A quality fire risk assessment is a vital obligation in fire safety legislation for all non-domestic/commercial buildings nationwide.
A “suitable and sufficient” Fire Risk Assessment is the core foundation of any building’s fire safety policy. Its purpose is to identify any hazards and provide important information for the person responsible for fire safety to carry out, mitigating any risk as best as possible.
As the person or team appointed responsible for fire safety in your building (Responsible Person/Duty Holder), you can perform this assessment yourself. However, if you are not 100% confident in your ability to fulfil this important task then BAFE strongly recommends using an appropriately Third Party Certificated provider.
BAFE manage and maintain a Scheme called BAFE SP205 which covers Life Safety Fire Risk Assessment. This Scheme exists to deliver quality, independent evidence that providers (from sole traders through to larger organizations with appointed fire risk assessors) are competent to deliver quality fire risk assessment services.
The BAFE SP205 Scheme includes important criteria to ensure the providers delivering it operate an effective management system to cover all aspects of this service. This includes establishing the competence of fire risk assessors when first appointed and ensuring that their competence is reviewed in a period not exceeding 36 months.
To successfully gain Third Party Certification to this Scheme, fire risk assessors must provide robust evidence that they can deliver this service competently. This will include:
It is a requirement of the Scheme that the completed fire risk assessment is presented in a format that is clear and readily understandable to anyone who reads it. It should record every significant detail that was found, an assessment of the nature and severity of risk, and the actions recommended for removing or mitigating that risk.
All fire risk assessments performed under the BAFE SP205 Scheme are checked and signed off by a designated Validator within the Third Party Certificated organization. This person must meet the strong competency requirements for Validators and be able to demonstrate, through records, that the validation process is carried out objectively and is a separate activity to the fire risk assessment. This process allows for a thorough check of the work undertaken before it is provided to the end user/client.