In Hertfordshire the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 puts the fire risk assessment on whoever runs a business, employs staff, lets a shared house or a short term let, or controls the common parts of a block of flats, and the assessment has to be suitable and sufficient. Every assessment made in England since 1 October 2023 has had to be recorded in writing, and Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service says every business must keep a full written copy on its premises. The sections below cover how the district councils license shared houses, what the county fire service can ask for, what a good assessment and report contain, and what assessors in the county charge.
HMO licences and fees from the Hertfordshire councils
HMO licensing is run by the district and borough councils, not the county. The four we checked, Watford, Hertsmere, East Herts and Three Rivers, all license at the national mandatory threshold: a home shared by five or more people from two or more households, with a kitchen, bathroom or toilet in common. East Herts notes that some other districts also license further homes under additional or selective schemes. Each council sets its own fee. Watford charges £1,557.70 for a new licence and £1,295.90 to renew, a licence there lasts up to five years, and the council aims to grant one within twelve weeks of a valid application. Hertsmere charges £1,306 for a new or renewed licence for up to five people and £105 for every extra person, so a seven person house pays the £1,306 plus two lots of £105. East Herts bases its two part fee on a standard five bedroom HMO and adds a fee for each extra bedroom. Letting a licensable HMO without a licence is a criminal offence, and Watford can impose a civil penalty of up to £30,000 or prosecute for an unlimited fine.
Planning rules are moving too. Hertsmere made a non-immediate Article 4 Direction for HMOs on 23 April 2026, covering the Potters Bar Parkfield, Potters Bar Oakmere, Potters Bar Furzefield and Bentley Heath & The Royds wards, and it comes into force on 6 May 2027 if confirmed. Three Rivers says that changing a family house into a small HMO of six or fewer residents often needs no planning permission today. Neither a licence nor planning permission counts as a fire risk assessment, which the Fire Safety Order requires for the common parts of a let HMO either way.
How Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service enforces the Order
Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is run by Hertfordshire County Council and enforces the Fire Safety Order throughout the county. Its business fire safety team deals with commercial buildings and the common areas of flats, and it inspects premises under a risk based inspection programme, concentrating on higher risk premises. The service offers support and advice on improving fire safety arrangements. It will not carry out the assessment for you, because the Order makes that your responsibility. Where a serious risk exists and is not being managed, it has a statutory duty to enforce. The business fire safety team can be reached on 01707 292310.
Its inspectors may enter premises at any reasonable time and can require any record the Order says you must keep, which means the written assessment has to be ready to show. An enforcement notice gives you no less than 28 days to put the problem right, and a prohibition notice can stop or restrict use of a building where the risk is serious enough. If the building is an HMO, the service lets the district council’s housing team know before a prohibition notice goes out, where that is practicable. Appeals against a notice go to the magistrates’ court within 21 days of receiving it, and gov.uk gives the penalties as up to £5,000 for minor offences and, for major ones, an unlimited fine and up to 2 years in prison.
Shared houses, short term lets and flats in Hertfordshire
Three Rivers treats a home as an HMO once three or more unrelated tenants share amenities such as a kitchen and bathroom, and Watford uses the same test of three tenants in more than one household. Three Rivers says every HMO, licensed or not, has to meet minimum safety standards, with the fire measures taken from the Hertfordshire Guide to Fire Safety in Houses in Multiple Occupation 2018, while Hertsmere points landlords to the Hertfordshire Fire Precautions Guide. Watford says HMOs need mains powered fire alarms and a protected means of escape, and tells landlords to carry out a fire risk assessment to work out which upgrades are needed. East Herts says research has shown that fires are more likely to start and spread in HMOs than in family homes, and adds that even a rented family house must have a smoke detector in the hallway or landing of every storey.
Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service says the duty also covers any flat, house, cottage or caravan you rent out on a short term arrangement. For blocks of flats, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 have applied since 23 January 2023. In every building with two or more homes and shared escape routes, residents must be given information about fire doors. In a block taller than 11 metres, the responsible person has to check the communal fire doors at least every 3 months and use best endeavours to check each flat’s entrance door at least once every 12 months, and our fire door regulations guide sets out how those checks work. A high rise building of at least 18 metres or 7 storeys must also give the fire service information to plan its response, and residential personal emergency evacuation plans apply to high rise blocks and to blocks above 11 metres that use simultaneous evacuation.
Tenants of a district council or housing association should raise a problem with the stairs, corridors or fire doors of their block with that landlord, which gov.uk treats as the responsible person for any common or shared parts.
Why an HMO licence does not replace the fire risk assessment
An HMO licence is housing law, granted by the district or borough council, while the fire risk assessment is required by the Fire Safety Order and policed by Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service. Three Rivers lists fire risk assessments among the supporting documents for a licence application, so a Three Rivers landlord should have the assessment ready before applying. A four person share in Watford sits below the licensing threshold, yet it is still an HMO that has to meet the fire standards, and the Order still applies to its common parts.
What the assessment covers and what a Hertfordshire report should record
Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service describes the assessment as a look at how likely a fire is to start from what goes on in the premises and who could be harmed, and at the precautions needed to cut that risk and protect people if a fire does start. Gov.uk breaks the method into five stages: find the hazards, find the people at risk, evaluate the risk and remove or reduce it, record what you found with an emergency plan and training, and review it regularly. In a large building shared by several businesses, each employer assesses the parts it controls, the owner or landlord covers the common parts, and the Order makes everyone with a duty co-operate and co-ordinate.
