Apology accepted Phil; I was wondering why it took you so long to join the debate!!? I was beginning to think that you left the tricky ones alone!!
Joking apart though as Val puts it I do have to actually sought this one out and give the client the best possible cost effective legal solution.
I have spoke to the UK head office today of the organization concerned (although the 2 premises I am dealing with are independently run by a charity) this issue will come up again as they have removed wardens from premises throughout the UK. It really centers on working time directives for the warden and to comply they would have to employ 3 wardens covering 8 our shifts, tripling the wage bill. The client was advised that the current operation was illegal and to remove the wardens. This was done obviously without consideration for the fire safety implications.
Interestingly the head office tell me that they are in close contact with several fire and rescue authorities throughout the UK (which would indicate the RRFSO applies) and they have had very varied responses and conflicting advice (never I said!!) Some are advocating total evacuation as the only control measure and others going for upgrade to the fire alarms (ranging from L1 to L3) with no sprinklers and then some going for the lot.
Obviously each one needs to be indepently assessed and specific recommendations made for each home. The spokesperson for the head office is recommending residential sprinklers but there are the obvious cost implications. I know the basics but does anyone know the required standard for this type of premises. I am assuming they would not need to comply with LPC rules as they would be a life safety system? They would need to comply with the relevant DD document?
Should the company installing the sprinklers have a recognized accreditation?
Which body should they belong to?
Has anyone dealt with a reputable firm?
Thanks
