Third Party Accreditation

Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017, it was recognised through the Building a Safer Future report that Competence of those operating within the Building Regulations and Fire Safety industry needed to be more rigid.

After the report was published in 2018, the Engineering Council, as a UKAS member was invited to join the Industry Response Group’s Competence Steering Group (CSG). This resulted in a further working group, known as WG1, which developed competence standards for those working on higher-risk residential buildings in the UK.

Contextualised Auditors Register (CAR)

To enhance public safety, the Engineering Council has committed to working with professional engineering institutions, such as the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) to ensure that competence is consistently and fairly assessed.

This is evidenced through a rigorous assessment process that all fire safety Regulators (Inspecting Officers) who wish to prove their competence must undertake. Each Officer must demonstrate their competence through:

• a written application,

• submission of a personal portfolio of work and;

• a professional discussion.

Competence of individuals will be assessed by other industry professionals who have proven their ability. Once an individual has demonstrated their ability to meet the relevant competence standards, they are deemed “third party accredited” by recognised industry professionals, the Engineering Council and IFE.

Currently, only Inspecting Officers who hold a Level 4 Diploma in Fire Safety are eligible to become third-party accredited.

Once successful, Inspecting Officers will be awarded with the accolade of Engineering Technician (denoted by the post-nominal “EngTech”) and Graduate of the Institution of Fire Engineers (denoted by the post-nominal “GIFireE”). This professional recognition helps others to easily identify those who are third-party accredited as Fire Risk Auditors.

Following implementation in 2022-23, the NFCC encourages all Enforcing Authorities of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and their Inspecting Officers to engage with the process.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is committed to ensuring the highest standard of public safety and so implementation of this process is well underway. It is the ambition of the Service to register all existing Inspecting Officers (at the time of implementation) by 2028. All new Inspecting Officers (since implementation) are expected to become third-party accredited.

The IFE Fire Risk Auditor Register

All formally registered Inspecting Officers and other accredited fire safety professionals are listed on a publicly available register, that can be searched using the IFE website.

Other Professional Memberships

Many professionals, including Inspecting Officers, choose to belong to more than one professional body. Many professional membership organisations offer useful tools and resources to help enhance the skills, knowledge and behaviours of those who regulate and advise on fire safety.

Many membership organisations offer several “grades”. Each grade gives a general sense for the members knowledge and experience. Different grades are usually denoted with different post-nominals.