Fire Risk Assessments for Restaurants & Commercial Kitchens
Improving the safety of your guests, FOH & BOH staff
The unique challenges of fire safety in restaurants
The restaurant industry has its own set of fire risks that make it a unique environment: it combines the presence of many guests, the constant stream of waiting staff moving back and forth and the flurry of activity behind the kitchen doors. Our assessments help mitigate the risks that come with this industry.
The importance of fire risk assessments for restaurants and kitchens
Commercial kitchens carry a fire risk that a general office or retail assessment simply isn’t built to address. High-heat cooking equipment, deep fat fryers and grease-laden extraction systems make food service premises one of the most fire-prone workplace sectors in the UK, which is why restaurants need an assessment that genuinely understands kitchen risk. If you’re ready to get compliant, you can get a free fire risk assessment quote tailored to your premises.
Why restaurants carry a distinct fire risk
Government fire and rescue service data consistently places food and drink premises as one of the two highest-risk workplace sectors in the UK for fires, second only to industrial premises. Cooking equipment operating at sustained high temperatures, oils and fats with low flash points, and the pace of a busy service all combine to create conditions where a fire can develop and spread quickly.
You can see the full breakdown in the government’s fire and rescue incident statistics.
This is why a restaurant fire risk assessment needs to go further than a generic hospitality or commercial check. It has to look closely at the kitchen itself, not just the fire doors and escape routes that every premises shares.
Why choose us for your restaurant
We hold BAFE SP205 certification, which demonstrates the competency of our assessors, and we’re rated on Trustpilot by over 750 customers across the UK.
We don’t sell or service fire safety equipment, so any recommendations in your report are genuine requirements, not an upsell.
What we look at in a restaurant assessment
- Extraction and ductwork. Grease buildup within extraction systems is one of the most common ways a kitchen fire spreads beyond the point of ignition, so cleaning records and system condition are a key part of the assessment.
- Cooking equipment. Deep fat fryers, gas appliances and other high-heat equipment, including how they’re positioned, maintained and used during service.
- Fire detection suited to a kitchen environment. Standard smoke detectors can be triggered by cooking fumes and steam, so kitchens typically need appropriately specified detection to balance sensitivity against false alarms.
- Back-of-house versus front-of-house risk. The kitchen carries a different risk profile to the dining area, and both need to be assessed on their own terms, including how quickly diners and staff could evacuate during a busy service.
- Escape routes and fire doors. Kept clear and functioning, particularly where kitchen and dining areas share exit routes.
For the wider process, from first contact through to your final report, see our fire risk assessment process guide.
What to have ready before your assessment
In addition to the general documents required for any premises, servicing records for electrical systems and fire protection equipment, and your fire safety logbook, commercial kitchens should also have:
- CP42 certificate (commercial kitchen gas safety certificate)
- Extraction system cleaning records, which may include a TR19 Grease certificate issued by an approved BESA cleaning contractor
- Records of staff fire safety training and any fire drills carried out
- Any existing fire risk assessment, if this is a renewal rather than a first assessment
If your team needs fire safety training in place before your assessment, or wants to build on it afterwards, see our fire warden training, available nationwide.
Pricing
We work on fixed prices with no hidden costs. The exact price depends on the size and complexity of your kitchen and premises. Visit our fire risk assessment cost page for a full breakdown of what affects your price.
Your legal duty as a restaurant operator
Restaurants are subject to the same duty as any other non-domestic premises under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, with the Responsible Person required to have a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment in place, kept up to date and reviewed regularly.
This sits alongside, not instead of, your food hygiene and licensing obligations. To understand how this fits with the wider hospitality sector, see our guide to who needs a fire risk assessment.
Restaurant Fire Risk Assessment FAQs
Do restaurants need a fire risk assessment?
How often does a restaurant's fire risk assessment need reviewing?
Is a fire risk assessment the same as a food hygiene or EHO inspection?
Does my kitchen need specific fire extinguishers?
Standard extinguishers aren’t effective against a cooking fat or oil fire, and using the wrong type on one can make it worse. Your assessment will look at what’s already in place and flag if your kitchen’s provisions don’t match the risk, but the specific equipment recommendations depend on your setup, so this is one for your assessor to confirm on site rather than something we’d want to generalise here.
This page sits within our full range of fire risk assessment sectors, covering everything from care homes to offices.
Get your restaurant fire risk assessment
We work on fixed prices with no hidden costs, and we don’t sell or service fire safety equipment, so any recommendations in your report are genuine requirements rather than a sales pitch. Whether you’re running a single site or a multi-site restaurant group, we can tailor scheduling to suit your operation.
Get a free, fixed price quote for your restaurant today.
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