Only 58% of fire safety audits in England were recorded as satisfactory in the year ending March 2025. That is the backdrop for every responsible person, managing agent, and facilities team reviewing a building today. Annual fire safety checks are crucial to understand whether the building’s fire safety position is current, documented, and easy to evidence when scrutiny arrives.
A building can look well managed and still fail on records, overdue actions, or poor follow-through. We see the strongest results where checks are planned, findings are logged clearly, defects are prioritised, and every action has a visible close-out trail. That is what turns routine maintenance into defensible compliance.
What annual fire safety checks should cover before an audit
A credible annual review should cover the full fire safety picture, not just one visible system. That usually means checking the status of the fire risk assessment, escape routes, fire doors, alarms, emergency lighting, signage, firefighting equipment, and any compartmentation or structural protection measures that support containment. It should also confirm whether previous actions were completed, deferred, or missed.
If the baseline assessment is out of date, that’s the first place to start. A current fire risk assessment should tell you what controls matter most in that building, what has changed since the last review, and which actions now carry the highest priority. Without that, annual checks often become a list of activities with no clear risk context.
Why a fire safety audit usually fails on records, not intent
Most audit failures build up through ordinary gaps: a service carried out but not recorded, a defect noted but not closed, an alarm fault left open, a fire door check with no photo evidence, or a review date that passed unnoticed. Since October 2023, responsible persons have needed to record fire risk assessment findings and fire safety arrangements in writing, which makes documentation quality even more central.
“An auditor is assessing whether your building is being managed in a structured, repeatable way. If records are fragmented with separate reports and no clear ownership, the building can quickly look less controlled than it really is.”
When a fire risk assessment review should trigger wider action
A fire risk assessment should be revised where there is reason to think it is no longer valid, or where significant change has taken place. That includes layout alterations, changes in occupancy, different building use, new vulnerable occupants, system failures, or shifts in how escape routes are managed.
This is where many portfolios drift. A building might still hold a report, but not a current one. Actions may have been raised months earlier without clear proof of completion. Equipment may have been tested, but the documentation does not explain faults, remedials, or sign-off. If door condition across the estate is unclear, fire door surveys can help establish condition, trends, and priorities at portfolio level rather than forcing each problem to emerge at audit stage.
Are your fire door inspections and emergency lighting testing easy to evidence?
In England, residential buildings over 11 metres carry specific duties for annual flat entrance door checks and quarterly communal fire door checks. More broadly, official fire safety guidance for many premises expects regular checks of alarms, doors, lighting, routes, and records, with competent-person testing and maintenance at the right intervals. That means your evidence needs to show both what was checked and what happened next.
If door performance is uncertain, a documented fire door inspection programme should make defects visible and prioritised.
| Area | What should exist before an audit | What usually causes problems |
|---|---|---|
| Fire risk assessment | Current written assessment, review date, action plan, named responsibility | Old reports, open actions, no review trigger logged |
| Fire doors | Door inventory, defect grading, photos, access notes, remedial records | No door-level history, no evidence of close-out |
| Fire alarms | Test logs, service records, fault log, remedial sign-off | Weekly or periodic checks not evidenced clearly |
| Emergency lighting | Function test log, annual duration test record, fault history | Tests done but not retained, failures not followed up |
| Escape routes and signage | Inspection records and corrective actions | Obstructions, damaged signs, inconsistent checks |
The standard to aim for is simple: if someone asks what was checked, when, by whom, what failed, what was fixed, and what remains open, you should be able to answer confidently, with proofs where applicable.
A practical fire safety checklist for audit readiness
Use this as a working sense check:
- Confirm the written fire risk assessment is current and reflects the building as it is now.
- Check that all previous actions have a status, owner, and completion evidence.
- Review fire door records, especially where access to flats has been missed or deferred.
- Verify alarm, emergency lighting, extinguisher, and other installed-system logs are complete and current.
- Check that faults, failures, and temporary measures are recorded and not sitting without review.
- Make sure records are accessible, consistent, and easy to follow for someone outside the day-to-day team.
Audit readiness needs a joined-up fire safety plan
Audit readiness is not a one-off push before inspection. It comes from treating fire safety as an active management system: assess risk, inspect what matters, record findings clearly, close actions properly, and keep evidence easy to retrieve.
If you need support turning separate checks into a clear, auditable compliance position, Change24 can help with our trained and accredited teams, clear photographic evidence, and QR-coded fire door records that support long-term management and audit readiness. Contact us on 0800 654 6212 today.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should fire safety checks be carried out?
The exact frequency depends on building type, use, and risk. Establish regular routine checks, with weekly fire alarm tests, monthly emergency lighting tests, and annual competent-person testing of installed systems. Residential buildings over 11 metres in England also require annual flat entrance door checks and quarterly communal fire door checks.
What does an auditor usually want to see first?
A current written fire risk assessment, evidence that actions have been reviewed and closed out, and records showing that routine checks and maintenance are being carried out consistently.
Are annual checks enough on their own?
No. Annual checks matter, but they sit inside a wider schedule of routine inspection, testing, maintenance, review, and record keeping. If the annual review is the only organised checkpoint, gaps can build up between cycles.
What is the biggest weakness in audit readiness?
Buildings often have checks, servicing, or remedial works behind them, but the records are incomplete, hard to retrieve, or unclear on whether actions were fully resolved.
What should happen if checks identify defects?
They should be prioritised, assigned, and closed out with dated evidence. Where repair or replacement is needed, the record should show what was found, what action was agreed, who completed it, and when the item should be reviewed again.
Comments from the customer
Having the pleasure of working with Sarah and her team for a couple of years now, they understood how tricky and challenging our project would be, scheduling installations and repair works around our clinics, they managed this perfectly & delivered a high quality of work ahead of schedule.
The site team planned everything for us without any issues, very professional & very helpful.
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