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Report maintenance Risk Assessments for Residential Communal Areas
Staying on top of health and safety in your rental property isn’t just about ticking boxes, it’s about protecting your investment and keeping tenants safe. That’s why we’ve partnered with BNS, experts in block management, to bring you this essential guide to risk assessments for communal areas.
From trip hazards to faulty fire doors, risk assessments help keep your property compliant and well-maintained. In this newsletter, we’re breaking down why they matter, who’s responsible, and common mistakes to avoid. Plus, BNS clears up the difference between a standard risk assessment and a fire risk assessment, so you know exactly what’s required.
Why are risk assessments important for homeowners?
If you’re a homeowner, landlord, or tenant, risk assessments in shared spaces (often referred to as health and safety audits) are essential to the safety and compliance of your property.
Risk assessments aim to identify potential risks, helping to protect the safety of residents and visitors.
A risk assessment carried out by an experienced professional should also ensure you are compliant with current health and safety regulations.
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What is a risk assessment?
Read MoreA risk assessment (or health and safety audit) is a site visit undertaken with the specific intention of identifying hazards or items of non-compliance.
Risk assessments in the shared spaces of a residential building seek to ensure the safety of the communal area and the minimising of risks.
Identified risks could be anything from tripping hazards to lighting failures to non-compliant fire doors.
A risk assessment aims to identify any potential risks, helping to avoid unwanted consequences including threats to personal safety, damage to property, or legal issues.
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Who is responsible for conducting a risk assessment?
Read MoreRisk assessments can be completed by anybody with sufficient knowledge, experience and training.
It is strongly advisable to seek out professional support from a company with experience and training when planning your risk assessment.
In the event of an incident in an audited area that causes injury or property damage, some of the responsibility may lie with the person or company who carried out your risk assessment.
This person or company should have the experience needed to protect your residents and property, and the necessary insurance should the worst happen.
Common mistakes people make when conducting risk assessments
To be an effective assessor, knowledge of building regulations and British standard guidance for fire safety and general safety is required.
Conducting a risk assessment without this experience is a mistake that can put lives and property at risk.
Another common mistake is the potential to become “risk blind”.
If an assessor regularly visits the building or has previously conducted a risk assessment on the property, the potential to overlook risks increases.
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What’s the difference between a fire risk assessment (FRA) and a risk assessment?
Read MoreFRAs look for hazards which present risks to life, whereas risk assessments also look at building conditions that may result in a personal hazard, but which could also present a risk to the property.
Where an FRA would identify fire control methods and seek to ensure appropriate maintenance, the risk assessment would look deeper into general maintenance and compliance issues.
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Fire doors in communal areas
Read MoreFRAs should identify any issues with compartmentation in the building: the walls, doors, and ceilings.
This will include the presence or lack of fire rated doors within communal areas.
Recent legislation requires an FRA to take account of all doors that open onto escape routes.
This involves inspecting doors within the escape routes including apartment doors that lead onto communal areas.
The responsibility to survey the doors is with the owner of the freehold of the building. This may be an external freeholder who instructs a managing agent to do this, the residential management company who own their freehold or an external legal entity who owns the freehold of the building.
The responsibility to undertake remedial works required to apartment doors would lie with the leaseholder, with the freehold responsible party undertaking the remedial works to any communal doors serving the building.
For buildings of five floors or more, or those which exceed 11m in height, legislation requires that all doors to common areas are inspected every three months, and doors to apartments are inspected on an annual basis.
BNS is a Bristol-based property services company specialising in residential and commercial property management, health and safety, facilities management and building maintenance.
