Hi Tom
Sorry I should point out you were both legally and technically correct in your post which referred to Article 5(3) / 32(1), however proving such an offence has been committed is a different kettle of fish for several reasons.
In the Nottingham case the RP was prosecuted along with the assessor. However I do not believe you would ever get a prosecution solely against a risk assessor without the RP getting collared too.
This thread is talking about shoddy assessors who keep winging it, and keep trading, churning out poor assessments, and the question was asked "Why aren't fire authorities tackling poor risk assessors?" The answer is how would they do it? Particularly where no one has been injured or killed?
If we play arm chair lawyers, the answer should be simple "of course fire authorities can and should chase after these dodgy assessors" because the RR(FS)Order says they can.
But is the spirit of the Order to have fire officers chasing after dodgy assessors in this manner or is this type of enforcement fall more into the Trading Standards camp, because the lines are somewhat blurry. Also you have to ask would fire authorities have the resources to chase after every dodgy assessor they came across.
The fire officer's primary role is to ensure premises comply with fire safety legislation, not catch rogue traders, thats more Trading Standards territory.
I would suggest Trading Standards teams would be more effective at combating dodgy or reckless assessors in the way that many on this thread would want. They would I am sure secure a better hit rate on dodgy assessors, in cases of course where no one was injured or killed.