Fire protection products and related services should be fit for their purpose and properly installed and maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions or the relevant British Standard.
Third-party certification schemes for fire protection products and related services are an effective means of providing the fullest possible assurances, offering a level of quality, reliability and safety that non-certificated products may lack. This does not mean goods and services that are not third-party approved are less reliable, but there is no obvious way in which this can be demonstrated.
Third-party quality assurance can offer comfort both as a means of satisfying you that goods and services you have purchased are fit for purpose, and as a means of demonstrating that you have complied with the law.
However, to ensure the level of assurance offered by third party schemes, you should always check whether the company you employ sub-contracts work to others. If they do, you will want to check that the subcontractors are subject to the same level of checks of quality and competence as the company you are employing.
Your local fire and rescue service, fire trade associations or your own trade association may be able to provide further details about third-party quality assurance schemes and the various organisations that administer them.
^top of the page
Next: Risks & Preventive Measures >> << Maintenance and Recording
