There are a total of 8.56 million pupils in England alone in January 2016 (source). This statistic rose by 121,000 pupils across all school types since January 2015 and highlights the necessity for quality fire precautions and provisions in the event of fire.

The growing UK population cannot afford to risk having insufficient fire safety within its school system.

BAFE has contributed to the Building Bulletin (BB) 100 – Fire Safety Design for Schools consultation to highlight three important issues:

1. There is no reference to competence of contractors or specialists who design, install or maintain fire products and systems. Without competent installation and ongoing maintenance the products will not function as required.

2. There is insufficient reference to competent fire risk assessment in such a critical environment.

3. There is insufficient reference throughout to ongoing maintenance of products and systems.

BAFE believes that for all non-domestic premises third party certified contractors should be used to ensure competent fire protection services. For school buildings however this is especially the case to help protect young people all across the UK from fire.