The LWF Blog

Fire Engineering Design and Risk Assessment – Fire Safety Management – Part 10

January 6, 2020 2:15 pm

In LWF’s Fire Engineering blog series for Architects and others involved in building design, we have been looking at the activities of a company which can be classed as fire safety management. In part 9, LWF looked the purpose and contents of the fire safety manual. In part 10, we continue discussing the fire safety manual by considering those items which should be included.

The fire safety manual needs to contain information in two subject areas – Part 1 relates to design information and part 2 covers operational records.

Part 1 – Design information should include the following elements:

– A fire safety policy statement which has been endorsed by the highest level of management
– A fire safety specification for the building which includes layout plans
– Details of any fire modelling undertake in the buildings design
– Details of any assumptions, inputs and outputs to any computer models used
– Quantitative or qualitative risk assessments and sensitivity analyses
– A full description of all active and passive fire protection and fire safety measures
– The integration between active and passive fire safety measures
– Particular hazards and identified fire risks, including particular hazards relating to firefighters
– The planned inspection, testing and maintenance schedules for all systems
– Details of any control system utilised in the building
– Details of critical transportation routes for building’s services
– The escape routes from the building should be detailed
– The assembly/muster points should be detailed
– Exterior and interior access information for the Fire Service
– The pre-planned procedures agreed with the Fire Service
– Pre-planned procedures for salvage
– Details of any firefighting equipment in the building
– What communication systems are in the building?
– Details of what steps have been taken to prevent fire, security risks and arson prevention
– Any IT system used to manage the fire safety manual (e.g. maintenance schedules, records)
– CDM Regulations information
– Any information relating to certification
– Any information relating to licensing
– Information relating to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, or equivalent in Scotland or Northern Ireland
– Copies of all certifications and licenses
– Any other information or supporting documentation relating to other reasons for protecting the property, e.g. property, contents, fabric, heritage, environment.

In part 11, LWF will look at Part 2 – Operational records and what elements should be included in the fire safety manual. In the meantime, if you have any questions about this blog, or wish to discuss your own project with one of our fire engineers, please contact us.

Lawrence Webster Forrest has been working with their clients for over 25 years to produce innovative and exciting building projects. If you would like further information on how LWF and fire strategies could assist you, please contact the LWF office on 0800 410 1130.

While care has been taken to ensure that information contained in LWF’s publications is true and correct at the time of publication, changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of this information.