As a facility manager, you are responsible to ensure the safety, comfort, and wellbeing of staff, visitors, and anyone else in the building. Office fire safety, including fire safety plans and systems, is one of many important aspects of facility management, ensuring the safety of anyone using the facilities and the building itself.

Responsibility for Office Fire Safety

Responsibility for the fire safety of a workplace lies with the employer, owner, landlord, occupier, and/or anyone else with control of the premises (including facility managers) – hereafter referred to as the “responsible person.”

As the responsible person in your workplace, there are certain tasks you must carry out:

• Conduct a “fire risk assessment of the premises and review it regularly,
• Tell staff or their representatives about the risks you’ve identified,
• Put in place, and maintain, appropriate fire safety measures,
• Plan for an emergency,
• Provide staff information, fire safety instruction and training.”

Shared Buildings and Communal Areas

Many businesses share their office buildings with other businesses, meaning that there is likely to be more than one responsible person for the fire safety of the whole shared premises. As the responsible person representing your share of the building, you’ll need to make sure that you coordinate fire safety plans with the other occupants. Regarding common or shared areas, “the responsible person is the landlord, freeholder or managing agent.”

Why is Fire Safety So Important?

Employee & Visitor Safety

Having robust fire safety plans and working systems in place protects the well-being and safety of employees and visitors. Planning for a fire emergency and how to get everyone to evacuate the building safely are imperative to avoid injury and death. Preventative measures, such as fire extinguishers and fire blankets, help to avoid fires starting or spreading.

Protect the Building & Business

Fire safety and preventative measures also protect the structure and function of the building itself. Damaged premises are extremely costly to repair or rebuild; even when you have buildings insurance, there is significant disruption and financial loss caused by closing the business for repairs/rebuilding after an emergency.

Fireco recommends the SIMPLE method to help reduce your facility’s fire risk:

• S – Store stock safely.
• I – Identify the alarm points.
• M – Make sure fire doors are kept closed.
• P – Place flammable (able to catch fire) items away from objects which could cause a fire.
• L – Let someone know if you spot something dangerous.
• E – Ensure everyone knows what to do when there’s a fire.

Legal Compliance

You have a legal obligation, as the responsible person, to carry out the necessary fire safety measures for your workplace. Upon an inspection from your local fire and rescue authority, you may receive informal or formal warnings to fix issues that aren’t up to the required safety standard. Failure to fix issues and comply with workplace fire safety regulations can result in a fine of up to £5,000 (for minor penalties) or unlimited fines and up to 2 years in prison (for major penalties).

Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) for Fire Systems

Scheduled maintenance services, or Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM), are crucial in catching issues early and keeping essential systems working correctly. Similarly to domestic buildings, your fire detection and alarm systems should be inspected regularly to make sure they are in working order and up to code. This includes checking fire alarms, emergency lighting, fire exit signs, fire escape routes are clear, and automatic fire doors are opening and closing correctly.

Most businesses require scheduled maintenance in one form or another. From regular HVAC inspections to fire and security alarm checks, planned maintenance tasks are key in keeping facilities running smoothly and efficiently with minimal down periods or costly repairs.

What is Scheduled Maintenance/PPM?

In facility management, scheduled maintenance – or Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) – refers to the “proactive approach to maintenance in which maintenance work is scheduled to take place regularly and consequently documented once it has taken place.” PPM is routinely performed either monthly, quarterly, seasonally, yearly, or set to a custom timeframe; it all depends on the types of maintenance in question.

There are statutory (set by the government) and regulatory (set by regulatory bodies) laws and legislation relating to PPM of which businesses must be compliant. Planned, proactive FM services help to ensure that your business is following maintenance compliance laws, legislation, and guidelines, as well as protect the health and safety of employees and visitors on the premises.

When Should You Schedule Maintenance?

Facility managers need to keep track of all planned maintenance and ensure legal compliance. It is wise to set aside maintenance windows at the beginning of the year, letting others in the business know of maintenance periods well in advance to avoid too much downtime. To do this, you’ll need to have a good idea of which maintenance tasks need to take place and when.

You will need to schedule maintenance and routine tasks for each of the following areas:

• Mechanical systems – HVAC systems, water systems,
• Electrical services – power, lighting and emergency lighting, Fixed Wire Testing (EICR), portable appliance testing,
• Fire and security systems – fire/security alarms, access controls, CCTV,
• Soft services – cleaning, grounds maintenance, waste management.

Keeping up with so many maintenance renewal dates and appointments can be difficult, especially if you’re hiring several different companies at once. Using one external company that includes a combination of FM services, such as Facility Services Group, will help you manage your PPM, dealing with maintenance and providing multiskilled engineers on your behalf in line with your renewal dates.

Why Should You Schedule Maintenance? 

The arguments for and against PPM all come down to proactive maintenance versus reactive maintenance. Businesses that rely on reactive maintenance rather than proactive, planned maintenance fix problems as they occur. Reactive repairs will cost you more in the long term compared to routine system check-ups, especially if there are severe or urgent problems.

Proactive PPM, although an additional financial commitment, is cost-effective overall due to catching small issues before they become big problems. PPM helps you stay legally compliant as well as reduces the risk of business closures due to unforeseen emergencies. Regular maintenance can also help reduce your facility’s energy bills by keeping your HVAC and power systems running efficiently.

Alongside PPM, urgent reactive maintenance may still be required sometimes for emergencies beyond your control, such as flooding. Having to close your business for a significant amount of time can cause disruption and financial loss, so it’s best to have a 24/7 emergency maintenance/repair service on hand just in case.