A frequently asked question by landlords, building owners and those responsible for handling fire safety is– can I do my own fire risk assessment?
In this post, we’re going to discuss why it is conceivable– but may not always be the appropriate decision to make. Who are we? Find Out More
The short answer is ‘Yes – you can conduct your own fire risk assessment’, there is absolutely nothing stopping you from Googling an online template for a fire risk assessment and filling out the areas to describe your property, what you do, and any risks you can identify from the limited expertise you have. If in doubt get in touch Pyro Fire
You might even do your own research, 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. However, since then, the criteria and law for fire safety became much more strict and things changed drastically.
The law for fire safety – The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which was effectively introduced in 2006– was designed to remodel fire safety in England & Wales, to introduce the requirement 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 interpretation has since been made very obvious:
A suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment can only be carried out by a competent expert.
‘Competent’ can be defined as somebody with adequate training, qualifications, experience and attitude. A competent person must have obtained specific training in relation to fire risk analyses, they must have some form of certification to back that up, experience in assessing your type of building, and the correct approach to ensure they’re able to communicate the results effectively. All of the above can be achieved for your fire risk analysis by using outside inspectors.
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