If you manage a university campus, keeping fire risk assessments current across every building is one of the more involved jobs on the compliance calendar. Each building has different uses, different risk profiles, and different access requirements, so an assessment that was accurate twelve months ago may not reflect how the space is actually being used today.
The good news is that with the right planning, a full review across even a large campus can be handled efficiently and with minimal disruption to teaching or campus life.
Is a Fire Risk Assessment a Legal Requirement for Schools and Universities?
Yes. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, all commercial premises in England and Wales must have a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment in place. That includes schools, colleges, and universities, regardless of building size or age.
The duty typically sits with the responsible person, which in an education setting is usually the head teacher, principal, estates director, or a designated facilities lead. Where more than one person has control of a building, the duty is shared. Scotland and Northern Ireland have equivalent legislation, so the same requirement applies across the UK.
A fire risk assessment gives you a clear, current picture of the estate and a prioritised list of anything worth addressing before the next academic year begins.
What Makes Fire Risk Assessments for Education Premises Different?
University buildings carry a broader risk profile than most commercial buildings. The estate is usually larger, and the way spaces get used shifts across the year.
Features that commonly shape a commercial fire risk assessment in an education setting include:
- Science, engineering, and design labs with flammable materials or specialist equipment
- Industrial catering kitchens serving hundreds of meals a day
- Lecture theatres, sports halls, and common areas with high footfall
- On-site student accommodation, which adds sleeping-risk considerations
- Listed or heritage buildings with original features and limited modification options
- Seasonal occupancy swings between term time and holidays
A fire risk assessment for schools or a university has to reflect how each building is actually used day to day. That means an assessor walking the estate, speaking to the people who work in it, and flagging anything specific to your layout and operations.
How Often Does a Fire Risk Assessment Need Reviewing in a School or University?
We recommend reviewing a fire risk assessment at least once a year, plus any time circumstances on campus change. Some changes are obvious, like a lab refurbishment or a new building coming online. Others are easier to miss, such as rooms being repurposed, updates to alarm systems or escape routes, shifts in student numbers, or follow-up points from the fire service after a routine visit.
If anything material has happened since the last sign-off, bring the next review forward rather than waiting for the anniversary. That same fire risk assessment review frequency approach applies across every sector we work in, education included: annual as standard, plus a fresh look when the building or its use changes.
Why Are the Summer Holidays the Right Time to Get It Done?
Empty corridors make the work easier. With buildings at reduced occupancy, assessors can move through labs, halls of residence, boiler rooms, and plant spaces without working around lessons, exams, or student movement.
Booking summer also gives you a run-up to address anything the assessment flags. Remedial actions can be scheduled, contractors booked, and sign-off completed before the new intake arrives. Leaving it until term time often means the same work has to happen in live buildings, which is slower and more disruptive.
For larger estates, summer is often the only realistic window to cover every building. Hawkesworth offers out-of-hours and holiday period visits at no extra charge, which suits universities running multi-site fire risk assessment programmes across several campuses. Many estates teams group the work together, scheduling fire alarm testing and servicing, emergency lighting testing, and fire extinguisher servicing around the same window so every fire safety system is ready for September.
Why Do DBS Checked Engineers Matter in an Education Setting?
Safeguarding sits alongside fire safety in any school, college, or university. Contractors working in buildings where students are present need to meet the same standards as staff.
Every Hawkesworth engineer is DBS checked and City & Guilds certified, so estates teams don’t have to run separate vetting, manage escort arrangements, or build exceptions into access policies. We turn up, we’re cleared, we get on with the work. For a designated fire safety lead, that’s one less thing to manage.
Book Your Fire Risk Assessment with Hawkesworth
Education is one of the core sectors Hawkesworth has served since 1993, alongside retail, commercial offices, and hospitality. Our 190+ engineers are DBS checked and City & Guilds certified, and we deliver fire risk assessment services to schools, colleges, and universities across the UK and Ireland. Single-building academies through to multi-campus universities, we cover all of it.
Out-of-hours and holiday period visits come at no extra charge, and multi-site pricing is available for academy trusts, colleges, and university estates. We track your compliance schedule and send reminders when the next review is due, so nothing drifts past its date. Request a quote today and get your fire risk assessment for universities into the diary.
Michael Kiddle
Managing Director of Hawkesworth and a nationally recognised leader in electrical and fire safety, Michael (GIFireE) directs one of the UK's leading compliance companies, safeguarding thousands of businesses each year. Through his voluntary Safe Home Initiative, he has identified and removed thousands of dangerous household appliances from vulnerable people's homes, replacing each one with a safe alternative free of charge.
