Protection - Fire Standards Board

Desired outcome

A fire and rescue service that improves the safety and wellbeing of its communities by reducing risks and incidents in the built environment, keeping communities safe through educating and regulating those responsible for fire safety compliance to adopt safer behaviours. It delivers proportionate, robust and varied fire protection interventions, whilst discharging its statutory responsibilities.

One with a competent protection workforce aligned to the needs of its Community risk management plan, utilising data and business intelligence to demonstrate efficient and effective use of resources. It proactively plans, responds and adapts to the diverse and changing needs of its Community, ensuring its services are equitably available to all.

A service with a learning and sharing culture, working collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders, seeking to continually improve and innovate protection activities and interventions, in support of a shared local, regional and national vision.

Activity

Service Delivery

Business Area(s)

Protection

First approved: 02 Sep 2021
Last issued: 25 Feb 2026
next review: 01 Mar 2029
Reference number: FSD-PRO02
Previous Reviews: 03 Mar 2025

What is required to meet the fire standard

To achieve this Fire Standard, a fire and rescue service must:

Identify risk and gather evidence

Through its Community risk management planning:
1. identify and understand its risk profile related to the built environment, including premises they need to regulate; and
2. ensure equity of fire safety provision by considering the needs of the whole Community .
Have a process in place to:
1. gather and maintain an accurate risk profile and supporting information about Relevant Premises in a manner that is compliant with legislation;
2. make available information about premises to all employees who need it when required, allowing them to be informed, stay safe and effectively carry out their duties; and
3. enable employees to feedback any new or emerging information or risks about buildings as a result of them carrying out their duties, to enable it to maintain an accurate risk profile.

Decision making, planning and deployment of resources

Plan and deliver effective and robust protection activities and interventions to mitigate and reduce the risks identified through its risk-based intervention programme and Community risk management planning in compliance with the Regulator’s Code and the principles of Better Regulation.
Maintain an ability to deliver necessary statutory protection activities and interventions at all times.
Plan and deliver both proactive and reactive engagement with those responsible for keeping Relevant Premises and communities safe, to provide inclusive advice and education in a constructive and helpful way on matters relating to protection activity and interventions.
Respond to statutory and non-statutory consultations, in a timely and appropriate way.
Collaborate with fire and rescue services and other partners to deliver protection and enforcement activities and interventions.

Training, competence and capacity

Recruit, train, develop and maintain a competent and professional protection workforce by:
1. adopting the Competence Framework for Fire Safety Regulators (the framework), where relevant to the role and embedding it into local policies, procedures, tailored guidance, and training materials; and
2. recording and monitoring competence.
Have in place necessary succession planning and processes to maintain a sustainable competent protection workforce.
Provide support to operational response employees and any other employees who undertake protection activities to build knowledge and understanding.

Evaluation and improvement

Demonstrate how it monitors and evaluates the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of its protection activities to drive improvement.
Generate a culture which embraces national and organisational learning allowing it to identify and capture feedback from a range of sources; evaluate, share and act upon it to drive innovation and continuous improvement and enhance future performance.

Where Petroleum or Explosives regulation is managed within its protection function, a fire and rescue service must apply criteria 1 to 14 within this Standard.

To support this Fire Standard, a fire and rescue service should:

Enable Fire Safety Regulators to achieve accreditation aligned with the NFCC Competency Framework.
Maximise opportunities gained from supporting the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) network by sharing learning and experiences, collaborating with Others and contributing to the continual improvement of fire protection activities.
Contribute to and support national campaigns and initiatives, where appropriate and where resources are available.

Expected benefits of achieving the fire standard

Reduction in risk, incidents, injuries, and fatalities and improved Community safety due to services supporting businesses with compliance.
Reduced economic and social cost of fire within communities.
Improved regulatory compliance relating to fire safety.
Improved competency and capacity in the protection workforce.
Improved evaluation to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of protection activities.

Legal requirements or mandatory duties

It is recognised that fire and rescue services must comply with a broad list of legislation to undertake their duties. This Fire Standard reflects only the most appropriate legislation to this topic and should not be regarded as exhaustive. Much of the legislation that relates to this Fire Standard can be found on the webpage that describes legislation which applies to all Fire Standards.

Linked qualifications, accreditations or fire standards

Qualifications

Apprenticeships:
Level 2 Award in Fire Safety in carrying out Fire Safety Checks
Level 3 Certificate in Fire Safety
Level 4 Certificate in Fire Safety
Level 4 Diploma in Fire Safety
Level 5 Diploma in Fire Safety Engineering Design
Level 6 Degree in Fire Safety Engineering
Level 7 MSc/MEng in Fire Safety Engineering (or equivalent)

Accreditations

There are professional bodies supporting independent validation of competence for fire safety professionals, this includes – but is not limited to – Institution of Fire Engineers.

Related Fire Standards

Guidance and supporting information

Protection Fire Standard and HMICFRS Characteristics of Good

The following shows how the Protection Fire Standard relates to HMICFRS Characteristics of Good from the 2025-27 inspection round.

1. How well does the FRS understand and manage the risk of fire and other emergencies?
1.3. The CRMP clearly establishes how the FRS will manage risk to the public and monitor the delivery of its objectives for prevention, protection and response activity.

