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.
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.
Start here if you are responsible for a workplace, commercial premises, common residential areas or another occupied building.
Go to existing-building guidance → Design & changeStart here when the overall fire safety design needs to be defined, reviewed or reconstructed.
Go to strategy guidance → Old or missing recordsUseful when you have inherited responsibility, acquired a building or are not confident the existing documents still reflect it.
Review the document routes → Hazardous activitiesStart here for DSEAR-related questions around hazardous substances, processes and storage.
Go to DSEAR guidance → Passive fire protectionUnderstand the difference between checking the doors you can see and assessing the wider compartmentation of the building.
Go to doors & compartmentation → Ongoing managementFind routes for alarm, extinguisher and emergency-lighting servicing, training and ongoing consultancy support.
Go to ongoing compliance →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.
Start with the purpose of an FRA and when responsibility for an occupied building may make one relevant.
Read the FAQ answer → CompareUnderstand the difference between assessing a building in use and defining the building's overall fire safety design approach.
Compare the two → Existing reportIf 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.
Explore FRA Validation → Wider supportUse consultancy when the problem does not fit neatly into one inspection, report or assessment and you need an experienced view across the wider situation.
Explore Fire Safety Consultancy →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.
See how the strategy brings together escape, fire resistance, alarms, compartmentation and other measures into one coherent design approach.
Understand Fire Strategies → Quick comparisonAn 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.
Read the comparison → Existing buildingA retrospective strategy can help establish or reconstruct the fire safety design basis where the original information is missing, incomplete or no longer clear.
Explore Retrospective Fire Strategies → Existing documentUse the FAQ route if you have a strategy already but the building, its use or the proposed work has changed.
Read the FAQ answer →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.
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.
Read the FAQ answer → No clear strategyWhere the design basis is missing or unclear, a retrospective fire strategy can establish the wider picture rather than relying on disconnected records.
Explore the retrospective route → Existing assessmentValidation can be useful where the real question is the quality, suitability or usability of an existing assessment rather than simply commissioning another document.
Explore FRA Validation → Complex situationConsultancy gives you a route to review the wider context, understand the gaps and define what should be dealt with next.
Ask about consultancy →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.
Start with the substances and processes on site rather than assuming a normal fire risk assessment covers the same questions.
Read the FAQ answer → Core serviceUnderstand how the assessment considers dangerous substances, ignition risks, controls and hazardous areas around the specific workplace.
Explore DSEAR → Sector routeA dedicated route for body shops and repair environments where flammable products, vapours and work processes make the DSEAR question especially relevant.
Explore the body-shop route → 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.
Tell us about the site →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.
Use the fire door route when the question is about the condition, installation, operation or defects of fire-resisting doorsets.
Explore Fire Door Inspections → Hidden constructionA compartmentation survey looks beyond the doors to the wider fire-resisting lines, including penetrations and fire stopping.
Explore Compartmentation Surveys → CompareStart with the FAQ if you know there is a passive-fire-protection concern but are not sure which inspection route fits.
Compare the routes → Bigger pictureDoors 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.
Explore Fire Strategies →Use this route for routine servicing, inspection, training and ongoing advice after the main assessment or strategy work has identified what the building needs.
For planned inspection and servicing of the fire detection and alarm system as part of the building's ongoing fire safety arrangements.
Explore Fire Alarm Servicing → EquipmentFor routine servicing and management of portable fire-fighting equipment within the premises.
Explore Extinguisher Servicing → EscapeFor checking the emergency lighting that supports safe escape if the normal lighting supply fails.
Explore Emergency Lighting → PeopleFor organisations that need staff to understand their responsibilities, procedures and practical actions in the event of fire.
Explore Fire Safety Training →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.
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.
One assesses an occupied building. The other defines the wider fire safety design approach.
Missing informationStart with what you have and the decision you need to make. Perfect records are not required before the conversation can begin.
Next stepsSee what information helps ESI scope the work properly and what happens before a project starts.
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.
If your role or building type is the important part of the problem, use the audience routes rather than starting from a service name.
For agents, surveyors, property managers, developers and other professionals coordinating fire safety across buildings, transactions or projects.
Explore property-professional support →For owners and operators who need a clearer route through fire risk assessment requirements for guest accommodation.
Explore holiday-accommodation FRAs →For workshops and body shops where spray products, solvents and other flammable substances make DSEAR a specific concern.
Explore body-shop DSEAR →Browse the wider routes for owners, landlords, managing agents, businesses, heritage buildings, community organisations and specialist workplaces.
Browse Who We Help →The Knowledge Centre is organised around the questions that stay useful: what a service is for, how different routes compare and what to do next. The blog can carry newer articles, commentary and updates without making this page feel like a news feed.
Browse the blog for new guidance, commentary and updates as ESI adds them. For a direct answer to a common practical question, the FAQ is usually the faster route.
You can start with the building, the document, the proposed change or the problem in front of you. ESI can help define the appropriate next step and scope the work from there.