As an employer, building owner, landlord or occupier in control of non-domestic premises, you are legally responsible for fire safety. Under UK law, the designated ‘Responsible Person’ must maintain strict fire compliance, and a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) is the vital first step to identifying hazards and keeping people safe.

However, for many SMEs, the real challenge begins after the assessment. Too often, the report is left unactioned.

Don’t file your Fire Risk Assessment – act on it!

If you are the Responsible Person for your premises, your statutory duty doesn’t simply end when the FRA has been completed, although we appreciate that knowing where to start if your report has identified issues with fire doors, fire stopping or fire compartmentation, can be overwhelming.

Your FRA could include actions points like the examples listed below:

• Have fire doors inspected by a competent person
• Repair or replace defective fire doors
• Investigate existing fire compartmentation
• Repair breaches within fire-resisting walls or floors
• Provide suitable fire stopping around service penetrations
• Inspect compartmentation within ceiling voids, roof spaces or other concealed areas

A list of actions, long or short, often leads to the following questions being asked:

• What exactly needs inspecting?
• Does everything need replacing?
• How much are these tasks going to cost?
• Can the building still be occupied?

This is why it’s important to understand that the FRA is the starting point – not the finish line.

Confused as to what to do next?

Don’t be – simply get in touch with our Passive Fire Protection & Doors division for professional support and services that will turn your action points into actioned points and total peace of mind.

If you’re the Responsible Person, you don’t need to become an expert in fire doors, fire stopping or compartmentation. Accessing specialist knowledge and competent assistance is essential to determining the appropriate next steps.

Fire safety solutions such as fire alarms, emergency lighting and fire extinguishers are visible. They’re familiar to most businesses and are generally subject to regular servicing and maintenance, whereas passive fire protection can be much less obvious and therefore often overlooked.

At TP Passive Fire we provide the following services to prevent fire and keep those within your building safe:

• Fire door inspections
• Fire door remedial works and repairs
• New and replacement fire doors
• Fire compartmentation surveys and inspections
• Fire stopping installation and repairs
• Fire compartmentation installation
• Fire curtains within voids and roof spaces
• Surveys and inspections (not FRAs)

From Action to Actioned

If your FRA raises concerns about fire doors, a fire door inspection can provide a clearer picture of their condition and identify individual defects. Some doors may require remedial work. Others may require replacement. Importantly, identifying the actual defects allows decisions to be based on evidence rather than assumption.

The same principle applies to fire compartmentation. Where concerns are identified, a fire compartmentation survey or inspection can help establish where defects exist and what further action is required.

For the Responsible Person, this creates a much clearer journey:

FRA → Inspect → Understand → Prioritise → Remediate → Record → Actioned

The objective isn’t to create another report to add to the first one.

It’s to create a practical route towards resolving the actions.

Does It All Need Doing at Once?

This is an understandable concern for SMEs. Budgets aren’t unlimited, and a list of passive fire protection defects can initially appear daunting.

The priority should be establishing what is actually required. A defective fire door, for example, doesn’t automatically mean that a completely new doorset is required. Depending on the door and the defects identified, appropriate remedial works may be possible.

Likewise, identifying concerns with compartmentation doesn’t necessarily mean undertaking extensive works throughout an entire building without first understanding the extent of the issue. A detailed inspection can help turn uncertainty into a defined scope of work. This gives the Responsible Person better information to understand the issues identified and determine the appropriate actions.

Why choose TP Passive Fire?

As an established company with over 30 years’ experience, we support SMEs across London and the South East ensuring your new or existing building meets the very highest of compliance standards. TP Passive Fire holds third-party certification under recognised LPCB schemes. For the Responsible Person, third-party certification provides additional assurance when selecting a specialist contractor to undertake important works.

Act today and contact TP Passive Fire – Simplifying Passive Fire Protection.

From specialist inspections and surveys through to fire door repairs, replacement, fire stopping and compartmentation works, we provide a straightforward route from FRA action to completion.

Useful links:

https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/safety/the-workplace/fire-safety-law-explained/

https://www.gov.uk/workplace-fire-safety-your-responsibilities/fire-risk-assessments

https://www.hse.gov.uk/comah/sragtech/techmeasfire.htm

https://www.redbooklive.com/search?search=Total%20Protection%20