Fire safety checks small businesses in Northern Ireland should log every week

If you run a business from non-domestic premises in Northern Ireland, you are responsible for fire safety. A short routine of checks, written down each time, keeps people safe and shows an inspector that you are on top of it.

Updated 9 October 2026 · DeskKit Tools, Belfast

The law in Northern Ireland

Fire safety in non-domestic premises in Northern Ireland is covered by Part 3 of the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 and the Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) enforces the rules for most premises and its inspectors visit businesses to check.

The person responsible, usually the employer or whoever controls the premises, must:

• carry out a fire safety risk assessment and keep it under review
• put in place suitable fire safety measures, such as alarms, escape routes and extinguishers
• keep those measures maintained and in working order
• give staff adequate fire safety training

NIFRS guidance says the significant findings must be recorded if you have five or more employees, need a licence or registration, or have been served an alterations notice. Even if none of those apply, writing it down is the easiest way to show what you have done.

The routine of checks

NIFRS's fire safety law guide gives a simple pattern: a daily check that escape routes are clear, a weekly fire alarm test, a monthly emergency lighting test and an annual extinguisher service. Here is how that works in a small business.

Every day

• Fire exits and escape routes are clear, inside and outside. Watch for deliveries, bins and stock stacked in corridors.
• Fire doors are closed (not wedged open) and close properly on their own.
• Final exit doors open easily without a key while people are inside.
• The fire alarm panel, if you have one, shows normal operation. Note any fault in the log book.

Every week

• Test the fire alarm. Use a different manual call point each week, at the same day and time, so staff recognise it as a test. NIFRS asks businesses with monitored alarms to tell their alarm receiving centre before and after.
• Check that door releases linked to the alarm close the doors fully.
• Check extinguishers are in place, not blocked and not obviously damaged.
• Record the test: date, time, which call point, whether the alarm sounded everywhere, and the name of the person who did it.

Every month

• Emergency lighting: a short functional test of each light using the test key, then check they all come on and go off again when power returns.
• Look over extinguishers more closely: pressure gauge in the green, pin and tamper seal in place, instructions readable.
• Check the first aid kit while you're at it.

Every year

• Extinguishers serviced by a competent person.
• Fire alarm and emergency lighting serviced as the installer recommends, and emergency lighting given a full duration test.
• Review the fire risk assessment, and review it sooner after any change such as new equipment, a refit or more staff.
• Refresher fire safety training for staff, plus induction training for every new starter.

What a weekly fire alarm test log looks like

NIFRS also asks you to record every false alarm in the log book, with the cause if known and where it happened, so that repeat problems can be fixed.

Training and drills

NIFRS says adequate training generally means induction training on general fire awareness, refresher training from time to time, and extra training when the risk changes. In practice, make sure everyone knows how to raise the alarm, where the exits and assembly point are, and who checks the toilets and back rooms. A short fire drill, recorded in the log, shows the plan works.

Kitchens: an extra word

Cafés and takeaways have extra fire risks from cooking oil and extraction. Keep extraction canopies and filters clean, never leave fryers unattended, and make sure there is a suitable extinguisher or fire blanket for cooking oil fires. Your fire risk assessment should cover these.

To make the weekly test a habit, put it alongside your other Monday jobs. The Belfast Desk Kit weekly admin checklist covers fire tests, temperature logs and renewals with money, staff and reviews, on one free printable sheet.

General information for small businesses, not legal or professional advice. Rules change, so check the official sources linked above before you rely on them.