A typically asked query by property owners,building owners and those liable for handling fire safety is– can I do my own fire risk assessment?
In this article,we’re going to discuss why it is conceivable– but may not actually be the proper conclusion to make. Who are we? Pyro Fire
The short answer is ‘Without a doubt – you can carry out your own fire risk assessment’,there is virtually nothing stopping you from Googling an online 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 expertise you have. If in doubt get in touch Fire Risk Assessment
You could possibly even do your own analysis,perhaps even go to a fire safety course. This may have been acceptable prior to 2005,as the fire service used to check out your property and carry out an audit to deliver you with a fire certificate. However,since then,the requirements and law for fire safety became much more strict and things changed substantially.
The law for fire safety – The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005,which was actually introduced in 2006– was created to change fire safety in England & Wales,to bring in 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 clear:
A suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment can only be carried out by a competent man or woman.
‘Competent’ can be defined as someone with adequate training,credentials,experience and attitude. A competent person must have received specific training in relation to fire risk evaluations,they must have some form of certification to back that up,experience in assessing your type of property,and the correct approach to ensure they’re able to communicate the findings effectively. All of the above can be achieved for your fire risk assessment by using outside inspectors.
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