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#1 Posted : 14 November 2006 11:58:00(UTC)
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Posted By Mart Am i correct in saying that any existing property with a fire certificate (i.e Hotel) is no longer valid? Does the responsible person now have to conduct the Fire Risk assessment? If so could someone send me a format of something I could work with. Many Thanks Mart
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#2 Posted : 14 November 2006 12:15:00(UTC)
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Posted By J Knight Hi Mart, First assumption correct; Fire Certificates disappeared in a puff of smoke last month. As for the RA; the responsible person has a duty to ensure that a sufficient RA is conducted. Depending on your premises you might wish to do this yourself, but if its a complex environment ad you aren't familiar with the guidance you might consider getting some help. There's lots of debate about what a competent person for FRAs is; some people go so far as to say that only people who have been fire officers or are fire engineers should do them, others (including me) take a less stringent view. The Department for Communities and Local Government has produced free guidance on conducting FRAs for 12 or so different types of workplace; you can download these free from http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1162101 John
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#3 Posted : 14 November 2006 13:26:00(UTC)
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Posted By James Lumsden Mart Email me at jiml@eleat.co.uk I may have something you can work with Regards Jim
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#4 Posted : 14 November 2006 15:59:00(UTC)
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Posted By Charley Farley-Trelawney Could someone offer me a link where I may inspect the list of premises/industries that still require a fire certificate? CFT
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#5 Posted : 14 November 2006 16:06:00(UTC)
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Posted By J Knight Hi Charley, I thought there weren't any any more, as far as I know the RR(FS)O has done away with them. Or am I under a misapprehension? John
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#6 Posted : 14 November 2006 16:43:00(UTC)
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Posted By Charley Farley-Trelawney John Thanks for that, I am of the opinion that certification is still relevant in certain circumstances; munitions production, chemical, or highly inflammable materials are stored/used etc, I may be quite incorrect but have a feeling that certification will still take place in the aforementioned or similar premises. Confirmation of a definitive list would be much appreciated if possible. CFT
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#7 Posted : 14 November 2006 18:27:00(UTC)
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Posted By Ken Taylor The defunct fire certificate could, however, be of some help in carrying out the risk assessment as its requirements must have been devised to address the perceived risks at the time.
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#8 Posted : 14 November 2006 19:23:00(UTC)
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Posted By shaun mckeever The whole of the Fire Precautions Act 1971 has been repealed and the whole of the The Fire Certificate (Special Premises) Regulations 1976 has been revoked so I don't believe there is any legislation now in place that still requires fire certification. With respect to undertaking fire risk assessments, you have to realise that this is about life safety, not just yours or your employees but includes all 'relevant' persons. It includes anyone in the immediate vicinity who may be affected by a fire in your premises. The immediate vicinity may be a couple of feet or may be a couple of hundred meters depending on the risk e.g. acetylene cylinders. You must also consider firefighters. Tick box audit type assessments are not good except for the smallest of premises. It's no good ticking the box that refers to fire doors just because the door has a blue and white label on it saying 'fire door'. Too often people are ticking these boxes and don't even know what they are looking for in a fire door. I'm not against people undertaking their own fire risk assessments, I just want them to realise precisely what it is they are undertaking.
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#9 Posted : 14 November 2006 21:10:00(UTC)
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Posted By Les Mart, Try these links for more info: http://www.london-fire.g...work/risk_assessment.asp http://www.fpa-fireriska....com/checklist_start.asp http://www.bfpsa.org.uk/pdfs/RRO_Summary.pdf http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1162101 Some of these websites have sample risk assessments others have more in depth info. The guidance booklets on www.communities. gov.uk should enable you to carry out a risk assessment. Also for properties/buildings in England refer to Approved document B free to download at http://www.planningporta...ls/en/4000000000084.html In Scotland the following apply:Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 http://www.sbsa.gov.uk/c...ent_standards/tbooks.htm Hope this helps Les
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#10 Posted : 15 November 2006 08:41:00(UTC)
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Posted By Mart Thanks to everyone who responded. It is much appreciated. Mart
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#11 Posted : 15 November 2006 09:26:00(UTC)
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Posted By J Knight Shaun, I agree wholeheartedly with your post. I think there are some quite specialised skills needed to carry out FRAs in complex buildings; I feel that these skills can be gained in ways other than fire officer training. We use two people who have been, in effect, facilities and maintenance managers, and they both have a very good knowledge of how buildings are put together. We have also been careful to use detailed guidance; I reckon that people using the new DCLG guidance well would be OK, provided they have knowledge of either fire engineering or general building construction and management, and are also prepared and able to call in expert advice at need. For example; our guys are good at noting the problems, but the for the technical side of solutions (e.g. exactly how we treat an 18C door to improve its fire resistance) we call in the experts, John
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