AI by NicheJob 1 of 7ChatGPTGemini
Reply to a client who has been offered a cheaper fire risk assessment, setting out what your own service includes and what to ask any assessor
Assessors describe clients being offered cheaper fire risk assessments without any site attendance: one fire safety company posted that “some of our clients are being offered cheaper fire risk assessments by supposedly accredited fire risk assessors without the need for site attendance”, and another assessor says a responsible person told him other companies quoted only wanted photos. A calm reply that says plainly what your service includes, what you will need from the client, and the questions the industry’s own guidance suggests asking any assessor lets the client compare like with like without you naming or criticising anyone. AI sets out your own statements in a polite reply of about 200 words. It never says that any other method is unlawful, unsuitable or unethical, never names a competitor, never says what the law or a standard requires, and never claims a certificate or insurance you have not typed in.
Time: About 30 minutes the first time, 10 minutes per reply after thatTool cost: you can start with a free AI tool
Steps
- Write, in your own words and outside the AI tool, what your service includes: whether you attend the premises and which areas you go into, what the report contains in outline, what you need from the responsible person (access to all areas, keys, previous assessments), any scheme certificate, registration or insurance you really hold, and what is extra. Do not describe any other assessor’s method. Leave hours and prices out of this reply: if the client asks how the price is made up, use the cost break-down job for this niche instead.
- Copy these questions from the Fire Sector Federation guide into the same note, as the guide lists them: scope of work agreed in writing; access to all areas and all relevant information; alternative quotes covering the same scope; proof of professional indemnity and public liability insurance; impartiality and a complaints procedure; how competence is shown (professional body registration, or certification by a UKAS-accredited certification body).
- Paste your own description and the questions into the prompt, with the blanks [CLIENT] and [PREMISES]. The AI returns a reply of about 200 words in three parts: what my service includes, what I will need from you, and questions you may wish to put to any assessor you are considering.
- Read the reply. Delete any sentence that says or hints that another approach is wrong, unlawful, unsafe or not suitable and sufficient, any sentence about what the law or a standard requires, and any claim you cannot prove. Add the client and premises by hand and send it from your own email.
- Keep a copy with the quote. Decide yourself whether to follow up, and do not name or criticise any other firm in writing, whatever the client says about them.
The exact prompt
I am a fire risk assessor in the UK. A client has told me they have been offered a cheaper assessment. Below is my own description of what my service includes and a list of questions for a client to ask any assessor. Task: write a polite, calm reply of about 200 words from me to the client, in three short parts with headings: (1) "What my service includes", using only my description, in plain English; (2) "What I will need from you", using only my description; (3) "Questions you may wish to put to any assessor", using only my list, word for word. Use only the blanks [CLIENT], [PREMISES] and [MY NAME]. Do not name, describe or criticise any other assessor or company or any method of working. Do not say or suggest that any approach is unlawful, unsafe, unethical, not suitable and sufficient or against any rule. Do not say what any law, standard, scheme or accreditation requires, do not predict any change in the rules, and do not claim any certificate, membership, insurance or experience that is not in my description. RULES FOR THIS CHAT: I will give you only my own business wording, headings, dates and figures that I have typed in. I have not included, and will not include, any client, responsible person, tenant, occupier, site contact or staff name or contact detail, any premises address, floor plan, photograph, fire alarm or fire door record or site note, any finding, risk rating, action, priority or timescale from any assessment, or any certificate or policy number. Do not ask for any, and do not invent any: use only the blanks [CLIENT], [PREMISES], [MY NAME] and the other blanks I give. Do not do arithmetic: copy every figure and date exactly as I typed it. Do not say whether anything complies with the Order, a standard or a scheme, whether any assessment is suitable and sufficient, or what any law, standard or scheme requires. Do not write, rate, rank, soften, summarise or check any finding, hazard, risk, action, priority or timescale, and do not give any fire safety or evacuation advice. Where a professional fact or decision is needed write [ASSESSOR TO COMPLETE]. Everything you write is a blank layout or a draft that I, the assessor, will read, complete and approve myself. MY DESCRIPTION OF WHAT MY SERVICE INCLUDES AND WHAT I NEED: [PASTE] THE QUESTIONS: [PASTE]
✓ Check before you send
- Every statement about your service comes from your own description and is true: nothing was added about certificates, insurance, membership, experience or what you inspect.
- The reply names no other assessor or firm and does not say or hint that any other approach is wrong, unlawful, unsafe, unethical or not suitable and sufficient.
- It does not say what the Order, a standard or a scheme requires, and it does not say accreditation is required: in England the government describes the role as not currently a regulated profession.
- The questions for the client match the Fire Sector Federation guide’s wording and are the same ones you would answer yourself.
