The number one reason to install a fire alarm is to make the building safe for your employees, customers, and tenants. A combination of smoke and heat detectors, sounders, and visual indication provide automatic detection and alert building occupants of a fire, giving them ample time to evacuate in an orderly fashion.
While sounders and visual indication don’t actively put out fires, they alert the people in the property who can contact the fire services. Monitoring fire alarm systems automatically ensure that should the system activate that notification is provided to the keyholder or emergency services. The faster these responses happen, the sooner the fire is extinguished and the less damage your building sustains.
In the UK it is a legal requirement for a fire risk assessment to be carried out on almost all premises where people could be working. This came into force in 2005 under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order.
Under these regulations, the “responsible person” is legally obliged to ensure that the fire risk assessment is carried out and to deal with any problems that were highlighted during that assessment (although the relevant phrase is “duty holder” under the Scotland regulations and “appropriate person” under the Northern Ireland regulations).
Responsible person
The definition of the “responsible person” is typically the person who has primary responsibility for premises. This could include facilities managers, owners of premises, and managers of buildings. In multi-tenanted buildings, each tenant has to carry out a fire risk assessment of their premises and coordinate it with the fire risk assessment that the landlord has carried out of their areas.
In blocks of flats, the fire risk assessment needs to cover the common areas (such as stairs and corridors) but not necessarily the individual flats. The risk assessment should advise on the requirement of a fire alarm system and dictate the system category. System categories range from Manual only (M) to basic automatic systems (L4) to comprehensive coverage (L1).
A.P.E Fire and Security can provide a verification of the current system within a building and confirm compliance. This will be carried out with the peace and mind that we are 3rd Party accredited to BAFE SP203-1 to complete all modules from design, installation, verification, commissioning, and ongoing maintenance.
Professional Fire Alarm Installation
It is crucial that the fire alarm systems are correctly installed and fully functioning
Whether one is the owner of a large corporate establishment, a responsible person, or an owner of a residential property, it is crucial that the fire alarm systems are correctly installed and fully functioning.
Government statistics have shown that the UK Fire and Rescue services attended 170,519 fires in the year ending September 2017, which was a 9% increase compared with the previous year.
44% of these incidents were primary fires, and there were 346 fire-related fatalities in England (including 71 from the Grenfell Tower disaster), which demonstrates a substantial 37% increase from the previous year.
Assisting with compliance
Although a variety of factors can cause a fire to start, having an accredited professional fire alarm system installer install the system while assisting with compliance and reducing the risk of loss of life and property.
Not only will they ensure that the system is correctly fitted and installed, but they have the knowledge and expertise to be able to advise and design the specific type of system that will offer the highest level of protection in regard to the layout of a particular building – the system used in a school is likely to be different to that of a restaurant, for example.
Regular Maintenance
The client has daily and weekly requirements set out in BS5839 Part 1 2017
After all a fire alarm is a Life Safety System. There is a duty of care for the responsible person of a building to demonstrate that the Life Safety systems operate satisfactorily in line with the British Standards.
The minimum interval at which one should have the system maintained by an accredited professional fire system provider is 6 months. Additional visits maybe dictated by your Fire Risk Assessment depending on the property type and risks.
In addition to the professional fire alarm maintenance visits the client has daily and weekly requirements set out in BS5839 Part 1 2017. These include weekly fire alarm tests and daily system checks.
Fire Alarm Accreditation
There are multiple fire alarm installation and maintenance companies throughout the country, but it’s crucial that one only uses accredited, qualified, and experienced alarm professionals. Part of compliance to this is the demonstration of competency of your fire alarm maintainer. Using a BAFE SP203-1 accredited company ticks this box.
The Fire Industry Association (FIA)
Another prestigious fire alarm accreditation is the Fire Industry Association. It is the UK’s largest trade association for the fire protection industry, and only companies that have third-party certification, such as BAFE SP203, SP101/ST104, or LP1014, or manufacturers that are BS EN ISO 9001 certificated, are eligible for membership.
