Fire Industry Association Launches New FD&A Route to Certification Scheme
The BAFE scheme is one of the Third Party Certification schemes in place within the fire industry and is one way a company can prove competency in this field. The FIA is a firm advocate of Third Party Certification to help prove competency, which is why they have teamed up with NSI, a certification body who are UKAS accredited to inspect against the SP203 scheme.
The package has been set up following demand from companies for information and assistance to achieve Third Party Certification, which is a requirement of FIA membership for installers and maintainers of FD&A systems.
Graham Ellicott, CEO of the FIA, says, ‘Independent Third Party Certification has been our trade association’s mantra for nearly 30 years. We see certification to such schemes as demonstrating competence, thus providing the end user with the confidence that checks and balances are in place to ensure they can rely upon a supplier who is certificated.
Having brought over 250 new members to the Association over the last four years we have a good understanding of the issues companies face when trying to reach the Third Party Certification benchmark. We have worked with our strategic partners (NSI and BAFE) and devised a package to genuinely help companies achieve this.’
NSI is thespecialist approvals and certification bodythat inspectscompanies providing home security, business security and fire safety services, including fire detection and alarm systems. NSI approved companies must prove their competence on an on-going basis, including meeting all relevant British and European Standards and providing staff with the highest level of training required to do their jobs.
Jeff Little, CEO of NSI says, ‘It can often be a significant challenge for service providers to justify the costs, criteria, processes and the very benefits of belonging to one or more of the industry organisations open to them nowadays. But this new scheme, offered by the FIA, brings everything together within one tidy envelope to present the service provider with a clear, direct and straightforward roadmap through to membership.
The four pillars of this package – the consultancy, certification BAFE approval and trade association membership – will all help equip service providers with the visible manifestation that demonstrates real dedication to providing a top quality service.’
The new Route to SP203 (FD&A) Certification Scheme compliments the FIA’s existing Route to SP101/ST104 (PFE) Certification Scheme, which was launched in 2009 to help companies who maintain and service portable fire extinguishers to become BAFE registered on their Technicians Scheme SP101/ST104. This new package is a natural progression to assist FD&A companies.
It is expected that the process to achieve full certification will take 12 months and payment will be spread over a number of months to help those in the process. Any companies interested in applying should contact the FIA’s Sales Manager, Michael Gregg on 020 3166 5002.
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