31 Oct 2018

Checkmate Fire Solutions, the UK’s passive fire protection specialist, is delighted to announce the appointments of Ash Babb and Andrew Heywood as Internal Technical Compliance Auditors, with responsibility for further improving its quality levels.   

The pair will undertake additional audits on Checkmate’s Passive Fire Protection, Fire Door, Intumescent Paint and Fire-Resistant Glazing installations and repairs, over and above the inspections carried out for third-party accreditation, to ensure the highest possible standards are delivered on all contracts. 

Creating Safer Environments

The work they complete will help Checkmate’s installation teams to achieve outstanding levels of fire integrity in the buildings they work on

The work they complete will help Checkmate’s installation teams to achieve outstanding levels of fire integrity in the buildings they work on, creating safer environments for the people who live and work in them, and protecting the businesses and public services that run from them against the potentially devastating effects of a fire.

Ash joins Checkmate from the accredited certification body Exova BM TRADA, where he worked as a Lead Technical Officer and developed an in-depth knowledge of fire resistance testing and related standards.

Excellent Working Knowledge

Andrew has an extensive background in fire safety, having served for 30 years in the Fire Service, the final nine of which were as a Fire Protection Officer assessing legal compliance in regulated premises. He has an excellent working knowledge of fire safety guidance, including Approved Document B (ADB), DB incorporating insurers’ requirements, BS9999 Code of practice for fire safety in the design, management and use of buildings, BS7974 Application of fire safety engineering, and CIBSE Guide E Fire safety engineering.

The pair join the in-house Technical and Compliance team headed by Damien Ward, who moved to Checkmate after spending almost a decade as Senior Certification Manager for the Building Research Establishment (BRE).

Double Protection

Damien believes the new recruits will play a key role in maintaining and building on Checkmate’s already high standards

Damien believes the new recruits will play a key role in maintaining and building on Checkmate’s already high standards. “Everyone at Checkmate understands the importance of our work to protecting lives and livelihoods and we have developed a culture in which achieving the best possible standards is now regarded as the norm,” said Damien.

However, we also believe in continuous improvement and are happy to invest in order to drive up standards, which is what Andrew and Ash will help us to do. With the appointments of these two experts to undertake audits of our own work, we have become the only supplier in our industry to provide customers with the double protection of third-party accreditation and additional high-level inspections."

"That means Checkmate’s customers will benefit from excellent levels of fire integrity in their buildings, which is great news for residents, workers, building owners and insurers.”