A fire compartmentation survey is a systematic, boundary-level inspection of every fire-rated element in a building – walls, floors, doors, service penetrations, and the concealed voids most inspections miss. Surrey Fire & Safety carries out compartmentation surveys for commercial, residential, and industrial buildings across Surrey, London, and the South East.
Contact UsSurvey or Fire Risk Assessment – Which Do You Need?
A fire risk assessment typically reviews compartmentation by sampling – checking a representative selection of walls, floors, and voids rather than every one. That’s sufficient to identify whether a problem likely exists, but it isn’t designed to catalogue every breach in the building.
A compartmentation survey goes further: every fire-rated boundary is inspected, not a sample. If your fire risk assessment has flagged a possible compartmentation issue, or simply hasn’t covered it in enough depth to act on, a dedicated survey is the next step.
Types of Compartmentation Survey
| Type | What It Involves |
| Non-Intrusive (Visual) Survey | Inspection of visible walls, floors, ceilings, doors, and accessible service penetrations. Identifies obvious breaches, poor installations, or missing fire stopping. Suitable for routine compliance checks and newer buildings with reliable records. |
| Intrusive (Destructive) Survey | Requires limited openings in walls, floors, ceilings, or voids to inspect hidden cavities, fire stopping, and construction integrity. Used for older buildings, buildings with no prior survey history, or where a visual survey has raised concerns that need confirming. |
Most surveys start non-intrusive; an intrusive survey is only recommended where it’s genuinely needed – not as a default.
What a Compartmentation Survey Covers
Our surveyors assess every fire-rated boundary in the building, including:
- Fire-rated walls, floors, and ceilings
- Service penetrations – pipes, cables, and ducts passing through compartment lines
- Roof voids, wall cavities, and floor voids
- fire doors and frames
- Risers and service shafts at every floor level
- Fire and smoke dampers
- The building’s fire strategy or fire plan drawings, where available
Every survey ends in a written report with photographic evidence, condition ratings, and a prioritised remediation schedule – immediate action, schedule within 30 days, or advisory. Reports are formatted to meet building control, fire authority, and insurer requirements.
When Is a Compartmentation Survey Needed?
A compartmentation survey is typically commissioned following significant building works or refurbishment, as part of pre-acquisition due diligence, or where no previous survey exists. Whenever a fire risk assessment has identified passive fire protection concerns, a compartmentation survey is usually the next step.
Where deficiencies are found, we carry out remedial works – fire stopping installation, cavity barrier replacement, boundary reinstatement, and fire door remediation – documented on completion with a compliance record.
Compartmentation Surveys with Surrey Fire & Safety
- Whole-building surveys – every fire-rated boundary assessed, not just the obvious elements.
- Clear, prioritised reporting – photographic evidence and condition ratings building control, fire authority, and insurers can act on directly.
- Remedial works under one roof – where a survey identifies a breach, we carry out the fire stopping, cavity barrier, or fire door remediation needed to close it.
- 25+ years of experience across commercial, residential, and industrial buildings throughout London, Surrey, and the South East.
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Fire Compartmentation Survey – Frequently Asked Questions
What is a fire compartmentation survey?
A systematic inspection of every fire-rated boundary in a building – walls, floors, doors, service penetrations, and concealed voids – to assess whether the compartmentation strategy is intact. It identifies breaches, missing fire stopping, damaged cavity barriers, and non-compliant fire doors, and produces a prioritised remediation schedule.
How much does a fire compartmentation survey cost?
There’s no fixed price, and any site quoted one without seeing your building should be treated with caution. Cost depends on the building’s size, number of floors, age, how accessible voids and risers are, and whether an intrusive survey is needed alongside a visual one. We provide a fixed quote after an initial discussion about your building, not a generic rate card.
How long does a fire compartmentation survey take?
This depends on the building’s size and complexity rather than a fixed timescale – a single-floor commercial unit takes considerably less time than a multi-storey residential block with extensive risers and voids. We’ll give you a time estimate as part of your quote, based on the specific building.
Do I need a compartmentation survey if I’ve already had a fire risk assessment?
If the fire risk assessment only sampled compartmentation rather than inspecting every boundary, or flagged a concern it didn’t have scope to investigate fully, yes. The two serve different purposes: the FRA tells you whether a problem is likely, the survey tells you exactly where and how serious.
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