Could you complete your own fire risk assessment?

A frequently asked question by landlords, building owners and those responsible for dealing with fire safety is– can I do my own fire risk analysis?

In this article, we’re going to discuss why it is possible– but may not normally be the appropriate choice to make. Who are we?  Fire Risk Assessment

The short answer is ‘Of course – you can conduct your own fire risk evaluation’, there is nothing stopping you from Googling an online design template for a fire risk analysis and filling out the areas to describe your structure, what you do, and any risks you can identify from the limited knowledge you have. If in doubt get in touch  Pyro Fire

You could even do your own research, perhaps even go to a fire safety course. This may have been acceptable prior to 2005, as the fire service used to check out your building and carry out an audit to deliver you with a fire certificate. Having said that, since then, the requirements and law for fire safety became much more rigorous and things changed considerably.

The law for fire safety – The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which was really introduced in 2006– was developed to remodel fire safety in England & Wales, to bring in the need for a suitable and sufficient fire risk analysis to be carried out for all non-domestic premises.

The words ‘suitable and sufficient’ when used in law, were certainly brought under scrutiny, but the meaning has since been made very clear:
A suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment can only be carried out by a competent man or woman.

‘Competent’ can be defined as somebody with adequate training, qualifications, experience and attitude. A competent person must have obtained specific training in relation to fire risk evaluations, 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 results effectively. All of the above can be achieved for your fire risk analysis by using external assessors.

Find out More about our Fire risk assessments  Pyro Fire