Fire risk assessment

The assessment required under the Fire Safety Order of fire hazards, the people at risk, and the measures to prevent fire and protect people, applying to construction sites as to any other workplace.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order applies to construction sites, and the responsible person (in practice the principal contractor, or the contractor in control) must carry out and record a fire risk assessment: the sources of ignition (hot works, electrics, heaters, smoking, plant), the fuel (timber, insulation, packaging, fuel stores, gas cylinders, waste), the people at risk and where they will be (including on scaffolds, in basements and at height where escape is slow), the means of raising the alarm and of escape, the fire-fighting equipment, and the arrangements for emergency, including liaison with the fire service and a muster point. It is reviewed as the site changes, because a building under construction changes its fire characteristics weekly: compartmentation is incomplete, fire doors are not fitted, sprinklers are not live and the escape routes move.

The Joint Code of Practice on fire prevention on construction sites, a condition of most contract works insurance, adds requirements: a site fire safety plan and coordinator, hot works permits with fire watch, control of combustible materials and waste, security against arson, and specific arrangements for timber-frame construction. Sites with sleeping accommodation nearby or in the building have heightened duties. The commonest findings are blocked escape routes, extinguishers missing or the wrong type at hot works, and gas cylinders stored inside.

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