All premises that employ persons, with a few exceptions and including offices, shops, railway premises, hotels and factories are subject to the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 as amended by the Fire Precautions (Workplace) (Amendment) Regulations 1999.
All offices, shops, railway premises, hotels and factories that require a Fire Certificate are subject to the Fire Precautions act 1971. Any offices, shop, railway premises, or factory requires a Fire Certificate if, more than 20 persons are employed in the building or more than 10 person employed anywhere other than on the ground floor. If you own a hotel or boarding house and provide sleeping accommodation for more than six persons, being guests or staff, or this sleeping accommodation is above the first floor or below the ground floor you require a Fire Certificate.
All you are required to do, is to apply for a Fire certificate to your local fire brigade on form FP1. Until you are issued with a fire certificate you are obliged to carry out certain interim duties which are detailed by the fire brigade. The building will be eventually inspected and if the fire precautions are below a necessary standard, you will be required to be carried out certain works before a fire certificate can be issued.
This has produced a legislative overlap of fire safety requirements and it is hoped that this overlap will be resolved in future legislation hopefully when the proposed Fire Safety Act is placed on the statute book.
When a Fire Certificate is issued the owner or occupier is required to provide and maintain four principle items:
A means of escape is designed using a code of practice and in the case of existing offices it is "Fire Precautions in Offices and Shops" issued by the Home Office. In new buildings an approved document is used and all structural fire precautions should be resolved at building control stage, before you take occupancy. However you may have to provide portable fire extinguishers depending on the fire risks you introduce when you take occupancy. Further advice can be got from the Fire Brigade usually in the form of "Notes for Guidance" on any fire precaution matters.
Other means for securing the means of escape are for example, the provision of emergency lighting. If the premises are used at times, and the mains electricity was to fail, escape routes would not become impassable due to the darkness. Emergency lighting ensures a minimum level of light will always be present no matter what circumstances prevail. Another example is the provision of fire exit signs to indicate the path to safety. Also other signage to ensure the means of escape is always clear of obstructions and available.
All premises should be provided with adequate and effective fire fighting equipment. It should be able to deal with any small outbreak of fire in any part of the premises.
This means, maybe giving a warning verbally or the use of a manual gong, in a very small premises to a fully blown electrical fire alarm system in the larger premises. It usually means a break glass fire alarm system with or without the means of detecting devices which are required in certain circumstances.
In addition requirements may be imposed regarding:
Your means of escape in case of fire has to be maintained and unobstructed. All fire doors should be operating correctly and all doors be available when the premises are occupied. Other requirement may be enforced such as magnetic door catches be released at certain times and checked to see if they are working satisfactory.
You will be required to carry out regular fire training and record the results of that training. You will be required to keep records on other fire provisions like the testing of fire alarms, fire extinguishers and fire alarm equipment.
In most cases the means of escape is designed to evacuate all the occupants of the premises in the required time. However in a number of rare occasions when the means of escape cannot cope with the maximum number of people who could occupy the premises, a limit is placed on the premises. The occupancy number is recorded in the Fire Certificate and it is illegal to exceed this number if that is possible.
If there is any risk considered to be higher that the normal risk to persons residing on the premises additional requirements can be included in the Fire Certificate.
The following legislation may be relevant to a contracting entity preparing to seek authorisation for new or upgraded works etc. on the high-speed rail network:
There are a large number of acts and orders covering the construction of existing railways. There may be relevant information in any such act that relates to any railway that it is intended to modify.
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