With the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order nearly 10 years old now, the London Fire Brigade are set to investigate how successful it has been and what can be improved. There have been a number of prosecutions and the biggest concerns are:
· A significant rise of dealing with residential accommodation e.g. common parts and beyond the front door
· Enforcement of other related legislation such as Housing Act and Building Regulations.
· Guidance need to be reviewed and new guidance needed for the rise
This single piece of fire safety legislation replaced over 100 older pieces of fire legislation and now is a good time for the findings to be revealed to ensure improvements can be made where necessary.
Here at Whale Fire - we will keep you posted with the findings.
Read more here http://www.ifsecglobal.com/the-regulatory-reform-fire-safety-order-2005-insights-from-the-forthcoming-lfb-review/
We are delighted to announce that we have recently opened up a new office in London as we continue our expansion across the UK. We have a wide range of customers in London ranging from Housing Associations, Managing agents, offices, retail units and care homes amongst many more.
We work closely with our clients who include Health and Safety Managers, Facilities Managers and Office Managers. We aim to deliver a first class service and we wanted to provide a base in London to ensure we can continue to deliver the complete fire safety service across the capital and expand our team in the process.
You can contact us the address below:
Whale Fire Limited
3rd Floor
86-90 Paul Street
London
EC2A 4NE
Email: info@whalefire.co.uk
Telephone: 020 7127 6843
Whale Fire Ltd
Tel: 020 7127 6843
Mob: 07590 762397
info@whalefire.co.uk
www.whalefire.co.uk
Good question. This depends on a whole range of factors but generally the answer will be yes although of course it depends on what you need looking at. Most fire safety advisors are actually fire risk assessors whose job it is to advise on fire safety issues and provide recommendations on how to improve the fire precautions within your building.
All commercial premises and some residential properties should have a fire risk assessment carried out and for those with 5 or more employees, those findings should be recorded. For residential properties, it is the common areas that require a fire risk assessment and also Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO). The current fire safety legislation in place is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 which came into force on 1 October 2006. The Housing Act 2004 applies to flats themselves within blocks of flats or HMO’s and so it depends on the location you are asking about as to what type of fire safety advisor you require and under what piece of legislation. A fire safety advisors job is to provide guidance on a range of fire safety issues including:
?Means of escape provisions
Fire alarms
Fire training
Emergency lighting
Travel distances
Occupancy numbers
Disability procedures including PEEPS (Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans)
External escape routes
Fire doors and compartmentation
Flammable materials
Cooking facilities
Building work control policies
Fire extinguishers
Fire suppression systems
Emergency plans
Record Keeping
Fire Drills
Amongst many more factors – this list is by no means exhaustive.
There will always be a ‘responsible person’ within your company, building or premises that ultimately is responsible for the fire safety precautions within your building and you should find out who that person is – it may be you!
If you are asking about whether you need a fire safety advisor for your own private dwelling, you are best going directly to your Local Authority and asking them the question, they will be able to put you in touch with a local fire safety advisor who can advise you – the legislation is different for single private dwellings.
If you are in a workplace and carrying out a minor alteration within your building that may not need the advice of a fire safety advisor but if in doubt, please feel free to email your question to info@whalefire.co.uk
We are here to help and have a team of fire safety expects throughout the country to provide advice and a whole range of fire safety services – www.whalefire.co.uk
Landlords have certain legal obligations when it comes to fire safety and looking after the people who reside in their properties. The requirements differ depending on the type of property you own.
Current legislation states that landlords must carry out a fire risk assessment in all areas of their properties. The purpose is simple – to identify any fire hazards, determine who is at risk and decide what needs to be done to remove or reduce that risk.
Flat owners within premises where there is no landlord eg. 6 flats and a common area, lease or freehold, become ‘responsible persons’ and also need to ensure legislative requirements are met and maintained.
The Housing Act 2004 covers premises in mixed use where people are unrelated, live independently from one another and share common areas of the same building.
The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 applies to inside any such dwelling (from 1 October 2015, private sector landlords will be required to have at least one smoke alarm installed on every storey of their properties and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room which contains a solid fuel burning appliance) (for example, coal fire, wood burning stove) – they must also make sure the alarms are in good working order on any change of tenancy.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is the legislation for the common areas of any such properties.
The LACORS (Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services) guide provides guidance on the need for a fire risk assessment and provides information about what a property requires to comply with fire safety legislation.
At the very least, as a landlord, you must ensure you have an adequate means of escape route from your properties in case of fire and appropriate smoke detection. It is down to the ‘responsible person’ to ensure this is in place and so if you are the owner, manager, agent or even own a flat you must find out who that responsible person is as it may be you.
Every property you rent out must have a fire risk assessment. Fire risk assessments should be completed by a competent person with sufficient knowledge, experience and qualifications. To summarise, a fire risk assessment should identify any fire hazards, identify any persons at risk, evaluate, remove, remove or protect from risk, record, plan, inform, instruct and train and finally review the assessment on at least an annual basis or if there have been any significant changes.
To find out more about our residential fire risk assessments please see
http://www.whalefire.co.uk/residential-fire-risk-assessments.aspx
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Richard Whale
Director
We recommend you review your fire risk assessment at least every 12 months to ensure your compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 or sooner if:
· There have been any significant materials alterations to your premises
· There has been a change in the use of your premises
· There has been an increase in the number of people who occupy the premises
· You are applying for a new license or;
· Anything else that could impact upon the fire safety within the building that would benefit from a review of your fire risk assessment
It is important to ensure your fire risk assessment is carried out by a ‘competent person’. For more information about our latest fire risk assessment offer please see
http://www.whalefire.co.uk/fire-risk-assessments.aspx
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Richard Whale
Director
Whale Fire is delighted to announce we have been approved and accepted as a member of IFEDA (Independent Fire Engineering and Distributors). You can find us by clicking on the link below.
http://ifeda.org/user/whale-fire-limited/
We have also opened a new office in Crawley, West Sussex and can also be contacted at the following address:
Whale Fire Limited
Basepoint Business Centre
Metcalf Way
Crawley
West Sussex
RH11 7XX
Tel: 01293 972018
Stay safe
Richard
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Richard Whale
Director
Whale Fire Ltd
Tel: 020 7127 6843
Mob: 07590 762397
info@whalefire.co.uk
www.whalefire.co.uk