safety PI exposure.
Each guide below looks at one part of the job where AI may be used, the duties that apply and how PI usually responds:
Apex arranges PI for fire risk assessors and fire safety consultants. A broker can review how your current wording treats fire safety work and AI-assisted reports, and help you present your quality controls when placing a fire safety PI risk.
AI can help draft one, but the law requires a suitable and sufficient assessment of the actual premises. The assessor must inspect, judge the risks and check every finding. A document generated from generic content without that judgement is unlikely to meet the Article 9 standard.
Not as at October 2026. MHCLG, NFCC, fire and rescue services and the Competency Council have not published AI guidance, and the March 2026 consultation does not mention AI. Existing duties under the Fire Safety Order apply instead.
There is no statutory requirement and the 2026 consultation does not propose one. NFCC advises duty holders to ask for proof of sufficient professional indemnity insurance, and certification schemes may require it, so in practice most clients will expect it.
The responsible person remains liable to the enforcing authority. The assessor may face a civil claim from the client, or others who relied on the report, if the assessment was negligent. Whether PI responds depends on the policy terms and any fire safety restrictions.
Tell us about your firm and the work you do. A broker will review how your current PI treats AI-assisted work, or arrange new cover. No fee for a quote. Or call 0117 325 0027.
Start a PI quote Request a callbackApex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. This page is general information about how AI is used in the profession and how insurance may respond. It is not legal, regulatory or insurance advice on your circumstances, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.
