In May of 2009, a fire broke out at the UK Fire Service College in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire. Part of the premises burnt down and the cost of the damage to the facility was in the region of £1million. Eleven fire engines were lost and their garage completely destroyed. The UK Fire Service College is a training facility that welcomes fire fighters from all over the globe, not just the UK.

It has transpired that there was no fire risk assessment in place when the incident occurred, meaning that the UK Fire Service College failed to comply with fire safety laws. Since 2006, following the introduction of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO), which consolidated over seventy pieces of law regarding fire safety, there has been a legal requirement to do a 'suitable and sufficient' fire risk assessment on every type of non-domestic building in England and Wales (however, Article 31(10) of the FSO extends the application to domestic premises other than single private dwellings (e.g. houses in multiple occupation)). In Scotland, fire safety duties are contained Part 3 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, as amended, and the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

Failure to comply with the FSO is a criminal offence punishable by fines or a prison sentence. The risk assessment is a vital part of any non-domestic building's safety procedure. It can identify factors that may cause a fire to spread and allow for the improvement of evacuation procedures. This should constantly be monitored and kept up-to-date. The UK Fire Service College had failed to keep an up-to-date fire risk assessment, a failing one would hardly expect from such an organisation. Fortunately, none of the shortcomings on this occasion led to injury or loss of life and no enforcement action has been taken.

This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq

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The original publication date for this article was 12/03/2010.