FM 200 Auto suppression system in computer room.Theres no sprcific requirement it just makesc sense to protect your servers. Competency - ask to see examples of their work - qualifications do not always mean competence SBH

Hi Claire, Sorry just re-read your second question and realised I didn't answer properly (it is Friday). If your after a 'nuts and bolts', 'belt and braces' answer you may consider approaching ARUPs or Buro Happold who have extensive experince in fire engineering. In terms of quals you may also consider a person with a high level membership with the IFE. Hope this helps

1) No - It's not a legal requirement but maybe required by those picky insurance folk 2) Of course, qualifications are important, but experince should be relevant and current. I know lots of IFE qualified people who haven't looked at a premises (FS wise) for 20 years or so! Ask to speak to the assessor and quiz him over the phone with questions (relevant to what you are asking him/her to do) that you know the answers to.This can be prepared by use of Google or asking for advice here. If the premises is a special risk such as Hospital/care home or specialist plant such as petrochemical etc, they should have relevant experience in that field

Messy, IFE requires evidence of CDP in order to maintain membership and if it were a case that any particular member had not assessed a building in x number of years they should be more than capable of doing so. Where CPD is not demonstrated then membership is withdrawn.

Messy, I would have to disagree. Provided we are talking about members who maintain CPD then having passed Grad and Membership papers, these individuals could carry out such an assessment with no difficulty.

Chris For the record I am not saying that the register is a measure of competency.

No doubt you are Chris, and from what I have read in your posts I am sure that you know exactly what you are talking about. But if the poo hit the extractor, and a place which you FRA'd had a fire and the insurers wanted a head on a plate, would a good barrister not find you an easy target? External accreditation is not just for the protection of clients - it is a shield for you too. I remember being told by a solicitor when I worked for an organisation years ago(and I had no formal H&S qualifications but loads of practical experience), doing solely H&S, that the first questions that he would ask me is what are my qualifications, what professional organisations do I belong to. If the answers are both in the negative, his response would be 'then why are we listening to you? This is a court of law, not amateur hour'. It is used to undermine credibility. Difficult to build it back up by saying that you have done loads of FRAs, the seed of doubt has already been sown. Again, I do not doubt that you know your onions. But if a judge said that the court would not allow access to your previous FRAs, what would you have in your corner?

Entry to the register is not required by law which was the point I was trying to make. I have seen many reports by those on the register that I would drive an appliance through. When pointed out to various clients, they recognise the gaps therein and the typical response is not to use the same consultancy there after.