3. How effective is the FRS at protecting the public through the regulation of fire safety?
3.1. The FRS has developed and implemented a fire safety enforcement strategy and risk-based intervention programme which is informed by local risk. The FRS’s regulatory activities comply with statutory requirements to reduce the risk of fire and activity is aligned with other statutory bodies such as the building safety regulator. The FRS’s enforcement plan prioritises the highest risks and includes a proportionate level of activity to reduce risk. The FRS carries out a programme of fire safety audits in line with its enforcement plan.
3.2. The FRS carries out systematic, consistent and robust fire safety audits. The FRS assures itself that fire safety audits are being carried out in a systematic, consistent and robust way.
3.3. The FRS uses its enforcement powers in a proportionate way. The FRS’s regulatory activities keep people safe and secure from the risk of fire.
3.4. The FRS systematically and routinely shares relevant information on fire safety risk with staff who use it to carry out fire safety audits. FRS staff work and share information with enforcement partners and take appropriate enforcement action.
3.5. FRS staff work with local businesses and/or large organisations and share information and expectations on compliance with fire safety regulations. The FRS has a system to help all local businesses to have easy and timely access to clear guidance on how to comply with fire safety regulations.

Fire Standards and HMICFRS Characteristics of Good

Glossary of terms

Community

A group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

Community Risk Management Planning

The process by which services identify community risks, estimates of the impact of those risks should they occur, and define their preventative and response activities to them for their geographic area of responsibility. Services collate this information in a risk management plan (known previously as an Integrated Risk Management Plan) or to align with latest guidance – a Community Risk Management Plan.

Equality of Access

The responsibility of ensuring all services and information provided by a fire and rescue service to the public or within their organisation, is inclusive and accessible.

Others

A collective term to describe the parties that may be pertinent to the activity described in the standard. This might include both organisations or the employees and volunteers of those organisations such as but not limited to, other fire and rescue services, partner organisations, other emergency responder agencies, stakeholders or members of a community.

Person-Centred Approach

An approach that places the individual and the communities served by the fire and rescue service at the core of its prevention activity.

Prevention Activity

Activities or initiatives delivered by fire and rescue services aiming to reduce risks or threats to health in communities

Prevention Strategy

The approach being taken by a fire and rescue service in relation to delivering its prevention activities. This may be a single document or something which is part of a larger group of documents depending on how the service approaches its strategic planning for the organisation.

Relevant Premises

Any premises to which fire safety legislation applies.

Safeguarding

To protect another person’s right to live and work in safety, free from abuse and harm.

Updates to this standard

Last Update:

25 February 2026

Desired Outcome

One with a competent protection workforce aligned to the needs of its community risk management plan, utilising data and business intelligence to demonstrate efficient and effective use of resources. It proactively plans, responds and adapts to the diverse and changing needs of its community, ensuring its services are equitably available to all.

A service with a learning and sharing culture, working collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders, seeking to continually improve and innovate protection activities and interventions, in support of a shared local, regional and national vision.

What is required to meet the Fire Standard

1B. ensure equity of fire safety provision by considering the needs of the whole community.
2. Have a process in place to:
A. gather and maintain an accurate risk profile and supporting information about relevant premises in a manner that is compliant with legislation;
B. make available information about premises to all employees who need it when required, allowing them to be informed, stay safe and effectively carry out their duties; and
C. enable employees to feedback any new or emerging information or risks about buildings as a result of them carrying out their duties, to enable it to maintain an accurate risk profile.
3. Plan and deliver effective and robust protection activities and interventions to mitigate and reduce the risks identified through its risk-based intervention programme and community risk management planning in compliance with the Regulator’s Code and the principles of Better Regulation.
4. Maintain an ability to deliver necessary statutory protection activities and interventions at all times.
5. Plan and deliver both proactive and reactive engagement with those responsible for keeping relevant premises and communities safe, to provide inclusive advice and education in a constructive and helpful way on matters relating to protection activity and interventions.
7. Collaborate with fire and rescue services and other partners to deliver protection and enforcement activities and interventions.
10. Provide support to operational response employees and any other employees who undertake protection activities to build knowledge and understanding.
11. Demonstrate how it monitors and evaluates the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of its protection activities to drive improvement.

Where Petroleum or Explosives regulation is managed within its protection function, a fire and rescue service must apply criteria 1 to 14 within this Standard.

13. Enable Fire Safety Regulators to achieve accreditation aligned with the NFCC Competency Framework.

Expected Benefits of achieving the Fire Standard

1.Reduction in risk, incidents, injuries, and fatalities and improved community safety due to services supporting businesses with compliance.
2. Reduced economic and social cost of fire within our communities.
3. Improved regulatory compliance relating to fire safety.

Legal Requirements or Mandatory Duties

Building Act and associated regulations
Licensing Act
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order as amended
- Fire Safety Act
- Fire Safety (England) Regulations
The Fire Safety (Employees’ Capabilities) (England) Regulations
The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations (not yet enacted)
Victims of Crime Code of Practice

Linked Qualifications, accreditations, or Fire Standards

Level 2 Award in Fire Safety in carrying out Fire Safety Checks