The maze of regulations and compliance requirements can make it very difficult to know exactly what has to be done to ensure you meet your legal obligations, and to ensure you keep buildings protected and people safe.

 

It can mean you end up with a small army of experts and service providers to keep it all on track – meaning the costs and time involved in maintaining fire protection compliance can be high if you don't keep it simple by using a single service provider.

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Following installation the Local Building Authority (usually a local Council) issues a compliance schedule which lists all the specified systems in the building that must be maintained, according to what standards, and how frequently.

 

However building systems can deteriorate over time, or be modified, or fail to operate for any reason.  Like a vehicle Warrant of Fitness, a Building Warrant of Fitness (BWoF) ensures that systems are tested and maintained at regular intervals, so that should a fire situation arise the fire protection systems will operate as they should. Click here to see more on specified systems.

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A Building Warrant of Fitness is required where a compliance schedule has been issued for a building.

In general each of the Specified Systems from SS1 to SS15 will have a specific compliance schedule.

 

After testing and maintenance has been completed according to the compliance schedule a Building Warrant of Fitness is issued by the Local Building Authority which confirms that Fire Protection systems will perform as expected. Testing must be signed off by an IQP - Independent Qualified Person - who is registered with the local Building Authority.

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A BWoF verifies that the inspection, maintenance and reporting procedures for all the specified systems within a building have been carried out in accordance with the compliance schedule for the previous 12 months.

 

Section 108 of the Building Act requires that a BWoF must:

 

-  Be supplied on each anniversary of the issue of the compliance schedule

 

-  State the location of the compliance schedule and associated compliance schedule reports

 

-  State that the inspection, maintenance, and reporting procedures have been fully complied with during the

   previous 12 months

 

-  Have attached to it all Form 12A certificates  issued by IQPs for the specified systems

 

-  Have attached to it any recommendations from an IQP to amend the compliance schedule.