I am on a residential management committee for a block of 9 flats ,3 at ground ,3 at 1st and 3 at 2 floor.We have 2 entrances to the block and all flats have their own fire doors to the communal areas ie stairs.We have smoke alarms on the 3 levels albeit not connected together.Will we require independent  fire risk assessment or can we self assess..? If so what documents are required. 

In England and Wales the common areas of residential blocks of flats are subject to The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and require to implement articles 8 to 22 which includes conducting a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA). The guidance is Fire safety risk assessment: sleeping accommodation and providing you consider yourselves competent then the management committee can implement it.

Other links that may prove useful would be http://www.firesafe.org.uk/fire-risk-assessment/ and http://www.firesafe.org.uk/regulatory-reform-fire-safety-order-2005/ and http://www.firesafe.org.uk/

If your flats are purpose built the current guidance is actually the LGA Guide Fire safety in purpose-built flats:

http://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/fire-safety-purpose-built-04b.pdf

The sleeping risk guide remains relevant for hotels, boarding houses, etc.

First thing you can do is dispense with the communal domestic single station smoke alarms which serve no real purpose and are non compliant anyway.

Point taken AB its dementia catching up with me, I will write out a thousand times "I must not forget CT literary masterpiece".

How many times a year should a Fire Assessment be carried out? We currently pay for two visits per year which cover a Smoke Detector Test, Emergency Lights Test, Service of 4-Zone Fire Alarm System and a Service to Emergency Lighting.

Are we paying too much????

The fire alarm and emergency lighting maintenance is not a fire risk assessment it is a requirement of The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 article 17. FRA is a requirement of article 9 and the frequency is of debate, the order simple says "Any such assessment must be reviewed by the responsible person regularly" this statement is discussed regularly the latest I know of you will find at http://www.crisis-response.com/forum/index.php?topic=7280.0 but many consider once a year is considered regularly.   

To understand the frequency of testing/servicing of  fire alarms and emergency lighting check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/fire-alarms/ and http://www.firesafe.org.uk/emergency-lighting/. 

I live in a garden flat with a separate entrance to the rest of house. I own my property, the others are rented. The owners are trying to make me contribute to fire doors/extinguishers all fire safety regs for landlords. Do I have to contibute ?  

 

Unless your lease says you have to I wouldn't have thought so. Do you pay service charge (as there may be external common parts and block insurance as well as the internal common parts you don't use)- it may be the case that the wording is vague enough to make you have to pay. You would need to consult a property law specialist.

I wouldn't contribute to extinguishers even if living off the common areas as Government fire safety guidance has said for 10 years (& still does) they are not required and should be removed!