A commonly asked query by property owners, building owners and those liable for managing fire safety is– can I do my own fire risk assessment?
In this post, we’re going to reveal why it is feasible– but may not normally be the right decision to make. Who are we? Fire Risk Assessment
The short answer is ‘Yes – you can carry out your own fire risk assessment’, there is nothing stopping you from Googling an online template for a fire risk assessment and filling out the areas to define 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 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. But, since then, the demands 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 in fact introduced in 2006– was developed to change fire safety in England & Wales, to bring in the requirement for a suitable and adequate 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 definition has since been made very clear:
A suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment can only be carried out by a competent person.
‘Competent’ can be defined as someone with enough training, certifications, experience and attitude. A competent person must have acquired specific training in relation to fire risk assessments, they must have some form of qualification to back that up, experience in assessing your type of building, and the proper 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 external assessors.
Find out More about our Fire risk assessments Fire Risk Assessment