Work independently through the course in a scheduled cohort day, with access to guidance, checkpoints and a shared review session.
Complete pathway · £399
Build the foundations for a career in fire risk assessment.
Complete one focused day of guided independent learning, observe three real assessments and pass a second-stage competency test. Successful candidates move directly into our assessed assistant and trainee pool.
One-day guided study
Three observations
Final competency test
Pool membership included
The complete pathway
Learn it. Observe it. Demonstrate it.
Attend three suitable assessments with an experienced assessor and complete a structured observation record for each visit.
Complete a second knowledge and scenario assessment. Successful candidates move into our pool at the assessed assistant or trainee level.
What you will study
Core principles behind a suitable assessment.
- The Fire Safety Order and the Responsible Person
- Meaning of a suitable and sufficient assessment
- Fire Safety Act and post-Grenfell developments
- Competence, scope limitations and escalation
- Records, cooperation and review duties
- Ignition, fuel, oxygen and fire development
- Conduction, convection, radiation and smoke movement
- Common hazards in commercial and residential premises
- Occupancy, vulnerability and sleeping risk
- How building use changes likely consequences
- Pre-visit information and document review
- Structured inspection routes and evidence gathering
- Identifying hazards and existing controls
- Evaluating likelihood, consequence and people exposed
- Photographs, notes and defensible findings
- Escape routes, exits and travel considerations
- Fire detection, alarms and manual call points
- Emergency lighting and signage
- Extinguishers and first-aid firefighting equipment
- Evacuation arrangements, PEEPs and management controls
- Compartmentation and fire-resisting construction
- Fire doors, seals, closers and common defects
- Service penetrations and fire stopping
- External walls and when specialist input is required
- Recognising matters outside trainee competence
- Writing clear, proportionate findings
- Prioritising immediate and planned actions
- Separating observation from recommendation
- Quality assurance and supervisor sign-off
- Communicating limitations to the client
- Three structured observation visits
- Signed learning record for each premises
- Scenario-based knowledge test
- Practical report and evidence exercise
- Assessed pool level and development plan
Who we take
No degree. No A-levels. No fire-sector background required.
Anyone aged 18 or over can start this pathway. You do not need a degree, A-levels, previous fire-safety experience or plans to leave your current job. Learn the principles, complete the required observations and demonstrate competence, then take suitable assessment or testing work part time, at weekends or alongside another career. Paid assignments depend on your assessed scope, location, availability and client demand, but the pathway is designed to give ordinary people a practical route into real fire-safety work.
Career changers
A practical route for people who want a credible new direction without returning to university.
Practical people
Suited to people who notice detail, communicate clearly and take responsibility for safe work.
Property and engineering staff
Build on experience in facilities, housing, construction, security, maintenance or engineering.
Add specialist competence
Build all three service capabilities.
Each specialist pathway covers the applicable UK duties, current standards framework, safe testing procedures, records and a separate observed practical assessment.
+£199
Extinguisher servicing
Learn to inspect portable extinguishers, recognise unsafe or unsuitable equipment, make servicing decisions and produce defensible records. It is a repeat-service skill needed across managed buildings.
+£199
Smoke alarm testing
Learn statutory coverage, safe functional testing, device records and when to escalate faults. It is a useful recurring skill for housing, property management and compliance work.
£797 total
Complete three-pathway bundle
Assessment training plus extinguisher and smoke-alarm specialisms. Build a broader service offer and become useful across more routine compliance visits.
Assessed competence, accurately described
Specialist certificates require the knowledge assessment and practical sign-off. They record Fire Assessment Group assessed competence within the stated scope; they are not BAFE registration, Ofqual qualifications or authority to work outside that scope.
Certificate of completion
Evidence that you completed the full pathway.
After the one-day course, all three observation records and the final test have been successfully completed, learners receive a named digital pathway certificate and membership of our assessor pool at their assessed level.
Defined scope, not unrestricted practice
This is an internal Fire Assessment Group pathway, not currently an Ofqual-regulated qualification or professional registration. Passing can qualify a candidate under our procedures for a defined assistant or trainee scope; it does not establish Intermediate status under BS 8674 or authority to assess buildings independently.
Continue with us
Apply to join our developing assessor pool.
Successful pathway completers do not restart at the beginning. They enter our pool at the assistant or trainee level awarded after final assessment, with their course record, observations and development plan carried forward.
Membership is included, but assignment availability and paid work depend on location, demand, right to work and the competence required for each building.
Choose your pathway
Start with the skill you want to build.
Choose assessment training alone, add a specialist skill, or complete all three. We schedule a guided study day once at least two suitable learners can attend and confirm the date before taking payment.
Entry requirementsAge 18+. No A-levels, degree or previous fire-safety qualification required.