Fire strategies update: New evidence that we in the fire engineering industry MUST take seriously

From time to time, my colleagues and I receive example fire strategies from third parties who are concerned about the quality of the documents that they have been provided with. We of course keep the specific details confidential but we can confirm evidence that problems are at hand, just as there were, and are, with fire risk assessments.

I've recently assessed a set of fire strategies that simply have cut and pasted sections and diagrams from a national standard, with text that advises the building manager that this is what they need to do. Then there are strategies that we have come across that are basically badly written, and do not seem to provide sufficient details on any aspect of the fire protection provisions. And of course, there are some that are nothing more than fire risk assessments (and poor ones), labelled as fire strategies.

Those who have read my recent articles on "cheap and cheerful" fire strategies will be aware of my exasperation but this is something we as an industry need to tackle before it is too late.

So, if there are others out there who have concerns, let us come up with a way to prevent the inevitable.