BAFE (British Approvals for Fire Equipment) - Experts & Thought Leaders

As the nation moves towards stronger responsibility and accountability for fire safety measures, the BAFE Fire Safety Register reiterate their message on the significance of UKAS accredited third-party certification. BAFE’s ‘Don’t just Specify, Verify’ campaign launched in March 2020 identifies the important second, and sometimes overlooked, verification stage when premises management source competent third-party certificated organizations to help comply with their fire safety obligations. Sourcing quality contractors Since then, the campaign has generated substantial industry support from significant organizations including UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service), Fire Sector Federation (FSF), Construction Industry Council (CIC), with the addition of multiple Certification Bodies, Trade Associations and Professional Bodies. This unified support is testament to the quality message the campaign represents. Lewis Ramsay, Caretaker Manager and Board Member for BAFE, points out, "With most buildings now returning to near pre-covid operation, it is imperative this message is repeated in the interest of life safety. Over the last decade, BAFE have witnessed third-party certification becoming a clear stipulation for fire safety work, but it would be far more reassuring to determine if premises management are also verifying this prior to awarding any contract and letting work commence on-site." He adds, "This verification process should be recorded to demonstrate full due diligence. This is a very straightforward and quick exercise which can be extremely beneficial to evidencing your own quality procedures in sourcing quality contractors to fulfil specific works." Fire safety guidance Third-party certification is a method of determining if an organization has quality evidence Discussed in multiple Government and Fire and Rescue guidance documents, third-party certification is a method of determining if an organization has quality evidence of their competency to fulfil specific work.  Government fire safety guidance documents note, "Third-party quality assurance can offer comfort both as a means of satisfying you that goods and services you have purchased are fit for purpose, and as a means of demonstrating that you have complied with the law."  Importantly, this also notes the use of sub-contractors, stating to check if they "are subject to the same level of checks of quality and competence as the company you are employing." There is a huge amount of responsibility on the shoulders of premises management (and their designated Responsible Persons/Duty Holders) which needs to be thoroughly executed. Safety related works The BAFE Fire Safety Register believe the verification of fire safety organizations is of vital importance in today’s landscape regarding specific competency within the life safety arena. Graham Watts OBE, Chief Executive of the Construction Industry Council (CIC), commented, "(We) support BAFE’s Don’t Just Specify, Verify campaign because when it comes to the built environment, competency matters." He adds, "UKAS Accredited Third Party Certification is an important factor when evaluating a contractor’s competency. Moving forward there is a strong requirement for consistent competence in delivering safety related works." Third-party certification While BAFE schemes are available for third-party certification of contractors operating in the fire safety sector, it is important to stress this message applies to all appropriate UKAS accredited third-party certification schemes that are available to the fire safety industry. Premises management should always be looking for appropriate third-party certification and in the instance that they require specific services that BAFE schemes do not cover, it is still strongly advised to check if the chosen provider is suitably third-party certificated via another organisation.

Both BAFE and FireQual are deeply saddened by the death of Jonathan O’Neill OBE, Managing Director of the Fire Protection Association (FPA). Jonathan has been such an influential person in the advancement of competence within the fire protection sector. His career and dedication are testament to his character, with a level of integrity that is hard to match. In 2017, as many will already be aware, Jonathan was awarded an OBE for services to fire safety. While extremely prestigious, this only scratches the surface concerning his dedication and work undertaken to improve fire safety issues. Huge loss for BAFE With Jonathan being the longest-serving director of BAFE, having joined the Board in 2001 With Jonathan being the longest-serving director of BAFE, having joined the Board in 2001, his death is a huge loss for BAFE and the fire sector overall. His input over the last 22 years has been invaluable to the development of BAFE and its purpose.  Jonathan was a huge supporter of third-party certification, and it was abundantly clear of his demands post-Grenfell that this should be made mandatory. This passion is just one reason why Jonathan was held in such high regard by his peers and the industry. Longest-serving director of BAFE Justin Maltby-Smith, Group Managing Director of BAFE, commented, “Jonathan was the longest-serving director of BAFE and one of the most driven and passionate people I have ever met. His influence and expertise relating to fire safety was unquestionable and his tireless work certainly led to the UK becoming a safer place." "I am personally grateful to Jonathan for all of the support and advice that he has given to me, and for his continued support of third-party certification and BAFE. The world is an emptier place today from this loss. I send my deepest condolences to his wife and family at this incredibly sad time.” Sudden loss to the fire sector Douglas Barnett, Chair of BAFE, added, “Jon was one of the most passionate and influential figures in the fire safety sectors and never flinched when challenging for what he believed was correct to deliver safer buildings or communities. Jon had close engagement and influence with insurers throughout his career, personally mentoring and influencing my development, while working closely together for over 20 years across multiple challenges but more importantly successes.” Lewis Ramsay, Chair of FireQual, stated, “I cannot begin to express my sadness at Jon’s passing. Jon was a close friend and colleague and someone who had a strong influence on my own career over the many years that I knew him. Jon’s wisdom, counsel and fierce passion was an inspiration to us all and whilst we mourn the man, we also grieve the huge and sudden loss to the fire sector. If a measure of success is the number of lives we save then, I cannot begin to count how fortunate we were to have had Jon working so hard to protect citizens across the UK and beyond its shores. The Fire Sector has lost one of its greatest ambassadors and we will be forever in his debt.” Condolences go out to Jonathan’s wife, family, friends, and to all at the FPA. He will be greatly missed by all.

