Fire Risk Assessment

Some questions about Fire Risk Assessment (FRA):

•  What are the benefits?
•  What you need to know.
•  Guidance on doing it yourself.
•  What will it cost?
• Who are the regulators?

What are the benefits

Whether doing it yourself or Instructing a competent person, carrying out an FRA is a major step towards ensuring compliance with the law and the development of a comprehensive fire strategy.

For many premises, all it may mean is the introduction of some routine checks which shouldn’t have any notable impact on valuable time, but it should reduce the likelihood and consequence of fire.

It may highlight elements within your premises where further steps are required, or give you the peace of mind in knowing you have taken all reasonable steps to protect you, your staff and any visitors.

• You should share the assessment with staff for training, feedback and to assure them that you take their safety seriously.
• You may also wish to demonstrate to customers and visitors, having reached a suitable level of fire safety.

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What you need to know!

• Fire risk assessments are not required for single private dwellings, but almost everything else.
• A fire risk assessment is a legal requirement on the responsible person.
• You may be deemed responsible for a building, as an employer, owner or occupier of premises.
• You must ensure a suitably competent person completes your fire risk assessment, to identify fire risks and hazards in your premises, and you must take appropriate action.
• If you employ 5 or more people, or your premises are licensed, you must document your assessment.
• We recommend documenting all assessments for reference and proof of meeting legal requirements.
• If using an independent assessor we advise using one who has been assessed for competency and that you carefully check their qualifications.
• Fire risk assessments are not an annual requirement, but annual review is recommended, and checks should follow any significant changes that might have an impact on fire safety.

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You will find links to a series of government guidance on the left.

These free to download guidelines provide useful information for anyone interested in carrying out their own fire risk assessment.

You will also need an understanding of the appropriate volume of Approved Document B (ADB) and what are the options and alternatives when defects are found.

Guidance on doing it yourself

As indicated in the documents linked below, the main requirement for anyone wishing to carry out their own fire risk assessment is a suitable level of competency. Knowledge about passive and active fire safety systems is important; the degree of knowledge and experience depends on the size and complexity of the premises.

These documents don’t cover all property types, and don’t cover everything, particularly when looking at complex buildings, but they are a good place to start.

In our opinion a competent fire risk assessor should be able to draw on knowledge of:

• The prescriptive approved documents;
• Alternative risk based British Standards;
• Fire detection and alarm systems;
• Methods of passive fire protection including fire door  and compartmentation requirements;
• Methods of manual and active fire protection; and
• The need to maintain an awareness of continued  improvement to guidance and best practices.

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What will it cost?

Appointing a responsible fire engineer to carry out your assessment should in our opinion be a long term commitment to fire safety, providing future cost savings, peace of mind and reassurance that your premises are compliant with appropriate regulations.

It should be remembered that failing to carry out a fire risk assessment, or using an inexperienced assessor may be more expensive in the end.

Businesses often don’t recover after a fire, and effective fire prevention starts by understanding the risks.

We will always do our best to assist, and do offer direct connection to our technical support for all clients.

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Who are the regulators?

The Enforcing Authority is normally defined as the Fire & Rescue Service for the area where premises are situated.

The powers of enforcement officers include:

• Enter and inspect any premises and anything in them;
• Require the provision of documentation and records;
• Inspect and copy any documents or records;
• Carry out inspections, measurements and tests;
• Sample materials to ascertain fire resistance or flammability;
• Dismantle any dangerous elements for testing.

Fire Risk Engineers Ltd believe TPI can provide valuable support for the industry particularly to monitor competence of site works which often consist of an experienced supervisor responsible for several less experienced personnel.

FRE approach all of our fire engineering duties in what we believe is a professional manner.

FRE personnel responsible for fire engineering decision making are often qualified and experienced to a higher degree than industry standard involving continuous improvement and appropriate peer review.

There are a number of companies who have developed voluntary Third Party Inspection (TPI) schemes.

Our test for the legitimacy of such schemes is that they are administered by a UKAS accredited company and that certification of participating companies offers assurance that the work carried out on an individual site would be checked by a competent third party or at least a reasonable sample quota is clearly defined.

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