Pre-Occupation Fire Safety Assessment are now available from London Fire Risk Assessments!

by Heather Hall Heather Hall has led the Coordinating team at LFRA

A Pre Occupation Fire Safety Assessment Report is the result of a process of identifying proposed Passive and Active Fire provisions, precautions and procedures proposed for a newly constructed or altered Premise, Building, taking into account an accepted Fire strategy, and deciding whether or not the new or refurbished Premise is likely to be fit for occupation.

The resulting Pre-Occupation Fire Risk Assessment will help with the design and construction phase and transfer to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 Fire Safety Risk Assessment for the beginning of the operating phase of the new Premise.

The Pre-Occupation Fire Risk Assessment will identify the following:

The applicable Fire Safety Legislation and the appropriate Fire Safety Guidance documents.

The structure and purpose of the Building, Premise.

Means of Escape.

Internal Fire Spread.

External Fire Spread.

Passive and Active Fire Safety provisions, precautions and procedures.

Fire Fighting Provisions.

Fire Protection Measures.

                                                                                                                                                                             Paraphrasing Fire risk assessment. Premises other than housing. Code of practice. PAS 79-1:2020                                                                                                                                    PAS 79-1:2020 © The British Standards Institution 2020;

A Fire Risk Assessment can only validly be carried out on Premises that are in use, or partial use, so that the actual working conditions, practices and procedures can be taken into account. The Fire Risk Assessment required by the relevant Fire Safety Legislation, to which this Publically Available Specification 79 refers, cannot be carried out at the design stage of new premises, nor is it a means for “snagging”, or verifying the adequacy of, fire precautions in newly constructed premises prior to occupation.

Parts of the Fire Safety Assessment can be used for such a purpose, in order to review Fire protection measures at the design stage, and to assist in ensuring that the Premise, once constructed, is adequately safe from Fire for occupation, but such an exercise would not constitute a suitable and sufficient Fire Risk Assessment, as Management issues and Operational issues cannot be properly addressed. Equally, it is sometimes necessary to carry out a Fire Risk Assessment for a Building that is only in partial use, subject to a further Fire Risk Assessment being carried out when the Building is subject to a further level of, or total, occupation.

NOTE 4  This does not imply that there is no need for a Fire Risk Assessment for vacant premises.       For example, when premises become vacant for any period during the life of the Building, they are not excluded from the scope of Fire Safety Legislation. Notwithstanding the above, on completion of a new Building, or of major refurbishments, major alterations, etcetera., there can be benefit in carrying out a; “Pre-occupation Fire Safety Assessment.”

Pre-occupation Fire Safety Assessments are carried out if the end user wants to establish that the construction stage of the Building has been completed, the Fire Strategy has been implemented correctly, and the necessary Fire Safety design measures have been incorporated, prior to handover and subsequent occupation.                                                                                                                              This information is usually communicated in the findings of a; “Pre-occupation Fire Safety Assessment.”

It is important that a “Pre-occupation Fire Safety Assessment” is not confused with the Fire Risk Assessment.’’ The former is undertaken simply to ensure a smooth transition from the design and construction phase to the operational phase of new or refurbished premises. However, even a “Pre-occupation Fire Safety Assessment.” may not necessarily identify all latent defects in construction.

LONDON FIRE RISK ASSESSMENTS offer Pre-Occupation Fire Safety Assessments, they are an independent Fire Safety Consultancy, not affiliated to any Fire Protection Safety Service, so they can provide unbiased advice. All their Fire Safety Assessors are retired Fire Brigade, Fire Safety Officers and are members of the Institute of Fire Safety Managers and have qualified with the Fire Protection Association and the Institution of Fire Engineers. If you require a Pre-Occupation Fire Safety Assessment, then contact them on 0781 8888626 London or 07824 185293 Manchester alternatively click here.

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Created on Jun 15th 2021 05:24. Viewed 434 times.

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