Following the imminent introduction of the Statutory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 on the 1st October, we have recently come across a number of instances where bogus contractors have been visiting premises under the guise of being the ‘Fire Alarm Maintenance Engineers’, or existing contractors have advised that ‘extensive’ additional fire precautions are required.

They have often advised that it is essential for a Risk Assessment to be carried out under the new regulations before the 1st October and that ‘on inspection’ they have found that the Fire Alarm and Emergency Lighting requires extensive upgrading and in some cases additional building works in order for the premises to comply with these new regulations.

We would emphasise that whilst it is important that checks are made to ensure the Fire Precautions are up to date, in many cases they will already be in order if a Risk Assessment has been carried out under the existing legislation i.e. the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1999 and particularly if the building has a Fire Certificate under the Fire Precautions Act 1971 that reflects the current building layout and its precautions.

The new regulations are designed to simplify the law and not to force companies to spend a lot of unnecessary additional monies on fire precautions.

In due course, it will be necessary to carry out a review of the risks using the new format for Risk Assessments but this may not conclude anything other than that the existing precautions are satisfactory.

If you have any doubt as to the necessity to upgrade your fire precautions, please contact us for advice before committing to additional expenditure.

Story By: Malcolm Moffat

Email Link: info@firecontrol.co.uk

Date : 21-09-2006