AnthonyB

It's like any sector of the fire industry, plenty of demand, but plenty of competition and like the rest of the trade there are lots of different skill levels plying their skills (or sadly lack thereof in some cases) Your specialist knowledge will set you ahead of many offering fire safety consultancy and risk assessments, but a baseline fire risk assessment qualification is highly recommended such as one of these: - NEBOSH National Certificate in Fire Safety and Risk Management - FPA C05 Certificate in Applied Fire Risk Assessment or C06 Fire Risk Assessment - CS Todd 4.5 day Fire Risk Assessment Course

Asbestos surveys have been required for a very long time - your duties under the current version of the regulations are summarised here: http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/duty.htm It's usually necessary for an accredited specialist to carry out the work. As Tom says Fire Certificates ceased to be over 10 years ago and an FRA is required. You need to include the offices as being vacant isn't an exemption, they are still subject to the legislation.

Keys are usually not acceptable except in exceptional circumstances such as lawful places of detention. A similar premises I have dealt with secures the fire exits where the students who are at risk of absconding with magnetic locks. These are linked to the fire alarm to release and in place of the usual green break glass overrides are key operated switches, the fire alarm break glasses are provided with hinged covers to prevent misuse and the fact that the alarm releases the locks is not advertised, the keys are used instead. The premises are also sprinklered. You should ask your fire safety adviser or risk assessor to look into this and produce a risk assessment that justifies a suitable solution. Consultation with the fire and rescue service may be advisable. Your suggestion may end up being accepted, but as it would be exceptional you need to go through the right process to justify it.

This is the official fire safety guidance applicable to your flats: http://www.local.gov.uk/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=1138bf70-2e50-400c-bf81-9a3c4dbd6575

If studying design you should be aware of the three approaches to compliance with the functional fire safety requirements of the Building Reglations: Standard Approach: Following the prescriptive guidance in Approved Document B Advanced Approach: Following the flexible design guidance in BS 9999:2017 Fire safety in the design, management and use of buildings. Code of practice Fire Engineered Approach: Bespoke design (including computer modeling) using BS 7974:2001 Application of fire safety engineering principles to the design of buildings. Code of practice These will all help you with definitions and solutions.

Find a quiet time! Shopping Centres, Leisure Complexes and similar have to do them and turf paying customers out once a year (or twice if best practice). Alternatively explore this alternative to the traditional drill https://www.ioshmagazine.com/article/whats-drill

Several OFQUAL registered Awarding Organisations do train the trainer qualifications for fire training in addition to their usual stable of first aid & first aid trainer qualifications. For live extinguishers you will need to have practical experience yourself as well as suitable insurance, plus the rigs aren't cheap! Whilst not yet mandatory for fire training it's becoming more common in similar sectors to need to hold a formal adult teaching & assessing qualification in addition to subject qualifications, this would be worth considering if you may be contemplating expanding even further in future to train first aid.

It's out of date as the current BS5499-4 no longer has the arrowless final exit sign in - the old version did. If you have the rectangular acrylic slide in inserts it is often cheaper to get a local signmaker to cut to size replacement opaque acrylic sheets which you can stick the legends on

The current guidance for exit signage BS5499-4:2013 requires all exit signs to have an arrow and the traditional UK Final/Storey exit sign (just exit/fire exit on it's own, post 1998 with an exit pictogram as well) is no longer meant to be used (I wouldn't replace any existing arrowless final exit signs just on this basis). Straight on (including through a doorway) should strictly use the up arrow, not the down, but in this risk based world I would apply common sense and where the use of a down arrow is obviously not going to confuse I would leave it in situ. New or replacement signs should of course be correct/ With internally illuminated exit signs you can get replacement fascias so you don't have to replace the whole unit - Whilst not on their website as a JaliteAAA distributor Safelincs should be able to order them in for you: http://www.jaliteaaa.co.uk/pdf/Page 28 Jalite - Industrial & Commercial Catalogue.pdf (Jalite don't sell direct to end users) If for some reason they can't I can post an alternative supplier. You would be very unlucky for the fire service to comment, as long as the routes are clearly signed their are not usually picky about the arrows and pictograms used.

Not any more, Building Regulations used to require many internal doors to be so fitted, but removed the requirement as in reality these doors usually ended up with the closer removed or a wedge put in place. The doors to the stair will (or should be) fire doors, but only where a fire door separates an integral garage from the accommodation is a self closer required. (This all assumes the premises are occupied as a single family unit and is not being used as a House of Multiple Occupation)

The official definition: Protected route: An escape route which is adequately protected from the rest of the building by a fire-resisting construction. In practice this is usually to a minimum of 30 minutes fire resistance (in some cases it can be much more) and 'construction' is usually walls, ceilings, glazing, doors, etc. Once in a protected route it should lead to a final exit to a place of safety, you should not usually have to leave a protected route to then go through an unprotected one to reach an exit. Emergency lighting is often required to escape routes as is signage, but there are always exceptions - your Fire Risk Assessment will determine this.

It isn't. But BS5839-1 is the benchmark used by enforcers and the 6 monthly service interval is quoted in the official HM Government Fire Risk Assessment Guidance, Deviations are possible, but you have to justify why going below the benchmark does not compromise safety (which is sometimes possible, Sainsburys did it for call point testing, but threw a lot of time and money in doing the research and stats to justify it)

You don't have an activated call point somewhere? Apollo Alarmsense is a conventional twin wire fire alarm system where sounders and call points/detectors share the same zone cable and have to use a compatible 2 wire panel. Apollo's fault finding guide suggests that continuous sounders indicate a non Alarmsense compatible panel has been used (different 2 wire panel or a traditional 4 wire) (or indeed the conventional sounder circuits instead of the Alarmsense zones) Apollo don't make the panels. Compatible panels are made by C-Tec, Haes and Kentec. Ask also on firealarmengineers.com/forum

DfEE guidance states "There should be a fire drill at least once a year and preferably once a term."