FireQual, the specialist Awarding Organization for the fire safety sector, is pleased to announce Darren Ellis as their new Qualifications Manager. Darren is a well-known expert within the regulatory and qualification development sector with over 15 years of teaching and training national and international experience. Most recently, he has supported the creation of the Military Qualifications Center (MQC) in Abu Dhabi to provide qualifications for the United Arab Emirates Safety, Defense and Emergency and Crisis Management (SDEC) sectors. Prior to that, he worked with the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) as their Qualifications, Compliance, and Assessment Manager. Development of regulatory requirements Darren Ellis also brings a wealth of knowledge from his nine years of education regulation Darren Ellis also brings a wealth of knowledge from his nine years of education regulation having worked with the English regulator Ofqual and later helping to embed the then-new Welsh regulator, Qualifications Wales, supporting the development of the regulatory requirements of awarding organizations, namely the ‘Standard Conditions of Recognition’ for both countries. Darren Ellis stated, "I am excited and eager to be part of FireQual and to use my expertise and experience to support their strategic aims to maintain safety within the industry. With a lot of change on the horizon and growth within the sector, I will continue to work with our established and much-valued stakeholders to ensure FireQual's qualifications remain fit for purpose and have real currency." New and existing qualifications Dr. Justin Maltby-Smith, Group Managing Director of BAFE and FireQual, stated, "Darren’s skills, knowledge and experience will support the aspirations of FireQual moving forward, including the ongoing development and growth of both new and existing qualifications." He adds, "As Darren notes, we are on the precipice of change within the industry, where FireQual is confident that regulated qualifications will become part of the growing requirements to demonstrate knowledge to work within the life safety industry. His support during this time shall be extremely valuable and we welcome him to the team." BAFE Conference 2024 Dr. Justin Maltby-Smith continues, "Darren will be joining us at the BAFE Conference (12 June 2024), so please do register if you wish to meet Darren and discuss regulated qualifications. FireQual Board Member Jim Fitzpatrick will also be speaking on the topic of regulated qualifications on the day." The BAFE Conference 2024 is to be held at FSM Live on June 12, 2024, in Coventry, UK.

The fire industry has made it absolutely clear, led by authorized bodies including the BAFE Fire Safety Register, that the current pandemic does not remove the need to comply with any fire safety requirements under the Building Regulations. As we now look beyond the lockdown period, John Allam, Operations Director at Amthal Fire and Security reviews the raft of new proposals demonstrating the Government and industry’s commitment to compliant fire safety and new immediate demands placed on responsible persons. Multi-Occupancy residential buildings Whilst the second phase of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry has been put on hold until July at the earliest over coronavirus restrictions, the government has continued its quest to effect change and bring the Fire Safety Bill and Building Safety Bill into legislation. While the Building Safety Bill will ‘place new and enhanced regulatory regimes for building safety and construction products’, both bills aim to strengthen the ‘whole regulatory system’ for both building and fire safety. The Fire Safety Bill will apply to England and Wales, to amend the Fire Safety Order 2005 and seeks to clarify responsibility for reducing fire risk in multi-occupancy residential buildings. The details of the Fire Safety Bill, which has now had its second reading in the House of Commons, includes recommendations of regular inspections of lifts and sprinkler systems for buildings over 11m tall. Quarterly fire door inspections Building owners will now face ‘enforcement action’ from emergency services if they do not manage fire risk Significantly, it also introduces compulsory quarterly fire door inspections, which is a hugely significant development in its own right, to influence an industry where this is no specific legislation that requires fire doors to be checked. The Fire Safety Bill intends to ensure evacuation plans are reviewed, regularly updated and communicated to residents in a ‘form that they can be reasonably be expected to understand.’ And it highlights the importance of individual flat entrance doors, where the external walls of the building have unsafe cladding, comply with current standards. This will play a key part in increasing residents’ fire safety, whereby building owners will now face ‘enforcement action’ from emergency services if they do not manage fire risk in a building’s structure. Improving the fire safety of buildings In addition, the government is consulting with the National Fire Chiefs Council to begin testing evacuation alert systems for high-rise blocks of flats, which could support fire and rescue services’ operational response by alerting residents if they need to escape. The National Fire Chiefs Council to begin testing evacuation alert systems for high-rise blocks of flats The new program will be governed by a Building Safety Regulator (BSR) that will initially be led by Dame Judith Hackitt during the set up phase, who will be tasked with improving the fire safety of buildings. Launched by The RT Hon Robert Jenrick MP Secretary Of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, he cited the new program as taking, “Ambitious steps to further reform the building safety system with the biggest changes in a generation to ensure residents are safe in their homes.” He