Vital for companies to meet new standards for higher risk buildings

Fire Sector Federation comments on ‘Setting the Bar’ report

The Fire Sector Federation welcomes today’s publication of the Setting the Bar report by the Competence Steering Committee (CSG,) established to tackle competence shortcomings identified in the Building a Safer Future report on the Grenfell Tower fire.

The report, in setting out a blueprint to improve competence for those working on higher-risk buildings, also paves the way for improvements in fire safety in all new buildings.

Members of the Federation made a significant contribution to the report across several working groups, with leading roles in the groups responsible for developing enhanced competence for fire engineers, installers and fire risk assessors. Across all of the working groups, seventeen Federation member organisations contributed their expertise and knowledge.

Dennis Davis, Executive Officer, Fire Sector Federation and chair of the Fire Risk Assessors working group said:

“The Setting the Bar report marks a significant milestone in addressing the building safety failings in competency identified by Dame Judith Hackitt. A huge amount of work has been undertaken to come this far and everyone involved recognised how vital it is to know that people working on higher-risk buildings achieve these higher standards of competence”.

“The work however continues to implement the report’s findings. The Federation is currently developing a code of practice on fire risk assessment to consolidate detailed criteria, is working with BSI to create a benchmark framework standard, is helping create fire safety educational material for those seeking to operate in properties with complex fire risk and has supplemented existing guidance on choosing fire risk assessors. Our commitment is to continue to develop and implement the recommendations to give the necessary reassurance to public, regulators and firefighters that only competent persons will work on high risk buildings.”

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