BAFE (British Approvals for Fire Equipment) News

With the announcement from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a national lockdown is now in effect until further notice. New guidance New coronavirus lockdown guidance has been issued for “people who are fit and well”. It is advised that “you must not leave or be outside of your home except where you have a reasonable excuse”.  The guidance clearly states that a “reasonable excuse” includes working “where it is unreasonable for you...

Robert Jenrick MP, The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government, announced a “New £30 million fund for leaseholders in England to pay for the installation of fire alarm systems in high-rise buildings with cladding.”  Adding that this will remove or reduce “the need for costly interim safety measures such as waking watch.” Install common fire alarms The written statement continues by saying that “This step is supported...

BBC News has reported the Valley Nursing Home, located in Clogher, County Tyrone is to be deregistered by Northern Ireland care home regulator RQIA (Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority). Critical inspections Critical inspections identified multiple hygiene and safety risks, an RQIA report stated, "Of particular concern, adequate precautions and systems were not in place to manage fire risk.” These ;significant breaches' have resulted in the care home’s deregistration, mea...

PAS 79-1:2020 and PAS 79-2:2020 replace PAS 79:2012. Please note PAS 79:2012 has been withdrawn.  This has been superseded by two new documents: PAS 79-1:2020 Fire risk assessment. Premises other than housing. Code of practice (published December 2020). PAS 79-2:2020 Fire risk assessment. Housing. Code of practice (published December 2020). BAFE published information regarding the public consultation in April 2020. Generic fire risk assessment guidance The BSI website notes that t...

Dame Judith Hackitt has provided an update to the Construction/Health and Safety/Fire Safety industry via HSE’s Building Safety eBulletin. “BAFE fully support Dame Judith’s comments, stressing the interest in UKAS Accredited Third Party Certification has increased over the last three years with the addition of more tender specifications stipulating this requirement." "BAFE continue to monitor the portfolio of Schemes available to ensure they remain the highest levels of determ...

Apsana Begum, Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse, has asked the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government “Whether he plans to provide funding for remedial work to buildings that do not comply with fire safety regulations but do not have problems relating to cladding.” The Minister of State (Housing, Communities, and Local Government), Christopher Pincher, Conservative MP for Tamworth, reminded building owners and premises management that fire safety rema...

Why should end users use third party certificated companies when sourcing contractors for the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of firefighting, fire detection and alarm systems. Even with the best equipment, fire detection, fire suppression, gas extinguishing and passive fire protection systems are only effective if they are correctly designed, installed, commissioned and maintained. It is therefore vitally important that specifiers select only competent installation companie...

Apsana Begum, Labor MP for Poplar and Limehouse, has asked the UK Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government that “Whether he plans to provide funding for remedial work to buildings which do not comply with fire safety regulations but do not have problems relating to cladding.” Fire safety legislation The Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government) Christopher Pincher, Conservative MP for Tamworth, reminded building owners and premises manage...

In the recently published Fire and rescue incident statistics (England) it is documented that in the year ending June 2020 “FRSs attended 231,510 fire false alarms, a one percent increase with the previous year (229,961), a seven percent increase compared with five years ago (215,857) and a 19 percent decrease compared with ten years ago (285,368).” While the information published does note that “the number of fire false alarms attended by fire and rescue servic...

BAFE and BSI are pleased to announce that the first registration and Third Party Certification has been achieved for the new wet and dry riser service and maintenance scheme. A crucial service for high-rise buildings and the tall building environment to ensure these remain effective in the event of an emergency. Evidence Of Competency The Scheme, known as BAFE SP105 Service & Maintenance of Dry and Wet Riser/Falling Installations, offers evidence of competency for organizations who delive...

BAFE are an official supporting partner of the BSI virtual event. BSI will be hosting a one-day free virtual event that will be looking at “the rapidly growing fire safety market and answers key questions around what’s changing, the likely impacts, emerging trends, and how knowledge can be shared between the fire and construction sectors to help meet the new challenges.” The event has been created for multiple people with roles directly linked to fire safety within an organiza...

At the Fire 2020 event, Jonathan O’Neill, Managing Director of the Fire Protection Association, stated (concerning the Hackitt Review). “As many people explained to Dame Judith [Hackitt] at the very start of these investigations, it is not just the system that is broken, the guidance and regulations themselves are ambiguous, outdated, and subject to abuse.” life safety and property protection He questioned, “Are we setting the bar too low from the start?”. ...

The committee welcomed the International Fire Safety Standards: Common Principles: “Safe Buildings Save Lives” Following Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Global Building Standards Director (Fire Safety Lead) Gary Strong’s presentation in October, there has now been confirmation from the UN that the IFSS document will be published as a UN ECE standard. UN sustainable goals The document: International Fire Safety Standards: Common Principles: “Safe Buildin...

Chris Watts of Eaton Lighting offers guidance for BAFE on behalf of the BAFE SP203 Monitoring Group. BAFE SP203-4 is for the design, installation, commissioning, and maintenance of emergency lighting systems. Any period of shutdown generates potential problems and opportunities for testing and servicing of emergency lighting systems. The current lockdowns have an added dimension as it applies to sites that are not normally unoccupied and people responsible for the operation of the system should...

Amthal has become a full member of the prestigious Door & Hardware Federation (DHF), highlighting its ongoing commitment to health and safety across its automated gates, product and service portfolio. The DHF is a not for profit trade association for companies associated with Locks & Building Hardware; Doorsets; Industrial Doors & Shutters; Domestic Garage Doors and Automated Gates. Regarded as a Centre of Excellence, DHF offers specifiers and end users of individual and commercial...

