Commercial fire protection and safety
Commercial fire protection and safety are crucial to protecting both people and the infrastructure they rely on. Whether for staff, contractors, customers, or visitors, ensuring compliance with fire safety regulations is a legal requirement and a vital duty of care.
Commercial buildings contain valuable assets and infrastructure that can suffer devastating losses in a fire. Our experienced team, backed by a data-driven approach, ensures your property is fully compliant, regularly inspected, and prepared to prevent fires from starting, spreading, and causing harm.
Our commercial fire protection and safety services
Our services cover a wide range of sectors, including offices, retail, industrial, and education, ensuring compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Key services include:
- Fire Risk Assessments (FRA): We conduct in-person inspections to identify and mitigate fire hazards, ensuring legal compliance.
- Compartmentation surveys: Assessing compliance with Approved Document B and manufacturer specifications for proper fire containment.
- Fire door surveys: Using a data-driven approach, we inspect and monitor fire doors, offering repairs where needed.
- Fire door installations: As members of the accredited certification body BM Trada, we use the UKAS-accredited scheme to complete our fire door installation and maintenance work to the highest standard.
- Fire damper testing: Annual testing and maintenance to ensure these safety devices effectively contain fires within designated areas.
- Fire strategy reports: We produce a strategic overview of the approach taken to demonstrate compliance with Approved Document B for retrospective and new build premises.
We also provide specialist inspections to assess and enhance your fire safety measures.
Commercial building fire safety requirements and regulation
If you own a commercial building, it’s likely that hundreds – if not thousands – of people will enter your premises a day, so your legal duty is to ensure those people are protected from fire.
If you own or manage a commercial property, protecting occupants from fire is a legal obligation. Key regulations include:
- Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005: Requires fire risk assessments and appropriate measures to mitigate risks.
- Approved Document Part B: Offers statutory guidance on fire safety, covering escape routes, fire spread prevention, and structural fire protection.
It is also a legal requirement for fire dampers – a device that triggers a mechanical curtain or blade to immediately close when heat or smoke is detected to prevent spread – to be tested and cleaned every year and is just as important as the regular testing of fire alarms and fire door inspections in a property.
While we judge the effectiveness of sprinkler systems, smoke detectors, and fire extinguishers during our inspections, we also place high importance on passive fire protection (PFP).
PFP comprises systems and solutions integrated into the building structure to contain fires or slow their spread. Often invisible and overlooked, PFP plays a critical role, particularly in compartmentation and fire-stopping efforts.
Properly installed PFP can contain fires within their point of origin, preventing further spread and negating the need to deploy suppression systems, thus minimising damage to property. We believe a comprehensive fire safety strategy should always include PFP to ensure the best protection for life and assets.
Fire safety challenges for commercial
Commercial buildings face unique fire safety challenges despite assumptions of lower risk. High foot traffic, valuable inventory, and diverse operations increase vulnerabilities, including:
- Dust accumulation: Dust in vents can hinder passive fire protection (PFP) efficiency. We clean and install barriers to prevent future build-up.
- Data cable hazards: Data cables can pose significant risks. We ensure effective PFP installation and educate clients to maintain fire safety during future works.
- Coordination with multiple stakeholders: Managing fire safety in multi-tenant buildings requires collaboration. We liaise with all stakeholders to ensure effective inspections, maintenance, and compliance.
Frequently asked questions
Who is responsible for fire safety in commercial premises?
Responsibility may fall to:
- The owner
- The landlord
- The employer
- The occupier
- Facilities managers, risk assessors, or property management companies
Why choose us for your commercial fire safety requirements?
With over 20 years of experience, Fire Consultancy Specialists offers comprehensive fire safety solutions tailored to commercial properties.
Using tools like PlanRadar, we provide detailed photographic reports, pinpointing fire door locations and conditions to help clients address maintenance needs. Our impartial, independent inspections guarantee fair and accurate results, separate from installing contractors.
We prioritise passive fire protection (PFP) to help contain fires at their source, minimising damage, protecting lives, and reducing downtime. Our tailored solutions have saved clients significant financial losses and enabled swift recovery from fire incidents. With Fire Consultancy Specialists, you gain a trusted partner dedicated to safeguarding your property and its occupants.
Our accreditations
Affiliation Of Fire Door Inspectors (AFDI):
Fire Consultancy Specialists is a proud member of the AFDI, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to promoting best practices among professional fire door inspectors. Our affiliations with Constructionline Gold, CHAS, and SafeContractor further demonstrate our commitment to maintaining the highest standards in health and safety.
BM Trada fire door maintenance and installations:
Fire Consultancy Specialists is approved under the BM Trada Q-Mark scheme, a UKAS-accredited certification programme. This certification validates our expertise in conducting fire door condition surveys, inspections, repairs, maintenance, installations, and documentation. Our approval involves rigorous assessments of our processes, procedures, and the skills and qualifications of our personnel, ensuring every aspect of fire door safety meets the highest industry standards.
Contact us today to discuss our commercial fire safety services:
We strive to be in constant communication with our clients. To discuss, just drop us a line. We look forward to working with your business.