Third Party Accreditation for the Fire Industry
All contractors offering fire equipment installation or maintenance, should adhere to British Standard 5839 Part 1:2002 A2, a detailed Code of Practice covering the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of fire detection systems.
Although compliance with these standards is a legal requirement, independent checks are rarely made across the fire protection industry, therefore it is vital to choose a specialist company you can trust.
Many reputable companies invest their time and money to undertake third party accreditation on a voluntary basis. This requires independent confirmation that products, services, systems and personnel meet and continue to meet certain standards and specifications. There are two ways in which fire protection companies gain third party accreditation:
BAFE (British Approvals for Fire Equipment) is a non-profit making organisation operating independent third party schemes of approval for fire protection systems and services. Accredited companies hold a BAFE SP203 certificate.
The Loss Prevention Council (now part of BRE Certification) provide a similar service. Approved companies hold LPS 1014 certificate.
“The Government supports the principle of third party certification as an aid to business in making informed decisions about the goods and services they purchase. Third party certification can provide valuable reassurances as to the competence and quality of these goods and services.”
Regulations and technology change so frequently which can make keeping up to date difficult, particularly if fire safety is only a part of your overall responsibilities. Choosing an accredited specialist is a cost effective and time efficient way of helping your business adhere to its ‘duty of care’ legal responsibilities, standards and specifications.
Insurance companies operate different underwriting policies, however insurers generally prefer the use of accredited providers.
The Fire Service is increasing moving to adopt a more controlled approach to managing attendance to false alarms of remotely monitored fire detection and alarm systems. This means that to obtain a response from a monitored fire alarm system, it will become necessary to have a URN (Unique Reference Number), issued by the Fire Service and this will only be available to accredited providers.
About SFS (UK) Ltd
- We are BAFE SP203 accredited specialists for fire protection.
- We are accredited by NSI.
- We specialise in both security and fire protection – so we are experienced in balancing the opposing needs of these two crucial areas.
- We are dedicated to protecting your people, your processes and your property.