- No client, premises or competitor detail went into the AI tool, and you added the names by hand.
UK notes extra
- England and Wales: the Order says “The responsible person must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed for the purpose of identifying the general fire precautions he needs to take” (art 9(1)). No official or standards source read for this page says whether an assessment must include a site visit; PAS 79-1 is paywalled and was not read. This job therefore never says a remote or desk-based assessment is unlawful or not suitable and sufficient. One commenter on LinkedIn describes photo-only assessments as “outright unethical”: that is their opinion, not a rule, and this job does not repeat it. legislation.gov.uk: Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 9, risk assessment (England and Wales). Staines Safety Services and Fire Solutions, LinkedIn post on cheaper assessments offered without site attendance, 12 July 2024 (a fire safety company’s post with assessors’ comments; LinkedIn may ask you to sign in). Phillip Leeder, LinkedIn post about quotes that only wanted photos, 16 March 2025 (an assessor’s post with comments; LinkedIn may ask you to sign in).
- The Fire Sector Federation’s guide (industry guidance, not law) says “Ensure that the scope of the work you want carried out is agreed in writing.”, “Ensure that you provide the assessor with access to all areas of the premises and with all relevant information”, “Obtain alternative quotes – make sure they all cover the same scope, so you can compare like with like”, and that “No matter who carries out the fire risk assessment the duty holder retains the responsibility for ensuring the adequacy of that assessment.” Fire Sector Federation: a guide to choosing a competent fire risk assessor (PDF, version 3, 1 October 2020; industry guidance, not law).
- Who may assess: GOV.UK says “You can do the fire risk assessment yourself with the help of standard fire safety risk assessment guides. If you do not have the expertise or time to do the fire risk assessment yourself you need to appoint a ‘competent person’ to help, for example a professional risk assessor.” Art 18(5) says a person “is to be regarded as competent for the purposes of this article where he has sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities to enable him properly to assist”. England: MHCLG’s 2026 consultation says “the FRA role is not currently a regulated profession”, and the government’s September 2026 Grenfell Tower Inquiry progress report says, in its section on fire risk assessors, “A government response will be published during Q4 (October to December) setting out our approach and next steps.” (Q4 here means October to December 2026.) When this page was checked on 21 October 2026, the consultation page still said “We are analysing your feedback”, so check GOV.UK for the latest. This page does not say what the response will require. GOV.UK: fire safety in the workplace, fire risk assessments. GOV.UK: fire safety in the workplace, who is responsible (says there are different rules on fire safety in Scotland and Northern Ireland). legislation.gov.uk: Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 18, competent persons (England and Wales). MHCLG: Fire risk assessors profession, consultation 26 March to 18 June 2026 (England only). GOV.UK: Grenfell Tower Inquiry government progress report, September 2026, summary update (says a government response will be published during Q4, October to December).
- Jurisdictions, labelled exactly. England and Wales: the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (arts 3, 5, 9 and 18 are used on this page; art 5(1) says: “Where the premises are a workplace, the responsible person must ensure that any duty imposed by articles 8 to 22B or by regulations made under article 24 is complied with in respect of those premises.”). The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 “extend to England and Wales but apply in England only”. Scotland: the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 sections 53 (employers) and 54 (other premises). Northern Ireland: the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, SI 2006/1254, article 25 (read for employers only). Nothing on this page applies the England and Wales Order to Scotland or Northern Ireland. legislation.gov.uk: Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 5, duties under the Order (England and Wales). legislation.gov.uk: Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, regulation 1 (extend to England and Wales but apply in England only). legislation.gov.uk: Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, section 53, employers (Scotland). legislation.gov.uk: Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, section 54, other premises (Scotland). legislation.gov.uk: Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 (SI 2006/1254), article 25 (Northern Ireland; read for employers only).
- On AI: no regulator, scheme body or standards body read for this page (BAFE, IFSM, the Fire Sector Federation, NFCC, MHCLG, BSI) has published rules on AI for fire risk assessors, and silence is not permission: whether to use AI near an assessment is for you and your certification or registration body to decide, and this page keeps it away from the assessment altogether. The Fire Industry Association’s Mythbuster 31 (11 September 2026), a trade association’s advice, says AI “cannot be relied upon as an authority for factual information, legal compliance, or code interpretation” and that “While AI is a helpful assistant for summarising long documents or drafting emails, it is unreliable as a technical reference tool.” So no job here asks AI what the Order or a standard says. Fire Industry Association: Mythbuster 31, AI and fact-checking compliance, 11 September 2026 (a trade association’s advice, not a rule).
Last reviewed Oct 2026. Free tools change. If a screen looks different, the steps still apply.Back to top ↑