Learning outcomes
By the end of this module you will be able to:
| Code | Bloom level | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| LO1 | Remember | State the three parts of the Operating Guidance and the further documents in the suite, and say what each is for and who it is aimed at. |
| LO2 | Understand | Explain what Part 1 covers, the principles it sets out, and why it is read before the technical detail. |
| LO3 | Apply | Navigate Part 2 to find a hazard’s description, vulnerable group, national average table and relevant matters, and read a national average table correctly. |
| LO4 | Understand | Explain the status of the case studies and use one as an optional second reference alongside the mandatory national average. |
| LO5 | Understand | Explain why Part 3 exists, what it covers, and how it is used together with Parts 1 and 2. |
Video lesson · 10 minutes · Covers LO1
Why a new suite
The guidance was redrafted because the system itself changed: twenty-nine hazards became twenty-one, the banding moved to three bands, baseline indicators were introduced, and the scoring approach was made more intuitive. The Operating Guidance was rewritten in three parts, and the documents around it, for landlords and agents, for tenants, and for enforcement, were redrafted alongside it.
The three parts
| Part | Title | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Part 1 | An Introductory Guide | The principles of the HHSRS, the assessment process, and scoring and banding. |
| Part 2 | A Technical Guide for Assessors | The 21 hazard chapters, the national average scores, the baseline indicators, and two appendices. |
| Part 3 | A Supplementary Guide to the Hazard of Fire and Explosions | Additional technical guidance for that one hazard, including complex and multi-occupied buildings. |
The three parts are intended to be read together.
Which one to reach for
Part 1 is for everyone, and you read it first. It is written to be accessible to anyone learning or revisiting the HHSRS, not only to specialists. It gives you the principles, walks the assessment process from start to finish, and explains how scores become bands.
Part 2 is the one you keep open while you score. It is the technical reference for officers assessing hazards, and a full scored assessment should only be carried out by someone trained in the HHSRS assessment process.
Part 3 is opened when the hazard is fire and explosions. It is unusual in being a whole part devoted to a single hazard. It is not a standalone fire risk assessment document: it is read with Parts 1 and 2, and used alongside Part 2’s Appendix 2 on the grade and category of fire detection.
The further documents in the suite
- Landlord and Agent Guidance: plain-language guidance for landlords and agents.
- Tenant Guidance: new, introduced for the first time, giving tenants a plain-language guide to the system.
- Enforcement guidance: redrafted alongside the Operating Guidance.
These sit around the Operating Guidance rather than inside it. They are the documents to point a landlord or tenant towards; they are not the documents you score from.
The point of this lesson
Knowing the suite is not academic. In the middle of an assessment you need to know, without hunting, which document answers the question in front of you: the method (Part 1), the hazard detail and the national average (Part 2), the fire technical depth (Part 3), or the plain-language explanation for the occupier (the Tenant Guidance).