Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. You need to be a member in a corporate grade or at Technician grade.  Corparate grades include Associate and Member. Descriptions of these membership grades are available on the Join Us page.

You will first need to become a member of the IFSM if you are not already, then login and apply using the online TFRAR application form. Please read the policy and guidance document provided on the Join The Register section of the Fire Risk Assessors page carefully before applying.

You will need to follow the guidance in the Join The Register section of the Fire Risk Assessors page to judge your current level of competency for yourself. To summarise, Tier 1 is for those just starting out in their Fire Risk Assessor career, Tier 2 is for more experienced assessors carrying out less complex to medium complex assessments and Tier 3 is for those individually validated as a competent Fire Risk Assessor by a third party certification body for higher risk/complex buildings.

We aim to process applications as quickly as possible and complete turnaround is usually within two weeks, as long as the information you provide is correct. Applications for Tier 2 of the Register can take up to four weeks as the process is considerably more involved.

There are two fees to pay - an application fee and (if successful) an annual fee. Current fees can be found in the Join The Register section of the Fire Risk Assessors page. Tier 2 fees are considerably higher than other Tiers, as they cover the increased administration and examination involved.

Higher Risk / Designated / In-Scope Buildings are those defined from time to time by the Government. There will always be ‘specialist’ Higher Risk Buildings which require their own specialist Fire Risk Assessors who are competent in their own specialised field.  Appendix 3 of the TFRAR guidance notes give a full definition.

Currently, there are two active schemes providing third party accreditation. Warrington Certification Ltd. FRACS scheme and BAFE SP 205 Scheme.

Warrington Certification Ltd has two FRACS schemes available, one for individuals and one for companies. Information, application fees and application forms are available on the Warrington Certification website.

BAFE SP 205 is a scheme for companies that employ a number of Fire Risk Assessors and also Fire Risk Assessors who are sole traders (or have their own registered company). There are two Certification Bodies delivering this scheme (NSI and SSAIB) and they will each have a scale of charges, dependant on the work required. Members should remember that Tier 3 is a scheme for individual assessors who have proved their own competence - this can be done through the BAFE SP205 ‘company’ scheme, either by a ‘Nominated Person’ for an organisation applying for the scheme or as an individual tested as a ‘Validator’ under the scheme. At the present time, the scheme does not issue certificates of competence to individuals but the Institute will accept written proof from any of the certification bodies that a named individual has been tested for his/her competence as a Validator or Nominated Person.  Please note that to apply for Tier 3, individuals will need to arrange with the Certification Bodies to be assessed on higher risk/complex buildings otherwise they will only be accepted at Tier 2 level.

There are currently two recognised registers: the IFPO and the IFE.