English Fire Minister announces ruling on hotel bedroom door case

From @fireindustry

A follow on for previous post regarding this issue. It appears that FRA's are required to be undertaken until one agrees with the Fire Authority.

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11 May 2012 Remember the links are for Legislation in England & Wales only.

Fire minister Bob Neil has called on the responsible person of a hotel to carry out a new fire risk assessment in order to resolve a dispute over how to improve fire safety standards.

The enforcing authority and responsible person at an unnamed hotel were at odds of whether to fit intumescent strips and smoke seals on 167 bedroom doors.

The dispute revolves around the requirement of article 9 of the Fire Safety Order, which calls for the responsible person to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks from fire and to record the measures which will be taken.

While the enforcing authority called for the installation of the strips and seals to help reduce risk of injury or death in a fire, the responsible person claimed that a new fire risk assessment will be sufficient as long as the lack of these measures was recorded.

Following advice from the chief fire and rescue adviser, Mr Neil determined that the most appropriate way to comply with article 9 is for the responsible person to prepare a new risk assessment and justify the absence of intumescent strips and smoke seals.

His ruling, based on article 36 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, claimed that the measures are unjustified due to their expense and minimal potential safety improvements.