Fire Safety Knowledge Centre
You may have been asked for a fire risk assessment, inherited an old fire strategy, found problems with fire doors or simply need to know which specialist should look at something. Start with the situation, then move into the guidance or service that fits.
This centre brings ESI's practical explainers, FAQs, service guidance and specialist routes into one place. It is designed to help you make the next decision with more confidence, not replace building-specific professional advice.
Not sure what the technical term is? Start with what has happened, what has changed or what you have been asked to provide. You do not need to diagnose the service yourself.
Start with the situation
Most enquiries begin with a change, a missing document, a concern or a request from somebody else. Choose the situation closest to yours and we will point you towards the most useful guidance.
Existing premises
Start here if you are responsible for a workplace, commercial premises, common residential areas or another occupied building.
Design & change
Start here when the overall fire safety design needs to be defined, reviewed or reconstructed.
Old or missing records
Useful when you have inherited responsibility, acquired a building or are not confident the existing documents still reflect it.
Review the document routesHazardous activities
Start here for DSEAR-related questions around hazardous substances, processes and storage.
Passive fire protection
Understand the difference between checking the doors you can see and assessing the wider compartmentation of the building.
Go to doors & compartmentationOngoing management
Find routes for alarm, extinguisher and emergency-lighting servicing, training and ongoing consultancy support.
Use this route when you need to understand fire risk in premises that are already occupied or operating, whether you are the owner, employer, landlord, managing agent or another person responsible for the building.
Explore Fire Risk AssessmentsQuick answer
Start with the purpose of an FRA and when responsibility for an occupied building may make one relevant.
Compare
Understand the difference between assessing a building in use and defining the building's overall fire safety design approach.
Existing report
If the question is whether an existing FRA is suitable, current or useful for the decision in front of you, the validation route may be more appropriate than starting again.
Wider support
Use consultancy when the problem does not fit neatly into one inspection, report or assessment and you need an experienced view across the wider situation.
Use this route for new development, refurbishment, fit-out, change of use or other work where the building's fire safety approach needs to be defined and coordinated rather than simply assessed as it stands.
Explore Fire StrategiesCore service
See how the strategy brings together escape, fire resistance, alarms, compartmentation and other measures into one coherent design approach.
Quick comparison
An FRA evaluates fire risk in a building in use. A strategy explains how the building is intended to achieve fire safety as a coordinated design.
Existing building
A retrospective strategy can help establish or reconstruct the fire safety design basis where the original information is missing, incomplete or no longer clear.
Existing document
Use the FAQ route if you have a strategy already but the building, its use or the proposed work has changed.
Existing assessments, strategies, drawings, surveys and service records can all be useful, but gaps are common. The important first step is to understand which decision the documents now need to support.
Send ESI the contextMissing information
You can still start the conversation. Explain what you do have and what has prompted the enquiry, then ESI can identify what else may be useful.
No clear strategy
Where the design basis is missing or unclear, a retrospective fire strategy can establish the wider picture rather than relying on disconnected records.
Existing assessment
Validation can be useful where the real question is the quality, suitability or usability of an existing assessment rather than simply commissioning another document.
Complex situation
Consultancy gives you a route to review the wider context, understand the gaps and define what should be dealt with next.
Use this route when flammable liquids, gases, vapours, combustible dusts or other dangerous substances may create a fire or explosion risk that needs specialist assessment.
Explore DSEAR Risk AssessmentsQuick answer
Start with the substances and processes on site rather than assuming a normal fire risk assessment covers the same questions.
Core service
Understand how the assessment considers dangerous substances, ignition risks, controls and hazardous areas around the specific workplace.
Sector route
A dedicated route for body shops and repair environments where flammable products, vapours and work processes make the DSEAR question especially relevant.
Not sure?
Tell ESI what the site stores, uses or produces and what has prompted the question. We can help define whether specialist DSEAR support is the sensible next step.
Use this route when the concern is the condition of fire doors, hidden compartment lines, service penetrations, fire stopping or whether the physical building still matches the intended fire safety design.
Explore Fire Door InspectionsVisible elements
Use the fire door route when the question is about the condition, installation, operation or defects of fire-resisting doorsets.
Hidden construction
A compartmentation survey looks beyond the doors to the wider fire-resisting lines, including penetrations and fire stopping.
Compare
Start with the FAQ if you know there is a passive-fire-protection concern but are not sure which inspection route fits.
Bigger picture
Doors and compartmentation are part of a wider fire safety design. Where the design basis is unclear, the strategy may need to be considered alongside the physical survey.
Use this route for routine servicing, inspection, training and ongoing advice after the main assessment or strategy work has identified what the building needs.
Explore ConsultancySystems
For planned inspection and servicing of the fire detection and alarm system as part of the building's ongoing fire safety arrangements.
Equipment
For routine servicing and management of portable fire-fighting equipment within the premises.
Escape
For checking the emergency lighting that supports safe escape if the normal lighting supply fails.
People
For organisations that need staff to understand their responsibilities, procedures and practical actions in the event of fire.
Essential explainers
These are the questions that most often change the route. Use them to narrow things down, then move into the detailed service page or ask ESI about the specific building.
Most useful starting point
That is enough to start. Tell us what kind of building or project it is, what has changed or what you have been asked to provide, and what documents you already have. We can help identify whether the next step is an assessment, strategy, survey, validation or consultancy input.
You do not need to choose the technical label before you contact us.
Document choice
One assesses an occupied building. The other defines the wider fire safety design approach.
Missing information
Start with what you have and the decision you need to make. Perfect records are not required before the conversation can begin.
Next steps
See what information helps ESI scope the work properly and what happens before a project starts.
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When guidance is not enough
Plans, photographs, an old strategy, a fire risk assessment, a survey, a proposed layout or simply a short explanation of what has prompted the enquiry can all help. ESI can then define the right scope rather than asking you to guess which service you need.
Guidance by audience
If your role or building type is the important part of the problem, use the audience routes rather than starting from a service name.
PROPERTY & PROJECT SUPPORT
For agents, surveyors, property managers, developers and other professionals coordinating fire safety across buildings, transactions or projects.
Explore property-professional supportFIRE RISK ASSESSMENT GUIDANCE
For owners and operators who need a clearer route through fire risk assessment requirements for guest accommodation.
Explore holiday-accommodation FRAsDSEAR GUIDANCE
For workshops and body shops where spray products, solvents and other flammable substances make DSEAR a specific concern.
Explore body-shop DSEARMORE SECTORS & ROLES
Browse the wider routes for owners, landlords, managing agents, businesses, heritage buildings, community organisations and specialist workplaces.
Browse Who We HelpGuides, answers & updates
Use the Knowledge Centre to explore practical fire safety topics and understand which route may apply to your situation. If you have a specific question, the FAQs may give you a quicker answer. For newer articles, commentary and updates from ESI, browse the blog.
If you already know the question you need answered, start with the FAQs. If you want to read ESI’s latest articles, guidance and updates, head to the blog.
Find the right route
Knowledge Centre for practical guidance and understanding.
FAQs for quick answers to specific questions.
Blog for newer articles, commentary and updates.
READY TO GET CLARITY?
You don’t need to know the exact service before you contact us. Tell us about the building, project, document or fire safety concern, and ESI can help you work out the right next step and scope the support properly.
