A third party accreditation scheme for fire risk assessors accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) has been launched by Warrington Certification, in association with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

The scheme is the first for fire risk assessors to be UKAS accredited and complies with BS EN ISO/IEC 17024: 2003, the standard for bodies operating the certification of competent persons. It is open to practising fire risk assessors who want to demonstrate their competence through third party assessment. For those affiliated to RICS, the scheme provides the basis for entry onto a register of competent fire risk assessors held and managed by the institution.

Candidates who apply for certification must pass a two stage process to demonstrate their technical competence. The first stage involves a detailed review of previous work carried out by the assessor, and the second stage is a three-part technical interview. In order to maintain certification assessors are subject to surveillance criteria every two years.

"'Responsible persons' who wish to appoint a ‘competent' fire risk assessor to carry out a fire risk assessment on their behalf, should ensure that any assessor they appoint is ‘competent' to complete the assessment," said Simon Ince from Warrington Certification. "With no regulation or control from central government, currently anyone can set themselves up as a practising fire risk assessor regardless of knowledge, experience or training."

Colin Todd, chairman of the Fire Industry Association's fire risk assessment council welcomed the development. He said:

 "The FIA fully support the principle of third party certification for those in the fire industry providing products and services. Given the significance of fire risk assessment as the underpinning for fire safety in non-domestic buildings under the current fire safety legislation throughout the UK, it is important that this principle extends to those carrying out fire risk assessment."