Fire engineering and fire risk assessment are different disciplines and the words are used interchangeably by people buying both. A fire risk assessor appraises an existing building against the fire safety order. A fire engineer designs how a building will behave in a fire, and justifies departures from standard guidance with analysis. London projects frequently need the second and buy the first.
What a fire engineer does
Writes the fire strategy: compartmentation, escape routes, travel distances, occupancy assumptions, detection and alarm design intent, smoke control, fire service access and facilities, and structural fire resistance. Where a design departs from the standard guidance, the engineer justifies it with analysis, which may include evacuation modelling or smoke movement modelling. The output is a document that building control, the fire and rescue service and later the duty holder all work from.
When to appoint
Early, at concept design. A strategy written after the layout is fixed can only describe the problems the layout created. The cases that most need an engineer are atria, open plan and unusual layouts, buildings where standard travel distances cannot be met, phased or complex evacuation, large or mixed use buildings, and any refurbishment of a building whose original strategy is unknown.
The regulatory layer in London
Higher risk buildings carry duties under the building safety regime, including gateways during design and construction and a safety case afterwards. That regime asks for evidence and for named accountable people, and it changes the fire engineer's output from a design document into part of a case that has to be maintained for the life of the building.
What to ask for
The strategy as a document with the management assumptions stated explicitly, because those are what a duty holder inherits and what rots first. A clear statement of any departures from guidance and their justification. And the fire safety information the building regulations require to be handed to the responsible person at completion.
Questions people ask about fire engineering consultants london
Is a fire engineer needed for a small refurbishment?
Usually not, where the work is within standard guidance and the building's existing strategy is known. Where the strategy is unknown, establishing it is often the first piece of work.
Can a fire engineer write the fire risk assessment too?
Many can and the two documents answer different questions. A building needs both, and the assessment should be readable against the strategy.
Who enforces fire safety in London?
The London Fire Brigade for most premises, with the Building Safety Regulator involved for higher risk buildings during design, construction and occupation.