An update from Director of Schemes, Chris Auger, outlining issues raised by the new lockdown measures to be introduced on November 05, 2020. Due to the recent second wave of the COVID-19 coronavirus and the subsequent lockdown announced by the Prime Minister on Saturday 31st October 2020, BAFE has had to review the situation regarding refresher certificates and technician assessments. different levels of restriction Although the announcement only applied to England, there are also different...

With Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement made on Saturday (31/10/2020), lockdown measures will be introduced across all of England this Thursday (05/11/2020). Initial guidance, in relation to going to work, published following the Prime Minister’s announcement states: “To help contain the virus, everyone who can work effectively from home must do so. Where people cannot do so (for instance people who work in critical national infrastructure, construction or manufa...

On the 16th of October, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, answered the following question from Andrew Dismore (Labor): What dangers do you believe that buildings under 18 m with dangerous cladding pose to residents? The Mayor of London answered: “Several recent damaging fires in buildings below 18 meters have demonstrated the danger that unsafe cladding presents to residents. I have always been clear that fire risk does not adhere to strict height thresholds." Fire safety requirements in...

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has published Version 6 of the Site Operating Procedures document. Information from Construction Leadership Council (20/10/2020): Site Operating Procedures Update – Version 6 is now available The Site Operating Procedures have been updated to reflect recent changes in Government guidance. While there are no significant changes to social distancing requirements on sites, the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has taken the opportunity to streaml...

BAFE announces that the SP207 Evacuation Alert Systems Scheme Document is now available. Supporting British Standard 8629 (Evacuation Alert Systems for use by fire and rescue services in buildings containing flats), the BAFE SP207 Scheme document covers demonstrating quality evidence of competency for the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of evacuation alert systems. Emergency evacuation system Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government published their outcome t...

BAFE is pleased to announce the SP207 Evacuation Alert Systems Scheme Document.  BAFE SP207 Scheme Supporting British Standard 8629 (Evacuation Alert Systems for use by fire and rescue services in buildings containing flats), the BAFE SP207 Scheme document covers demonstrating quality evidence of competency for the design, installation, commissioning, and maintenance of evacuation alert systems. The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government published the outcome of the cons...

A global coalition of over 80 fire safety pioneer organizations (including BAFE) on Monday 5 October launched a new internationally consistent approach to the safety and management of buildings, with the aim of saving more lives by reducing risk and preventing devastating fires. The launch of the International Fire Safety Standard – Common Principles (IFSS-CP) follows extensive work to bring public confidence around the regulation and control of fire safety measures. Non-existent require...

The competence requirements for the proposed new role of the Building Safety Manager have been set out in a new report Safer People, Safer Homes: Building Safety Management. Under new legislation being introduced in the draft Building Safety Bill published in July, those deemed responsible in law for the safety of higher-risk buildings, such as the landlord, will be required to appoint a Building Safety Manager. In the draft Building Safety Bill, homes that fall in the higher risk category...

A blueprint to improve competence for those working on higher-risk buildings and drive culture change has been set out by a cross-industry group representing more than 150 organizations in the fire and built environment industries. Setting the Bar is the second and final report of the Competence Steering Group (CSG) and is an update of its Interim Report, Raising the Bar, published in August 2019. The work was initiated by the recommendations in Dame Judith Hackitt’s review Building a Saf...

Update from Director of Schemes for BAFE, Chris Auger, for all organizations preparing for their BAFE Third Party Certification assessment and temporary certification changes. In June BAFE published a statement clarifying its position regarding remote assessments and how should prepare for Certification Audit. Issue of certificates At that time BAFE took the view that registered companies whose initial audit was due would be allowed an initial concession that would allow the Certification Bod...

Third-Party Certification “is a useful differentiator for those who purchase and then depend on products and services to be fit for purpose.” On IFSEC Global, Simon Ince (Project Engineer - UL) has been discussing Third-Party Certification. While the article focuses on firestopping, his comments apply to all areas of fire safety provision. Simon opens with the fact that “there isn’t a single solution or a magic wand that can be waved to improve the delivery of fire...

New COVID-19 restrictions have been introduced by the Government, announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.  While this does not directly affect fire safety work, BAFE would fully support the advice that the stronger requirements for face coverings should be implemented consistently within the fire safety industry. This is especially important with technicians working on-site at care facilities and other buildings where vulnerable people may be exposed to the virus. Controlling COVID-19...

A reminder to Schools that fire safety provisions and systems should be reviewed and maintained on a regular basis. IFSEC Global has reported that “according to new research from insurer, Zurich Municipal, schools in England are “nearly twice as likely” to suffer from a fire as other types of commercial buildings.” Life safety systems The data, from 28,800 schools in England alone, noted reasons including poor fire detection and the regular presence of cooking equipmen...

BAFE FireQual Ltd is pleased to announce that they have appointed Nic Preston as the FireQual Qualifications Manager from 1st September 2020. Nic has over 14 years of experience in the training and development sector with a proven ability in quality assurance demonstrated in several roles influencing training environments within the UK. His most recent roles have been developing and implementing growth strategies as Chief Executive of SFEDI Awards, the Awarding Organization for enterprise devel...

Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government has published new guidance regarding “the end of recognition of the CE mark in GB and affix the UK marking using a UK-recognized ‘approved body’ by 1 January 2022.” Impact of BAFE Schemes  The guidance states “Businesses are being encouraged now to be ready for the full implementation of the new UK regime, as soon as possible after 1 January 2021. Businesses will be able to use the UK mark from 1 Ja...