added: “This new regime will put residents’ safety at its heart, and follows the announcement of the unprecedented £1 billion fund for removing unsafe cladding from high-rise buildings in the budget.” Major regulatory decisions The BSR will be responsible for all major regulatory decisions made at key points during design, construction, occupation and refurbishment of buildings. And such decisions and obligations must be upheld and maintained throughout a development’s life. The new safety case regime will apply not only to new buildings, but also to buildings that are already in use" In Dame Judith’s own words: “When introduced by the new regulator, the new safety case regime will apply not only to new buildings, but also to buildings that are already in use and occupied. If those buildings were built to poor standards in the past, it will not be the case that you can simply say ‘well it complied with building regulations at the time’. The test will be different. The test will be ‘is this building safe to be occupied?’ and, if not, what are you going to do to improve it?’ … People will be asked to think about what they can do, what is reasonable and what is practicable to do in order to improve the safety of a given building.” Regulating the fire safety industry Both Hackitt and the Government want the BSR to be set up in shadow form before the Building Safety Bill becomes law. The plan is to put the bill before Parliament by the autumn, despite the challenges thrown by the Pandemic. The new legislation proposed by Government will undoubtedly ensure that buildings and those that live and work in them are maintained to be fire safe. In the words of BAFE CEO Stephen Adams: “The time is right to help better regulate the fire safety industry to change end user behavior and create a UK that's safer from the devastating effects of fire.” As BAFE further attests, as lockdown measures begin to be lifted, there will be a need for the competent maintenance of fire safety systems/provisions and fire risk assessment work. Fire doors and risk assessments Amthal is working closely with building owners and managers across the UK to deliver the benefits of safer environment This means for those who own or manage residential buildings, will soon be ‘held into account’ if they do not ensure fire safety in their buildings, and the requirements will impact further on costs and resource allocation, for investigating buildings and ensuring compliance. There is a definite sense to be proactive in acceptance of the new impending legislation. But the concern cited amongst building owners is the industry’s ability to undertake the volume of assessments required, given the lack of current lack of specific legislation on specific elements such as fire doors and risk assessments, together with the steep expectations for fire strategy and evacuation plans. Amthal is working closely with building owners and managers across the UK to deliver the benefits of safer environment within a holistic fire safety approach. Working in partnership, means taking the time to understand the implications of the Government’s Fire Safety Bill, alongside the implications of the Building Safety Bill and BSR program. This way, we can ensure responsible persons confidently achieve all operational requirements for the ultimate benefit of residents’ peace of mind.

Why do gas engineers need to become Gas Safe Registered? Why do heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers need to have an advanced driving license? We all know the answers to these questions: To determine competency and reduce risk. Because they are mandatory, it is simply expected. Premises managers expect the same competency from their fire safety providers; however, there are no mandatory measures in place to ensure a particular level of competency is met. But there should be, says Stephen Adams, Chief Executive of BAFE, an independent registration body for third party certified protection companies across the United Kingdom. Advocating certification of fire safety competency Third party certification (or any system to monitor competency) is not mandatory in the fire safety industry at present, which presents unnecessary risk, says Adams. Third Party Certification (or any system to monitor competency) is not mandatory in the fire safety industry at present, which presents unnecessary risk There is a benefit to the customer of using a provider that is independently and regularly assessed by a UKAS Accredited Certification Body to ensure they are competent to deliver the specific required service. Sourcing a provider who holds the appropriate third-party certification will also provide strong evidence of acting with due diligence in following fire safety legislation. “Certainly for high-risk premises, not just those above a certain height but those where the occupants or function demands strong fire protection, there needs to be mandated third party certification of the competence of all those involved,” says Adams. “This is not just at the initial construction stage, but throughout the building life cycle as use, occupancy and technology change. The end user and those responsible for building safety have the key responsibility, together with input from the Fire and Rescue Services, providers and public authorities to ensure ongoing compliance and recording of actions.” Determining competency for fire safety services BAFE was first established in 1984 within FETA (Fire Extinguishing Trades Association) and the British Fire Protection Systems Association (BFPSA). Since 2009, however, BAFE has been independent and has evolved into developing and monitoring schemes to determine competency for multiple fire safety services. BAFE develops schemes based on defined quality standards and industry best practice for fire safety service providers to achieve and become Third Party Certificated. These assessments are performed by UKAS