Your local fire service has a department for enforcing fire safety legislation whose details are on their website (usually after following links for Business Fire Safety or Fire Safety at Work). You should contact them with your concerns and they will carry out an audit and act accordingly. What you have been told is completely non compliant (it wouldn't even have complied with the regulations over 50 years ago!) although it is permissible to have only one stair or exit in some circumstances.

If this is an AOV forming part of the smoke management system rather than just environmental control then it affects the efficacy of the built in fire strategy (usually stay put with smoke extraction to the communal space) and would potentially be an offence. You should contact your local fire service's enforcement department, who will inspect and advise accordingly, and as a last resort can carry out formal enforcement action.

Best thing to fit is a swing free closer as used widely in care homes, then the door doesn't close at all unless there is a fire alarm or you shut it manually as you would normal domestic door. Problem is you then need a suitable fire alarm system to link the closer to...... Try other manufacturers for ideas such as: Briton (http://www.allegion.com/uk) FireCo (http://www.fireco.uk/) Geofire (http://www.geofire.co.uk/)

It's up to your Fire Risk Assessment as that determines what is acceptable for the risk, British Standards are not law and whilst useful benchmarks can reasonably be varied from in some situations . The enforcing authorities only have a role where a premises falls below a standard at which there is a threat to safety and there is more than one solution for a particular risk. Also the stance of authorities varies around the UK and sometimes within the same brigade! The main issue with mag locks in places of assembly is that they can render a panic proof exit (i.e. fitted with panic bolts so that the pressure alone of a body of occupants, who may be in a panicked state, will automatically release the doors without the need for a positive action, thus preventing crushing and jamming of the doors) not panic proof as if are relying on the positive action of someone knowing about, locating and activating a small green break glass next to the door. Having said that it could be argued that a Critical Application (Category A as was) compliant locking system linked to the fire alarm has enough redundancy to ensure that the doors will always have the mag lock dropped in an emergency so that the door will remain panic proof when the first set of occupiers reach it. There are what if's though, such as will the fire alarm always activate before people start to leave (depends on your system, equipment and the risks present) and what happens in the event of a non fire incident causing a panic evacuation (large fight, active shooter, bomb threat, etc) It's for you and your competent risk assessor to come up with justification and consult with the enforcing authority and see if they will go with it. If not, then if you are convinced and can evidence why safety isn't compromised you can apply for a determination by the Secretary of State (which has a fair chance, he doesn't always side with the fire service) it all depends how desperate you are to have mag locks rather than just panic furniture,

If you have carried out work subject to the Building Regulations then any resultant smoke & heat alarms required must be Grade D hard wired. A decent contractor can fit these without too much mess and you shouldn't need cables linking them everywhere if you use radio linked bases (http://www.safelincs.co.uk/radio-interlinked-smoke-alarms/) If it is your own home, you are not renting it out or using it as a HMO, then you can fit anything you want although the use of Grade F alarms is increasingly associated with fire fatalities due to battery removal or failure to replace flat batteries, if you are going down this route sealed long life (10 year) units are best (http://www.safelincs.co.uk/10-year-sealed-battery-smoke-alarms/) At the end of the day it's a choice of what price your safety, you are far far more likely to die from fire in your own home than in any type of commercial premises, including hotels.

The outer container is just that, the outer container. There is no legislation regarding fire blankets in the UK, but there is a manufacturing and testing standard BS EN 1869:1997. If you are using the fabric for fire retardant rather than extinguishing then BS 476-4:1970 & BS 476-7:1997 may be more appropriate.

Tapered threads are still used in Steel bodied extinguishers, which are still offered as economy models by a couple of manufacturers, but for decades now aluminium bodied extinguishers have used parallel threads - early aluminium body extinguishers in the late 60's and 70's did use tapered threads but were often beset with leaks & split necks. There is actually very little law around extinguishers, most is just standards, however it's amazing how many non existent laws and standards are trotted out to sell new extinguishers. If it's post 2002 and CE marked (unless refurbished) it will be legal.

"In some situations 'glazed vision panels' or 'glazed apertures' are required to be added to the door to allow for additional light or vision of the other side of the door. Non-glazed apertures may be required in the case of louvre panels or air transfer grilles. The addition of ANY apertures will seriously affect the performance of the door unless it is undertaken ONLY by companies that are licensed and approved to carry out this type of work to agreed procedures. Cutting and glazing apertures must NEVER be undertaken on site and will negate the door's test certificate." Source: http://www.bwfcertifire.org.uk/knowledge-centre/installation

Unless it's a very big yard it's not a place of safety, especially if the fire spreads, and would necessitate fire service rescue which is contrary to the principle that means of escape should be designed such that all occupiers can safety self evacuate without external assistance. A locked yard would need some way of opening from the inside without a key or code.

The stair lift could narrow the stair below the minimum 800mm (750mm in certain situations) and also you would need to ensure that there was sufficient battery capacity to allow the lift to evacuate someone if the fire took out the power supply. Also if the stair is not a protected route the time to evacuate could be too long - also does the first floor have a protected refuge area for the stair lift user whilst the other persons upstairs leave (to prevent bottlenecks caused by the lift user going first.) A lot of building stock in this country was not built with accessibility in mind and a fair proportion of that cannot be reasonably made accessible at all or in a way that would be safe in a fire and care needs to be taken when choosing premises.

Best practice says to use the signs, but this we have a risk based provision regulatory system so if you can justify not signing you should be OK - if the routes have no realistic likelihood of obstruction due to lack of realising the exit is for emergency use what benefit does the signage bring?