The tragedy of Grenfell led to a complete reevaluation of fire safety which included the new PAS 79:2020 code of practice.
Everyone from lobbyists and housing professionals, to the general public called for more stringent housing-centric recommendations to be implemented. The new legislation detailing specific recommendations for domestic dwellings is found in Part 2, known officially as PAS 79-2:2020.
What does PAS 79:2020 include?
As an all-encompassing code of practice, PAS 79:2020 provides a determinate methodology to conduct fire risk assessments, producing basic and qualitative findings particular to a location. Any commercial fire risk assessment should follow the methodology and guidance provided in PAS 79.
As a business owner, you should know that PAS 79 applies methodology applies to nearly all buildings, including:
- Blocks of Flats
- Business Premises
- Care Homes
- Colleges
- HMOs (Houses of Multiple Occupancy)
- Hospitals
- Hotels
- Maisonettes
- Schools
- Shops
- Universities
- Warehouses
The nine steps of the PAS 79 fire risk assessment
- Obtain information and all necessary data about the building
- Identify fire hazards and means for control and their elimination
- Assess the likelihood of any fire
- Determine any present fire protection measures
- Obtain related info relating to fire safety management
- Assess the most likely repercussions for a person if a fire occurs
- Assess the overall risk of fire
- Form and document an action plan
- Set the fire risk assessment review date
How our fire safety software can help you remain PAS79 compliant
We designed our fire risk assessment software, Aurora, to make fire risk assessments easier to manage and it can actually help with specific steps of the PAS 79 fire risk assessment.
For example, identifying hazards is made that much easier through the interactive floorplan feature which allows the assessor to tag assessment findings to a floorplan, pinpointing the precise location and finding images to the client. Internal or external contractors can also view the plans, saving time on locating building defects and risks.
We also make it super easy for you to form and document action plans through the assessor/auditor dashboard which allows you to assign actions to contractors and see at glance the number of fire risk assessments and audits assigned to each individual and where deadlines for completion are overdue. You can use the dashboard to re-allocate and distribute FRA work. Aurora automatically sends emails when work is allocated, reducing admin time.
The Aurora Interactive dashboard also provides you with a global view of your fire risk position and overall view of all fire risk assessment actions & assessments, completed and outstanding. Actions are listed by risk rating and also separated from life risk actions and property protection. This allows visibility of assessment findings that breach the Fire Safety Order.
Additionally, Aurora has PAS79 templates ready made in the system, but bespoke ones can be created if necessary.
To find out how our fire risk assessment software can revolutionise your fire safety processes, contact us at Aurora.
