Why fire safety is now a deal issue
Since Grenfell and the Building Safety Act, a building's fire safety position can affect its value, insurability, financing and the obligations a buyer inherits. Missing fire strategies, unresolved external wall issues, open regulator questions or weak evidence for a safety case can all change the deal.
What we review
- Fire risk assessments – currency, competence of the assessor, outstanding actions and whether they've been closed out
- Fire strategies – whether one exists, whether it reflects the building as it is today, and the evacuation strategy it relies on
- External walls – FRAEWs, EWS1 forms, remediation status and any funding applications
- Building Safety Act status for higher-risk buildings – registration, key building information, safety case progress, BAC status and mandatory occurrence reporting
- Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 – evidence of fire door checks, information boxes, signage and resident information
- Compartmentation, fire doors and active systems – survey reports, maintenance records and defects
What you get
A concise report for the deal team: a red-flag summary up front, a document-by-document review, the gaps that matter, an indication of likely cost and programme risk where it can be assessed, and recommended conditions or further investigations before completion.
We work to transaction timetables and can scale from a single-building desktop review to portfolio-wide assessments with site visits.
Vendor-side reviews
Sellers use the same review to find and fix gaps before a sale, so buyers' questions can be answered quickly and the transaction isn't delayed.
What's included
- Data-room and document review
- FRA, fire strategy and FRAEW/EWS1 review
- Building Safety Act compliance status
- Fire door, compartmentation and systems evidence
- Red-flag executive summary
- Gap list and further investigations
- Indicative cost and programme risks
- Site visits where needed
Due diligence fees
Desktop reviews of a single building are quicker and cheaper than portfolio reviews with site visits. Fees are fixed per transaction once we've seen the asset list and timetable.
Where we work
Due diligence is carried out for assets across the UK, with site visits in London, Berkshire and beyond.
Guides on this topic
- Fire safety due diligence: what RICS technical due diligence does and doesn't cover
- FRAEW for commercial buildings: do hotels, offices and warehouses need one?
- Fire safety expert witness (Part 35): when you need one and what they do
Related services
- Building Safety Act Consultancy – gap analysis, golden thread and Gateway support
- Retrospective Fire Strategies – for existing buildings with a missing or outdated strategy
- FRAEW Assessments (PAS 9980) – external wall fire risk appraisals to PAS 9980:2026