Be very careful about inviting the LFB's 'Detection Identification and Monitoring' team in to your business in these circumstances.

Firstly they are an emergency service meant to to be used for imminent risk of fire, explosion or health issues to those in the premises. You situation seems to have been going on for many hours, certainly days by the time to call the LFB. To be fair, they almost certainly will respond, but the DIM Team rarely turn out alone in their specialised vehicle. If the LFB determine this to be a hazmat incident, there will be multiple appliances and crews despatched and most likely an evacuation (or part evacuatio) established. This is course isnt great for business continuity, especially if your business is closed for many hours Also, the LFB may charge for a hazmat incident where life is not threatened. I cannot find up to date figures for the LFB, but it will be circa £400 per hour (or part of) per appliance. The attendance to a hazmat incident may attract between three and five appliances at a minimum. You might want to speak to the 'Officer of the Watch' if you dial 999, or better still, phone their HQ and ask for advice ​​​​​​​Good luck 

I was about to suggest checking outside but Chris42 beat me to it.

Then going to suggest calling LFB but not 999.  if you locate the nearest fire station and call them I'm sure someone will call out and investigate, possibly with an explosimeter and/or one of their marvellous dogs.

I was once called out to a smell of petrol in a terraced house.  Long story short it was dripping into the cellar of a house a few doors away from a petrol station.  On investigation we found the petrol station was losing petrol, not reporting it, just amending their records disguising it.  Ended with the petrol station closed down while the leaking underground tank was dug out and replaced.

The reason petrol was dripping into the cellar is lots of heavy rain raising the water table.

A good Chemist can find out what the smell is and provide annother chemical to Mask the smell.

Only other possible source I can think of that hasn't already been mentioned is the drains? Potentially there is a blockage and someone (elsewhere) has been trying to unlcog it with various chemicals and the build up is now collating under your room? Just a thought - may be way off.

Originally Posted by: A Kurdziel

Most chemists I know of lost their sense of smell years ago!  I identifying a particular is quite difficult without a clue as to what it might be.

Totaly agree - many years ago worked for an environmental health team. Complanants that started "I want it testing" used to make our bllod run cold, be it a smell, food water etc. "what do you want it testing for" was always the response. Far two many people think you can just run a test that will tell you everything, (i blame the tv), in reality you have to have some idea what you are looking for.

Hiya FS101 - How are you doing? No, my main reason for not calling the fire service is that the DIM crews are really trained and equipped for emergencies and not 'estate' type investigations in the same way a fire service hydraulic platform will turn out to a dangerous estate agent sign, but wouldnt for a planned/routine removal of one. The mention of a possible fee was just to highlight this potential   As you say, a quick call to LFB HQ may yield more relaible information. For example, if there is no big rush, the DIM crews may wish to use the opportunity as a training session in a real world environment - in that case, everyone is a winner

Morning Herb

Let's turn the question on its head!

On what possible grounds would you think this to be RIDDOR reportable (or even recordable)?

Some time ago I was called by the security team in our head office to assist in identifying a offensive and disgusting smell in a large open plan office.

I wasnt that concerned as on he 8th floor, it was unlikely to be a repeat of a sewage incident in the basement the previous winter, how upon arrival I was surprised to find a really noxious smell. 80 staff were outside in the corridor and making there way to the staff restaurant and it was my call whether to make this a 999 hazmat incident.

I heard that the smell had been there all day. Nobody was reporting feeling unwell, just uncomfortable. It was 11.30 am. I was completely at a loss so decided to carry out a detailed search of all unlocked spaces in the room with the security team. My DRA determined that 4 hours after noticing the smell, no staff were ill, so that gave us a few minutes to search before possibly escalating the issue In a small storeroom, it was clear that the smell was worse. There were a range of personal lockers inside the space and we opened some with a master key as part of the search. It was then that I found the issue. I nearly vomitted

I wasnt sure what the hell I had found, but it was awful. We traced the staff member whose locker it was, He was on another site for the day but had been in work earlier. It turns out this guy had been abroad and bought back some durian fruit - which is well known for its offensive smell, best described as BO & petrol Now identified, what the hell do we do with it? Our loading bay is completely internal and we have no open air space whatsover. So I resealed it and went for a walk to a local park and dumped it in a bin. Not the most professional action, but it couldnt stay where is was!! https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-does-the-durian-fruit-smell-so-terrible-149205532/

Originally Posted by: Messey

Some time ago I was called by the security team in our head office to assist in identifying a offensive and disgusting smell in a large open plan office.

I wasnt that concerned as on he 8th floor, it was unlikely to be a repeat of a sewage incident in the basement the previous winter, how upon arrival I was surprised to find a really noxious smell. 80 staff were outside in the corridor and making there way to the staff restaurant and it was my call whether to make this a 999 hazmat incident.

I heard that the smell had been there all day. Nobody was reporting feeling unwell, just uncomfortable. It was 11.30 am. I was completely at a loss so decided to carry out a detailed search of all unlocked spaces in the room with the security team. My DRA determined that 4 hours after noticing the smell, no staff were ill, so that gave us a few minutes to search before possibly escalating the issue In a small storeroom, it was clear that the smell was worse. There were a range of personal lockers inside the space and we opened some with a master key as part of the search. It was then that I found the issue. I nearly vomitted

I wasnt sure what the hell I had found, but it was awful. We traced the staff member whose locker it was, He was on another site for the day but had been in work earlier. It turns out this guy had been abroad and bought back some durian fruit - which is well known for its offensive smell, best described as BO & petrol Now identified, what the hell do we do with it? Our loading bay is completely internal and we have no open air space whatsover. So I resealed it and went for a walk to a local park and dumped it in a bin. Not the most professional action, but it couldnt stay where is was!! https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-does-the-durian-fruit-smell-so-terrible-149205532/

Ha ha Messey, nice one.  Great common sense end to a problem but you could have caused the Park to be evacuated instead of the office block.  How to get rid of a problem?  Move it on ha ha