ASFP updates guidance for assessors
The Association for Specialist Fire Protection (ASFP) has revised its Guide to Passive Fire Protection for Fire Risk Assessors, with updates reflecting legislative and regulatory changes following the Grenfell Tower fire.
ASFP published the revised guide in an article dated 7 April 2026 by Niall Rowan, ASFP’s Technical and Regulatory Affairs Officer.
The guide was first published in 2012 after a certification body asked ASFP to produce simple passive fire protection guidance for fire risk assessors applying for certification under its scheme.
It was written for those carrying out Type 1 fire risk assessments and became one of the association’s largest publication downloads.
The revised version keeps the same three-part structure.
It includes a general and regulatory section, a methodology section covering different types of passive fire protection and annexes with further information, links to third-party guidance and an example checklist.
ASFP guide reflects legislative changes
Rowan wrote that the main changes in the revised guide arise from the Grenfell Tower fire on 14th July 2017 and the legislation that followed.
The Fire Safety Act 2021 (England & Wales) brought flat front doors into the scope of fire risk assessments under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
It also clarified that where a building contains two or more sets of domestic premises, the fire risk assessment should include an assessment of the building’s external wall system.
Recommendations from Phase 1 of the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry led to the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022.
Those regulations mandated quarterly checks on fire doors in common parts of buildings and annual checks on flat front doors where possible, along with premises information boxes in blocks of flats containing building plans.
The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced a new regulatory regime for higher risk buildings, which the source material defines as buildings over 6 storeys and 18m high plus some other categories.
ASFP said these changes meant the revised guide now contains enhanced checks on fire doors, procedures for evaluating external walls and a new annex on external wall construction.
Type 1 assessments remain the main focus
The guide is aimed at fire risk assessors carrying out Type 1 fire risk assessments, described in the source material as the most common type for multi-occupied buildings.
These assessments focus on communal areas such as hallways, stairwells and escape routes and are non-destructive visual inspections.
The source material states that assessors are still expected to look above ceiling tiles on escape routes and above fire doors at corridor ends where they can.
Where significant passive fire protection shortfalls are identified, the guide recommends further inspection by specialists or a full invasive fire risk assessment such as a Type 2 or Type 4 assessment.
It also includes material on improving the competency of fire risk assessors and explains procedures used in undertaking assessment of external walls from the Fire Sector Confederation.