Despite all the good work being undertaken through the Grenfell Inquiry, the Hackitt Review and other initiatives, it is the FPA’s view that much more needs to be achieved around competency. There is currently no consistent definition of what competency looks like outside of the industry for fire risk assessors, building managers, installers or maintainers of active or passive fire protection systems. This needs to change. 

As outlined in our first paper in this Know Your Building series, a comprehensive fire strategy and sound business continuity plan are needed in order for organisations to have a truly resilient approach to fire safety. However, another essential element is to ensure that those entrusted with managing fire safety, assessing fire risk and maintaining or installing equipment are competent to perform their roles. This concept of competency lies at the heart of any successful building fire protection strategy. It is a key link in the chain – without it, the chain is broken and safety may potentially be fatally compromised.

In this new mini paper we cover:

• Key areas currently lacking in Building Regulations
• Applying competency in practice
• Third party certification
• The role of the fire risk assessment

By sharing this mini paper, we hope to help you understand a little more about competency when it comes to fire safety and the actions you can take as a building owner or manager to ensure competency.