The IFE has set out a roadmap to help those with responsibility for fire safety in high-rise buildings. We recognise that there will be a diverse range of people involved with different skills sets and knowledge and we can offer a tailored journey to suit individuals whether they have very little or vast experience in the role from a fire safety perspective.
With the tightening of legislation around the safety of some 12,500 high-rise buildings via the Building Safety Act and the Fire Safety Act, comes clear responsibilities for named individuals and organisations that look after those buildings known as Accountable Persons.
Accountable Persons are landlords, freeholders who are in charge of repairing the common parts of the building, including the structure, exterior and shared internal spaces. They could be an individual, a partnership or corporate body.
Government guidance sets out that all Accountable Persons will have statutory obligations to:
- Comply with the safety case and mandatory occurrence reporting requirements;
- Conduct an assessment of fire and structural safety risks for areas of responsibility;
- Prepare and keep under review a Residents’ Engagement Strategy;
- Provide residents with relevant safety information about the building;
- Keep and update prescribed information about the building; and
- Take all reasonable steps to prevent a major incident occurring (a major incident being defined as leading to a significant number of deaths or serious injury to a significant number of people) because of a building safety risk materialising and to reduce the severity of the incident.
Our qualifications are open to everyone, including non-members so individuals can become competent in their field. We also review and provide formal recognition of specific training courses, training providers and educational programmes of study that meet our quality standards. These courses feature in our Training and Development Directory which is freely available on our website and includes a geographic search function to help you find a course which is located conveniently for you.
If you decide to become a member of the IFE, among the member benefits, are practical and technical updates via the IFP Journal, access to the knowledge and insights offered by the IFE CPD Hub and access to our branch network where you can share knowledge with peers and take part in regular CPD events.
If you don’t have any fire-related qualifications, you can start out as an Affiliate member of the IFE where you can embark on a Level 2 Certificate in Passive Fire Protection to recognise:
- basic knowledge and understanding related to fire science and human behaviour that affects the requirements for passive fire protection
- basic knowledge of the main active fire protection systems and how these systems align with passive fire protection measures
- specialist technical understanding of passive fire protection measures
- knowledge of the factors that affect effective passive fire protection measures
- specialist understanding that supports effective performance in the workplace
If you already have basic knowledge of the above, you can advance your knowledge with the Level 3 Certificate in Passive Fire Protection which, along with evidencing your advanced knowledge, will meet the academic requirement for graded membership at Technician grade, earning you the internationally-recognised post nominals TIFireE.
To build on your knowledge, there is the Level 3 Certificate in Fire Safety which, together with the Level 3 Certificate in Fire Engineering Science + 2 other IFE Level 3 Certificates, will meet the academic requirement for Graduate membership and the post nominals GIFireE. The Level 3 Certificate in Fire Safety covers these areas relevant to your role as Accountable/Responsible Person:
- fire resistance in relation to different buildings and building materials
- the operation of fire protection equipment and assessment of the effectiveness of protection options in different situations
- fire safety principles and practices in diverse contexts
- assessing risks in different situations and identifying appropriate action to improve safety
Apply now to start your IFE membership journey.