Hello,

I'm in the seventh semester of studying Security & Safety Engineering B.Sc. at the Furtwangen University in Germany. I am currently working on my bachelor thesis. This is entitled "Comparison of the legal status and training of fire protection officers in German-speaking countries and selected Anglo-Saxon countries ".  In particular, i would like to investigate the situation in united kingdom as part of this work.

In Germany, Switzerland and Austria it is mandatory it is compulsory to employ a fire protection officer ("Brandschutzbeauftragter") in complex buildings. For example in big industrial buildings.

According to The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 it is necessary to do a fire risk assessment. The responsible person is allowed to do this on her own.

Is there any kind of legal obligation to have the evaluation for complex buildings carried out by professionals? (Professionals refers to certified providers)?

Are the assessments for complex buildings checked for correctness by experts from your authority?

 

Thanks,

Vincent

 

The law only requires someone to be 'competent'. Guidance recommends the use of qualified and ideally independently certified assessors for complex premises, but this isn't mandatory (although the law is likely to change later in the year for High Rise Residential Buildings making the use of certain professionals mandatory)

The Fire & Rescue Service are the primary enforcer (with a few exceptions) of fire safety legislation and have a routine enforcement audit programme based on the risk category of premises, as well as reactive audit post fire or public complaint.

Many thanks for your answer! 

 

Are there any legal obligations to employ someone (all year round) to take care of company fire protection? In Germany this is necessary for a lot of Buildings. 

To give you some examples:

- Big industrial Buildings

- Big meeting places (Stadions, Theaters, Universities)

-  Recycling companies

- many more special buildings

I cannot imagine, that there are companies in england with a high fire risk that do not have permanent employees who take care of fire protection. 

 

There needs to be a 'competent person' nominated, but it doesn't have to be (& rarely is) a full time role, often added to existing roles - HR, Facilities Management, Health & Safety, etc