SSAIB, the UK and Ireland certification body for the electronic security, manned guarding and alarm sectors has unveiled a new fire scheme.
SSAIB’s BAFE SP205 UKAS-accredited certification scheme will enable anyone who’s required by law to carry out a fire risk assessment of a premises, and who employs a specialist third party company to provide this, to show that they’ve taken the necessary reasonable steps to comply with their legal obligations and requirements under fire safety law.
Besides those responsible for carrying out such an assessment, the inspectorate’s new independent third party certification service is also aimed at fire risk assessment providers, who’ll be able to use their accreditation to attract end user customers, according to the SSAIB. It says that its certification provides a benchmark recognition of a company’s capability in providing high quality fire risk assessments – by showing that they have the required technical and quality management competency, and that their assessors possess the relevant proficiency and knowledge.
Interest in fire risk assessment is growing steadily, the inspectorate says; reasons include the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in England and Wales and equivalent law in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The ‘responsible person’ or ‘duty holder’ for a building must ensure a fire risk assessment is completed. To ensure the competence and reliability of a company commissioned to carry out fire risk assessment, British Approvals for Fire Equipment (BAFE) recently introduced its Life Safety Fire Risk Assessment SP205 Scheme.
SSAIB adds that it’s the first third party certification provider to introduce an SP205 scheme for firms or people offering fire risk assessment. The inspectors suggest that achieving it will offer a marketing tool by enabling them to display the SSAIB/UKAS certification mark (including the ‘crown and tick’ logo). SSAIB Chief Executive Geoff Tate, pictured, says: “We’ve invested time and resources in achieving this UKAS accreditated approval, so that end users with responsibilities under the law can rest assured that risk assessment service providers holding SSAIB certification approval will provide fire risk assessments that fully comply with the law.”
