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Cambridgeshire Fire & Resue Service

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Fire safety audit

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority has a statutory duty to enforce the provisions of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) in the county, to reduce the risk of fire causing death or serious injury to persons and to protect property. 

Our role is to provide practical fire safety advice and guidance to help you meet you legal obligations, which is partly achieved through our regular free workplace fire safety online sessions. 

We also conduct fire safety audits, which examine premises and relevant documents to ascertain how the premises is being managed and if the FSO is being complied with. Fire safety audits and inspections are conducted by competent staff. 

As part of the audit process we may require to inspect the following documents as evidence of compliance, which is then followed by a visual examination of the premises.

  • A suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, including details of the significant findings.
  • Fire safety policy.
  • Emergency evacuation plan and fire drill records.
  • Staff fire safety training records (induction/refresher/fire extinguishers).
  • Fire alarm system test records by management and competent engineer.
  • Emergency lighting system test records by management and competent engineer.
  • Fire extinguisher test records by a competent person.
  • Fixed electrical wiring test record for the building by a competent person.
  • Portable Appliance Test (PAT) records for electrical equipment by a competent person.

The above list is not exhaustive and other evidence may be required depending on the nature of the premises and/or the activities being conducted. 

Audits of premises are prioritised by risk. 

Certain incidents, trends or initiatives may redirect the focus of the inspection programme to other premises types. Fire safety audits and inspections are also conducted in the following circumstances:

  • Alleged fire risk (complaint).
  • Post fire audit (following a fire).
  • Follow-up audit (following a previous audit). 
  • In consultation with other authorities (e.g. premises licence application). 
  • On request from others (regulators or owner/occupiers).