Expiry date of fire marshall certificates

[Guest Tom]

Dear sir/madam

Could you please confirm if Fire Marshall certificates have a specific expiry date?

After looking online, it seems different companies say different things. Some say 3 years and others say it's whenever employers feel their Marshall require further training.

Also, are the certificates transferable between jobs like first aid certificates?

Kind regards

[AnthonyB]

It's not set in stone, but most providers use First Aid as a benchmark and put a three year expiry on, which as skills fade would be similar to first aid as you aren't regularly using your training isn't unreasonable. Your training regime must be suitable to the circumstances and risk and your fire risk assessor should be able to advise.

A fire warden certificate should be transferable as the basic principles are always the same, however as specific procedures will differ between premises and organisations some additional instruction may be needed.

Anthony Buck
Alcumus HSE
BAFE SP205 Third Party Accredited Fire Risk Assessors

 

[Tom Sutton]

Further to AB comments the legal situation is,

The  Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 article 18 require the responsible person must, subject to paragraphs (6) and (7), appoint one or more competent persons to assist him in undertaking the preventive and protective measures and some companies call them fire marshalls.

One of the conditions under this article is a person is to be regarded as competent for the purposes of this article where he has sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities to enable him properly to assist in undertaking the preventive and protective measures.

The certificate is proof that he has had that training and it is still relevant, as AB has said it is not set in stone.