The written record must set out the findings, including the measures already taken or planned. The county service expects fire extinguishers to be tested every year by a competent engineer who issues a test certificate, staff fire training to be given when people start and refreshed annually, and an evacuation drill covering all staff at least once a year, so the report should show whether each of those is in place. For a shared house, expect it to name the fire safety guide it was measured against, where each alarm is and how every occupant gets out if the staircase fills with smoke. For a block of flats, it should cover the fire doors, the evacuation strategy and, for a high rise building, the information the service must be given.
Choosing a competent fire risk assessor in Hertfordshire
Gov.uk lets you carry out the assessment yourself with the standard guides, and says to bring in a competent person, a professional risk assessor for example, if you do not have the time or expertise. Either way the duty stays with you. Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service recommends a professional for premises with sleeping accommodation, complicated layouts or processes, or vulnerable occupants, and lists four places to look: the National Fire Risk Assessors Register, the fire risk assessors register kept by the Institution of Fire Engineers, the BAFE Fire Safety Register of third party certificated organisations, and the National Fire Chiefs Council’s guide to picking a competent assessor. Ask any firm you are considering about:
- Registration: which of those registers they appear on, and whether the firm holds third party certification.
- Qualifications: the fire risk assessment qualifications they hold and their professional body, such as the IFE or IFSM.
- HMO knowledge: the shared houses they have assessed against the Hertfordshire fire safety guide, and whether they know your district council’s licence conditions.
- Indemnity: the professional indemnity insurance they carry.
- Report and timing: a sample report on similar premises and the date yours would arrive.
How long a Hertfordshire assessment takes and what to have ready
Most residential assessments take 1 to 3 hours on site, according to Checkatrade’s Hertfordshire page, while larger commercial buildings can need a full day or more, and the report tends to follow within a few days. For an HMO or shared house our cost guide budgets 3 to 5 hours, and for a large multi-floor building or hotel one to two days. The assessor tours the premises noting what could start a fire and who would be at risk, then tests the escape routes and fire precautions against that. Give access to every room and plant area, and have ready the last assessment, the extinguisher test certificate, the alarm test records, your training and drill records and the floor plans.
What a fire risk assessment costs in Hertfordshire
For Hertfordshire, Checkatrade gives £252 as the local average price and a typical spread of £199 to £328, and its fixed price listings show an HMO at £229, a residential house at £129 and a residential flat at £99. Nationally, our fire risk assessment cost guide puts most assessments at £200 to £800 and a typical small business at about £300 to £500, with £350 to £600 for an HMO or shared house and £1,200 to £2,000 for a large multi-floor building or hotel. So when a Hatfield share draws one quote at the £229 fixed price and another at £350, ask both assessors how many hours they will spend there, whether the report includes a list of actions and whether they will come back to check the work, then compare. Describe the building the same way to every assessor, with how many floors it has, how many people live or work there and whether anyone stays overnight, and ask each for a fixed fee.
Where Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service has already served a notice, its deadline sets the pace. Attach the notice to your enquiry, give the date you have to meet, and ask assessors whether they can visit and report in time.
Fire risk assessment Hertfordshire: common questions
Is a fire risk assessment a legal requirement for me?
Yes, if you employ staff, run business premises, let a shared house or a short term let, or control the common parts of a block of flats. A home lived in as a private dwelling is outside the Order.
My house has four sharers. Does it need an HMO licence?
Not in Watford, Hertsmere, East Herts or Three Rivers, where a licence starts at five people in two or more households. The house is still an HMO and still has to meet the fire safety standards, and because a council can bring in a new licensing designation lasting up to five years, check your own council’s page before you rely on this.
Which council licenses my HMO?
The district or borough council for the address: Watford, Hertsmere, Three Rivers, St Albans, Dacorum, Welwyn Hatfield, Stevenage, North Herts, East Herts or Broxbourne. Each sets its own fee, and the county fire service deals with the fire risk assessment.
Is a licensed HMO covered for fire safety?
Not by the licence alone. The licence deals with housing standards, and Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service can still ask to see the written fire risk assessment, which the Order requires whether or not the house is licensed.
How often does the assessment need reviewing?
The Order fixes no timetable, only that the assessment is reviewed regularly enough to stay up to date, so look at it again whenever the premises, the people using them or the work done there changes significantly.
Do I need a fire risk assessment of my own flat?
No. A flat lived in as a private dwelling counts as domestic premises, which the Order does not cover. The block’s common areas are covered, though, and gov.uk makes the landlord, freeholder or managing agent responsible for them, so a copy of the block’s current assessment should come from whichever of them runs the building.
How do I get quotes for a Hertfordshire property?
Use the form below with the postcode, the district and the kind of premises, and add the number of storeys and occupiers, whether anyone sleeps there and whether it is a shared house, a short term let, a block or a business. We send it to fire risk assessors covering Hertfordshire so you can compare their offers.
Hertfordshire’s neighbours London and Essex each have a page of their own: fire risk assessment London and fire risk assessment Essex. For everywhere else we cover, see our fire risk assessment near me page.