Apr
30
Fire Assessment Equipment
April 30, 2011 | 1 Comment
If you only have a small business, do you have to have a full Fire Alarm System installed for your fire assessment.
From an accommodation providers point of view, which the government thinks is that important they’ve created a separate booklet just for the accommodation sector called:
‘Fire Safety Risk Assessment Sleeping Accommodation’
I run a 9 bed roomed guest house. When the old Fire Certificate System (what was issued by your local fire brigade before the new Fire Risk Assessment laws) was in place you could trade with 6 bed spaces as long as they where not above the first floor; not rooms, bed spaces. So if you had two double rooms and two single rooms on the first floor you didn’t need a Fire Certificate, however if you had three doubles and a single room you would have to have one.
Enter your email on the right for a free copy of our Fire Risk Assessment that will help you create your own.
Consequently as we grew we installed a full alarm system and I must admit Fire Inspectors like to see a full system installed.
But what about the lady down the road who takes in one or two guest in the week to help with the bills.
I put that question to our local Fire Inspector when he came to view our Fire Risk Assessment for the first time, his answer was.
“No, but I’d like to see fire doors off the main means of escape and connecting smoke detectors in each room”
The main means of escape would be her stairs and landings; so every bedroom off that area, except for the bathroom, which is seen as low risk, would have to have a fire door fitted. The connecting smoke detectors seem a big job but the Fire Inspector did indicate that the wire connecting the detectors could be surface mounted where as in a full system to would be covered.
It must be said that under the old system there was a gap that needed plunging, up to 6 people sleeping over night in a building their not familiar with and no fire precautions in place was not very safe.
Comments
1 Comment so far
We come across this issue all the time, very helpful article. Thank you.