If you run a business, let property or manage a building in Nottingham, the law requires you to have a written fire risk assessment. Nobody is licensed to write one, so judging who is competent falls to you.
Nottingham licenses more of its private rented stock than almost any city in the country, and fire safety sits inside those licence conditions. This page covers who enforces the law here, which scheme catches your property, and how to check an assessor before you appoint them.
Who enforces fire safety law in Nottingham
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service is the enforcing authority for most premises across the city. They can inspect without notice, serve enforcement and prohibition notices, and prosecute. A prohibition notice can shut a building the day it is served.
The fire risk assessment is the first thing asked for. Not having one, or having one that could describe any building in the country, is where the conversation starts.
Three licensing schemes run here, and most landlords are in one of them
Nottingham operates selective licensing, additional HMO licensing and mandatory HMO licensing at the same time. Working out which applies to you is the first job, because the fire conditions differ.
- Mandatory HMO licensing applies citywide to properties with five or more people forming two or more households who share or lack a WC, cooking or washing facilities.
- Additional HMO licensing drops that to three or more people in two or more households, but only inside designated areas.
- Selective licensing catches ordinary rented houses, not just shared ones. The current scheme began on 1 December 2023.
- Accredited landlords pay the lowest application fee, so accreditation is worth checking before you apply.
Check which designation your address falls under with Nottingham City Council before relying on any of this, including ours. Areas and dates move, and the council’s own checker is the version that counts. Sitting outside a scheme removes the licence, not the fire safety duty.
What makes Nottingham buildings different to assess
- Two large universities and a very big shared housing market, concentrated in Lenton, Dunkirk, Radford and Beeston. Sleeping accommodation is the hardest category to assess properly and the most heavily licensed here.
- A large stock of Victorian terraces converted to flats and HMOs. Conversions are where compartmentation and fire stopping quietly fail, because the work predates anyone checking.
- City centre blocks and student towers, where evacuation strategy and compartmentation are the whole assessment rather than a section of it.
- A busy licensed and hospitality trade, where occupancy numbers and getting a crowded room out at night drive the findings.
The law does not change by postcode. Who you should appoint does, because a licensed HMO in Lenton and a city centre bar are different jobs.
Checking an assessor in Nottingham
There is no register, so ask directly:
- What are your qualifications, and who awarded them? Firefighting and fire risk assessing are different disciplines.
- Are you third party certificated? If yes, take the registration number and check it with the scheme, not the badge on the website.
- What is your professional indemnity cover? Ask for the figure, not just whether they hold it.
- How many buildings like mine have you assessed in Nottingham? A licensed HMO, a converted terrace and a student block are three different jobs.
- Can I see a sample report? Client details removed. If they will not, that tells you something.
What it costs in Nottingham
Price tracks size, complexity and whether anyone sleeps in the building. A small shop and a six bed licensed HMO are not comparable and the quotes should not look alike.
Get more than one quote, in writing. Check whether a return visit is included, whether the action plan is part of the fee, and whether anyone will talk you through the findings. If the assessment has to satisfy a licence condition, say so when you ask, because it changes what the assessor needs to cover. For the national picture on pricing, see what a fire risk assessment should cost.
Areas we cover around Nottingham
Assessors listed here work across the city and Nottinghamshire, including Lenton, Dunkirk, Radford, Beeston, Sneinton, Sherwood, Mapperley, West Bridgford, Clifton, Bulwell, Arnold, Carlton, Hucknall, Long Eaton and Mansfield.
Get quotes from Nottingham assessors
Describe the premises and we will pass it to assessors covering Nottingham. We pass it on and nothing else happens to it.
Not in Nottingham? See all the areas we cover.