Dr Justin Maltby-Smith CEng FIET CMgr FCMI, former electrician/electrical contractor, NICEIC Head of Schemes and Operations, NAPIT Technical Scheme Development Manager, and current Group Managing Director for the BAFE Fire Safety Register, discusses fire safety work within the electrical industry.
For many years, there has been a potential misunderstanding about electricians and their abilities to work on wider life safety systems. Electricians are skilled people, but with this skill, knowledge, and experience comes the appropriate behaviours to clearly understand the limitations of their abilities. For example, commercial fire detection and alarm systems should be fully compliant with BS 5839-1, not just BS 7671 (and additional normative references). This work activity is not usually covered under the major electrical schemes available and, with further developments within the fire safety industry, the “Responsible Person” is becoming more aware of this fact.
The appointed “Responsible Person” has a duty to ensure their fire safety systems are suitable and maintained appropriately for their building. New legislation came into effect late last year to strengthen this obligation, with Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 making amendments to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. This better defined responsibility highlighting that appropriate record keeping of fire safety information is required for the building’s lifespan (including recording the external installers/service providers that were employed to help them fulfil their obligations).
This information is important to the electrical contracting industry as fire safety requirements are a far higher priority than ever before. Due diligence must be evidenced by the “Responsible Person” and therefore the choice of contractors shall be required to meet their increased competency specifications such as holding appropriate UKAS Accredited Third-Party Certification to work on fire (and wider life safety) systems.
Alongside the well-established fire detection and alarm system competency schemes available on the market, there are also additional electrotechnical related specialisms that Third-Party Certification can be achieved in, these include emergency lighting systems, and evacuation alert systems. Evacuation alert systems have had a dedicated British Standard (BS 8629) since 2019 which covers their design, installation, commissioning, and maintenance. It is imperative that all fire and life safety systems are suitable and are provided by competent installers who are working to the required British Standards/Codes of Practice. These specialist areas of expertise can be evidenced appropriately via Third-Party Certification (awarded by a UKAS Accredited Certification Body that is licensed by BAFE).
The BAFE competency Schemes available for the electrotechnical sector are as follows:
- BAFE SP203-1 (Design, Installation, Commissioning and Maintenance of Fire Detection and Fire Alarm Systems Scheme) is available for audit via multiple UKAS Accredited Certification Bodies.
- BAFE SP203-4 (Design, Installation, Commissioning and Maintenance of Emergency Lighting Systems Scheme) is available for audit via multiple UKAS Accredited Certification Bodies.
- BAFE SP207 (Design, Installation, Commissioning and Maintenance of Evacuation Alert Systems Scheme) is available for audit via multiple UKAS Accredited Certification Bodies.
- BAFE DS301 (Design, Installation, Commissioning and Maintenance of Grade D Fire Detection and Fire Alarm Systems in Domestic Premises) is available for audit via NAPIT.
Further information is available on the BAFE Fire Safey Register website at www.bafe.org.uk
Other stories
