A commonly asked query by landlords, building owners and those accountable for managing fire safety is– can I do my own fire risk analysis?
In this blog post, we’re going to discuss why it is conceivable– but may not necessarily be the correct conclusion to make. Who are we? Fire Risk Assessment
The short answer is ‘Without a doubt – you can perform your own fire risk analysis’, there is nothing at all stopping you from Googling an online design template for a fire risk assessment and filling out the fields to describe your property, what you do, and any risks you can identify from the limited understanding you have. If in doubt get in touch Find Out More
You could even do your own analysis, perhaps even enroll in a fire safety program. This may have been satisfactory prior to 2005, as the fire service used to check out your building and carry out an audit to provide you with a fire certificate. But, since then, the demands and law for fire safety became much more rigorous and things changed drastically.
The law for fire safety – The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which was actually introduced in 2006– was created to remodel fire safety in England & Wales, to bring in the need for a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment to be carried out for all non-domestic premises.
The words ‘suitable and sufficient’ when used in law, were undoubtedly brought under scrutiny, but the meaning has since been made very clear:
A suitable and sufficient fire risk analysis can only be carried out by a competent expert.
‘Competent’ can be defined as somebody with enough training, certifications, experience and attitude. A competent person needs to have received specific training in relation to fire risk evaluations, they must have some form of qualification to back that up, experience in assessing your type of property, and the proper attitude to ensure they’re able to communicate the findings effectively. All of the above can be achieved for your fire risk analysis by using outside assessors.
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