Accredited Certification Bodies (licensed by BAFE). Only when a company holds appropriate and valid Third Party Certification are they permitted to become BAFE Registered and appear on the national register available free to view at on their website. BAFE’s competency schemes BAFE offer competency schemes for the following areas: Fire extinguisher servicing/maintenance (BAFE SP101) Fire risk assessment (BAFE SP205) Kitchen fire protection systems (BAFE SP206) Dry and wet riser/falling installations servicing/maintenance (BAFE SP105) The SP203 suite of schemes is modular and offers competency criteria for the design, installation, commissioning and/or maintenance of: Fire detection and alarms systems (BAFE SP203-1) Fixed gaseous fire extinguishing systems (BAFE SP203-3) Emergency lighting systems (BAFE SP203-4) BAFE has dedicated monitoring groups for each scheme that meet regularly to ensure they continue to represent the highest levels of competency within the industry. Supporting UK fire safety BAFE has been active in efforts to influence and support fire safety for the UK. This includes work with the appropriate Competence Steering Group (CSG) working groups established since the publication of the Hackitt review (“Building a Safer Future”). Chris Auger, Head of Schemes – BAFE, is currently Secretary to WG2 (Installers) and WG4 is continuing to develop competence standards for Fire Risk Assessors to meet the requirements of high-risk residential buildings (HRRBs). BAFE also has close working relationships with organisations including UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service), FSF (Fire Sector Federation), FIA (Fire Industry Association), FPA (Fire Protection Association), IFEDA (Independent Fire Engineering and Distributors Association), Construction Industry Council (CIC) and multiple Certification Bodies. Raising the bar BAFE exists to help raise the bar of competency within the fire safety industry across the United Kingdom, says Adams. Their ethos is in a strong belief in Third Party Certification. BAFE exists to help raise the bar of competency within the fire safety industry across the United Kingdom “Whilst we strongly believe the BAFE schemes offer a quality, independent method of determining competency for a specific service though a range of Certification Bodies, we purely want Third Party Certification to be the baseline absolute requirement for any fire safety work (where it is available),” says Adams. BAFE stands with FPA Managing Director Jonathan O'Neill’s request to Government to mandate Third Party Certification. The more providers that hold Third Party Certification, and the more end users that request it, the stronger the argument to Government to mandate this requirement for a better regulated industry. Addressing the misconceptions A misconception about fire safety Third Party Certification from end users (e.g. premises management) is that it covers all fire safety services offered. BAFE this year have launched a new campaign, “Don’t Just Specify, Verify!,” to highlight this issue. “Before awarding any contract, we are trying to educate people to verify their chosen contractor’s Third Party Certification to ensure it is appropriate for the work they require,” says Adams. Whilst most customers understand that they should have fire protection systems, they do not adequately understand the need for a full and competent Fire Risk Assessment. There are still “assessors” who will offer one for ridiculously low prices, often without even entering the building. The need for fire risk assessments The Fire Risk Assessment is a mandatory requirement and forms the basis for all other activity – and must be kept up to date. By not using a competent provider, the responsible person is leaving themselves open to prosecution and serious loss of life and property. The horrific Grenfell fire that unfolded on 14th June 2017 raised interest and awareness of fire safety measures, their relationship to the whole construction and what should be in place to keep any premises safe. The horrific Grenfell fire that unfolded on 14th June 2017 raised interest and awareness of fire safety measures Adams says BAFE saw an increase in companies gaining Third Party Certification, especially to the Life Safety Fire Risk Assessment (SP205) scheme. “This is a skill that needs greater emphasis and some mandatory measures introduced to ensure competent persons are completing this vital action,” says Adams. “We welcome any stronger measures following the Hackitt Review to introduce robust methods of logging activity across the whole building life cycle (the ‘Golden Thread’ of information) in the interest of acting will due diligence creating safer buildings from fire.” The Fire Risk Assessment is a mandatory requirement and forms the basis for all other activity – and must be kept up to date “A year from now, we anticipate that the Hackitt requirements will be built into legislation and the Building Regulations across all parts of the UK,” says Adams. “By 2023 BAFE and the industry would like to see mandatory measures in place to monitor and determine competency of providers offering specific services. Most notable are services such as fire risk assessment, both commercial and domestic fire detection and alarm systems plus multiple other areas including many passive fire protection design and installation services. Certificated services should extend across all aspects of fire safety, passive and active, and include greater monitoring of individual as well as company competence.” Trade associations such as FIA and IFEDA demand third party certification as a core membership requirement, and other important professional bodies such as the FPA are calling out to Government to mandate third party certification, says Adams. “It would shake up the industry dramatically, leaving only the evidentially competent able to provide these works,” he says.