What we do, and what you get back

Every commercial and residential building with communal areas carries a legal duty, under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, to hold a suitable and sufficient Fire Risk Assessment, and to keep it under regular review. We carry out FRAs across all building types, from single commercial units to large multi-occupancy residential blocks.

The assessment covers means of escape, fire detection and warning systems, emergency lighting, fire compartmentation, ignition and fuel sources, and the management arrangements in place to maintain fire safety day to day. Every significant finding is recorded and risk-rated on site, not reconstructed from memory afterwards.

Compartmentation is what stops a fire in one part of a building spreading to the rest of it, and it's often the area a routine Fire Risk Assessment can't fully verify, particularly above ceilings, within risers, and in other concealed spaces. A dedicated compartmentation survey goes further, physically inspecting the structure itself.

We examine fire-resisting walls, floors, ceilings, voids and protected shafts, along with the doors and service penetrations that pass through them. Typical issues include unsealed gaps around pipework and cabling, missing or damaged cavity barriers, and fire doors that no longer perform within the compartment line.

Fire doors are only effective if installed and maintained correctly. Since 23 January 2023, buildings over 11 metres with communal areas carry a specific legal duty to check them: quarterly for doors in common parts, and annually (best endeavours) for flat entrance doors.

With over 20 years' hands-on experience in fire door manufacture, installation and maintenance, and BM TRADA Q-Mark certification in both Fire Door Installation and Fire Door Maintenance, we survey doorsets for the defects that actually compromise performance: incorrect leaf and frame gaps, missing or damaged intumescent strips and cold smoke seals, faulty self-closing devices, worn hinges, incorrect glazing and glazing beads, non-compliant signage, and incorrect installation.

Fire stopping is the sealing of gaps, joints and service penetrations in fire-resisting walls, floors and ceilings, commonly disturbed by cabling, pipework and ductwork installed during refurbishment or maintenance. A fire stopping survey identifies where this integrity has been lost.

We inspect penetration seals, linear gap seals and cavity barriers against recognised industry guidance, checking for breaches that would otherwise let fire and smoke pass between compartments. This is carried out as a standalone survey or alongside a wider compartmentation survey, depending on what's already known about the building.