Fire officers what powers do they have

Went to estimate a job last week, in a an old 3 storey multi occupancy building, that has been trading for numeous years, fire officer turns up and says he wants a fire door fitted into a short corridor between two staircases, the problem being there is no space for the door to be fitted.

There are already fire exits to fresh air on each floor.

So does the fireman have any power to demand that one is fitted.

Whadda Building Regs have to say?

project – Member

So does the fireman have any power to demand that one is fitted.

Yes if I can recall … no fire certificate etc if they want to be really difficult. For commercial building that can be a pain in the backside later on for insurance etc … I think.

i thought fire certificates wher now cancelled, and the buissnes nmade a self assesment of fire risk.

I think they can fly, and have X-ray vision. ot sure of any other powers though.

Where I work the corridor is full of fire doors and if I am not mistaken we were told to put them in … not sure about fire certificate etc as we just comply.

The problem is its a short corridor about 10 foot long from top of staircase to base of other staircase with a door in the midle to another office, and the staircase is open on the upper treads, and building regs dont allow a door to be on the top step of a staircase or within a certain distance of a bottom step, eg there must be a landing area.

No such thing as a fire certificate now since the Regulatory reform Fire Safety Order in 2005. It’s now down to fire risk assessment carried out by a competent person.

For multi occupancy buildings that out of my level of competence, but there are plenty of specialist consultants about.

So fire safety is not my area of expertise however I can give you my opinion. If the staircases are two seperate means of escape we may require a fire door ( not to be confused with a fire exit) to be fitted to provide seperation so if one staircase is compromised by smoke it will prevent the other going the same way.
Difficult to comment to much without seeing it.

As for powers well we can prohibit the use of a building or require you to comply with an improvement letter and anything in between. My advice would be talk to the FP officer and see whst his reasons are and where he may be willing to compromise.
Just for interest a fire exit must lead to a place of ultimate safety not just fresh air

can confirm the rro2005(fire certificates are long gone)
speak with the fire protection officer there are clear rules on escape routes and fire doors so he should be able to say if this is a must or a nice to (good practice)
yes companies are now responsible for there own fire risk assessments but building regs and legislation still cover the building works

The Regulatory Reform Order means it’s now the responsible person’s duty to make an assessment, but it doesn’t mean you can assess something as safe if it’s not, and there are some requirements – see s14, and enforcement powers, see s27.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1541/contents/made

As above…. Also take a look at BS9999 which is more risk based that AD B and allows for improvements.

Unsure about the detail and if its two separate staircases or separation between flights of if the top office leads directly onto the staircase and hence the door separation