The short answer
A fire risk assessment for an industrial or storage building examines three things together: the fire potential in the building — what is stored, in what quantity and in what manner; the characteristics of the building — compartment size, storage height, division into fire areas and escape routes; and the protection in place — detection, suppression, smoke control and manual means. The output is a graded risk and an account of the gaps, not a pass or a fail.
Who this applies to
Industrial and storage buildings, including logistics warehouses, production plants, laboratories and facilities storing flammable materials. A building that has changed use or increased its storage also warrants a fresh look.
What it means in practice
- Fire load is calculated from the materials actually present and the compartment area — not estimated from the type of building.
- How things are stored changes the picture as much as how much there is: height, density, racking and packaging all affect fire development.
- Division into fire areas and escape routes are checked against the building as it stands today, including changes that were never documented.
- Protection is judged not merely on being present but on being suited to the risk identified.
- The result is an order of priority for remediation, which can be turned into a work plan and a budget.
What is usually needed
- The compartment or building area, and a current drawing.
- A list of the materials stored and their quantities.
- Storage height and how material is actually stored.
- Which fire safety systems are installed and the status of their testing.
- Any changes made to the building since the last drawing.
Common mistakes
- Skipping the fire load calculation and estimating "by building type". Two warehouses of the same size can be an order of magnitude apart.
- Treating storage as a quantity alone, without height and without arrangement.
- Assessing the building from an old drawing rather than from what is there.
- Marking a system as "present" without checking that it suits the risk and is in date.
- Ending at a grade with no order of priority — a grade without a plan is not a deliverable.
What this article does not settle
This article describes what an assessment covers; it is not an assessment. Grading the risk for a particular building requires a site visit and examination of the actual data.
The tool that continues from here
The Hoshen service
About this serviceWhat this rests on
- Fire Risk Assessment Procedure for Industrial and Storage BuildingsIsrael Fire and Rescue Authority — Fire Protection Division · נוהל אגף הגנה מאש
- Definition of fire load and fire load densityPhysical definition — dimensional analysis · E = Σ(mᵢ × Hᵢ) ; q = E / A
Read against its sources on 22 August 2026
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