Regulations across the UK are in the midst of radical overhaul. Colin Todd outlines the background and explains the newly critical role of the risk assessment.

Fire safety legislation in Great Britain was subject to major and radical change on 1 October 2006.  This was brought about by the introduction of a new legislative regime that repealed or revoked all existing fire safety legislation (other than that applying to underground railway stations) and amended all other legislation that previously made requirements in respect of fire precautions in existing buildings (eg care homes, places of entertainment, etc).  The primary purpose of this change was to simplify and rationalise fire safety legislation applicable to buildings after their construction.  

Previously, numerous different pieces of legislation made requirements in respect of fire precautions in various different premises.  Now, virtually all premises (other than single family private dwellings) in England and Wales fall within the scope of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the 'Fire Safety Order').  In Scotland, very similar requirements are imposed by a single legislative regime, which also came into force in 2006, in the form of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 in conjunction with the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006.  Legislation equivalent to that in Scotland will come into force in Northern Ireland during 2009.

The change in legislation was much more fundamental than simply rationalisation of many disparate legislative instruments.  The legislation constitutes a major cultural shift from a regime in which the enforcing authority (for most premises, the fire and rescue authority) effectively acted as free consultants to the business community.  Most common places of work were required to hold a fire certificate, which the fire and rescue authority issued only after they were satisfied with the fire precautions. Where fire precautions were inadequate, the fire and rescue authority issued a notice specifying in great detail the measures required as a pre-requisite of certification.  This approach almost led to a form of subliminal assumption that responsibility for fire precautions in buildings rested with the enforcing authority rather than the occupiers.

All change

All of this changed in 2006.  The fundamental underpinning for the appropriate 'package' of fire precautions in any non-domestic building now comprises a fire risk assessment by, in England and Wales, the 'Responsible Person' (RP) or, in Scotland, the relevant 'Duty Holder'.  In the case of a workplace, the RP is the employer (normally a body corporate).  However, the fire safety requirements, including the requirements to carry out a fire risk assessment, imposed on the RP are also imposed on any other person who has control of the premises, albeit only to the extent of their control.  Such persons having control of premises can comprise several, quite diverse parties such as landlords and managing agents (particularly in the case of premises in multiple occupation) and possibly even contractors with responsibility for maintenance of fire protection equipment.  (In Scotland, the situation is very similar, but the slightly confusing term 'Responsible Person' is not used.)

The objective of the fire risk assessment is to determine the appropriate 'general fire precautions' (in Scotland, 'fire safety measures') required for compliance with legislation, which makes broad-brush requirements in respect of fire precautions such as means of escape, emergency lighting, fire alarm systems and fire extinguishers.  Requirements are also imposed in respect of managerial matters, including staff training, fire drills, fire procedures, nomination of competent persons (to advise on fire precautions, assist with evacuation and use fire-fighting equipment) and maintenance of fire protection equipment.  These matters, as well as the physical fire precautions, must be addressed in the fire risk assessment.  

Enforcers, not consultants

As a result of the changes in legislation, the role of the fire and rescue authority in enforcement of fire legislation has fundamentally changed.  No longer is it the role of the enforcing authority to act as 'unpaid consultants'; their role now is simply to 'police' the legislation in much the same way as health and safety legislation is enforced.  Fire and rescue authorities have a duty to give a certain amount of advice, and Government expect that the lowest level of enforcement should be to educate and inform end users.  However, conceptually, an enforcing authority cannot engage in detailed advice on fire precautions and then, wearing a different hat, enforce requirements for these fire precautions.  Accordingly, advice given by fire and rescue authorities will be limited and general in nature, possibly in many cases referring organisations to appropriate published guidance or suggesting that a consultant be engaged.  

Guidance on the legislation and the requirements for fire risk assessments is published by central Government.  In England and Wales, the guidance takes the form of a number of sector-specific guides produced by Communities and Local Government (CLG), available as hard copy and on the internet.  In Scotland, various sector-specific guides are produced by Scottish Government, but are only available on the internet.  

The intention of Government is that, particularly in the case of small and medium-sized enterprises, organisations should be able to carry out their own fire risk assessments; this is consistent with the Government intension to reduce burdens on business.  However, it is acknowledged that, for larger and more complex premises, specialist assistance is likely to be required.  Such specialist assistance may comprise in-house advisors, but is commonly obtained from external consultants.

In addition to Government guidance on fire risk assessment, the British Standards Institution (BSI) publishes more detailed guidance on the subject.  This takes the form of a publicly available specification (PAS 79:2007 Fire risk assessment – guidance and a recommended methodology).  PAS 79 was prepared by BSI in association with fire safety consultants C.S. Todd & Associates Ltd., with the support and encouragement for the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE).  The guidance was subject to scrutiny and comment by a number of end users, trade associations, consultants and the Chief Fire Officers’ Association (CFOA).   As well as providing detailed guidance on the approach to fire risk assessment, PAS 79 provides sample documentation for documenting an assessment.  CFOA regards the format of this document as suitable for compliance with legislation, while recognising that many other formats would be acceptable, too.  More generally, the view of CFOA is that guidance in PAS 79 is more detailed in respect of the fire risk assessment process than that published by the CLG, but that PAS 79 does not conflict with CLG guidance.  Equally, Government guidance documents provide more detailed technical information on the fire safety measures required by legislation.

Competency matched with complexity

There remains much contention regarding exactly who is competent to carry out a fire risk assessment.  In this connection, the legislation does not specifically require that fire risk assessments are carried out by a competent person.  This is not an oversight; it was considered by Government that to require fire risk assessments to be carried out by a competent person would create a 'consultants’ charter' whereby most organisations would need to engage the services of outside specialists.

Equally, it is not so much that it is acceptable for fire risk assessments to be carried out by incompetent persons, but that the level of competence required will vary with the complexity of the premises.  In the case of a small shop with only a few employees, it is appropriate for the fire risk assessment to be carried out by the owner; indeed, this is arguably preferable to the use of consultants, as the owner will then better understand, buy into and maintain the necessary fire precautions.

However, many organisations do use the services of consultants to carry out their risk assessments, either because of a lack of in-house expertise or because of the number of premises in their organisation.  Unfortunately, there are no legally enforceable requirements on the competence of consultants who carry out such assessments.  It is a matter of concern to some enforcing authorities that, sometimes, those with insufficient education, training and experience sell their services to companies who need to use third parties to carry out fire risk assessments.

Nevertheless, the fire safety profession is making substantial progress in self-regulation.  A number of bodies publish registers of persons who they deem to be competent to carry out fire risk assessments.  These include the Institution of Fire Engineers, which was the first professional body to develop a registration process as a service to the public.  

Setting the criteria

In addition, within the Fire Industry Association there is a Fire Risk Assessment Council, which is responsible for setting criteria for member companies of the trade association who offer fire risk assessments.  Member companies are required to sign up to a code of practice, and, in the longer term, requirements will be set for quality assurance and competence of staff.

The new legislation has transferred responsibility for fire safety measures in buildings from enforcing authorities to employers, and/or to occupiers and owners of buildings. There is a moral elegance in this change, since it places responsibility for management of fire risk on those who create the risk.  Despite these steps, for some time yet to come, there will remain a steep learning curve for all those engaged in operating buildings, as well as those who enforce the legislation.


Colin Todd is Chairman of the Fire Industry Association Fire Risk Assessment Council.

www.fia.uk.com