Wessex Fire Protection Ltd

Third Party Accreditation Schemes

Why use 3rd party assessed companies
With the introduction of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, there is a duty to ensure that fire safety equipment and services are provided by competent persons. The government has issused a series of eleven guides covering different business areas to assist Owners / Employers / Responsible Persons to understand their responsibilities. Common to the guides is Section 8: "Third Party certification schemes for fire protection products and related services are an effective means of providing the fullest possible assurances, offering a level of quality, reliability and safety that non-certificated products may lack....... Third Party quality assurances can offer comfort both as a means of satisfying you that the goods and services you have purchased are fit for purpose, and as a means of demonstrating that you have complied with the law". It is therefore important to understand what 'Third Party' quality assurance schemes offer and how you can ensure the company or person you appoint to carry out fire safety work is competent and can provide you with a certificate of conformity.

Why use 3rd party assessed companies

With the introduction of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, there is a duty to ensure that fire safety equipment and services are provided by competent persons. The government has issused a series of eleven guides covering different business areas to assist Owners / Employers / Responsible Persons to understand their responsibilities.

Common to the guides is Section 8:

"Third Party certification schemes for fire protection products and related services are an effective means of providing the fullest possible assurances, offering a level of quality, reliability and safety that non-certificated products may lack....... Third Party quality assurances can offer comfort both as a means of satisfying you that the goods and services you have purchased are fit for purpose, and as a means of demonstrating that you have complied with the law".

It is therefore important to understand what 'Third Party' quality assurance schemes offer and how you can ensure the company or person you appoint to carry out fire safety work is competent and can provide you with a certificate of conformity.

BS EN ISO 9001:2008
Vale Fire Safety Ltd is a registered firm under the ISO 9001:2008 scheme. We hold a UKAS accredited certificate, issued by Independent European Certification Ltd, number 441650. See our link to IEC to check our registration. Certification scope: Supply, Installation and Contract Maintenance of Portable Fire Extinguishers in accordance with BAFE Scheme SP101 and Associated Products.

BS EN ISO 9001:2008

Vale Fire Safety Ltd is a registered firm under the ISO 9001:2008 scheme. We hold a UKAS accredited certificate, issued by Independent European Certification Ltd, number 441650.

See our link to IEC to check our registration.

Certification scope: Supply, Installation and Contract Maintenance of Portable Fire Extinguishers in accordance with BAFE Scheme SP101 and Associated Products.

BAFE schemes SP101 & ST104
The only nationally recognised 'Independent Third Party Quality Scheme' for companies undertaking the supply, installation and ongoing maintenance of portable fire fighting equipment is BAFE SP101/ST104. This ensures that companies registered to this scheme are ISO9001:2000 approved and that both the company and service personnel are subject to ongoing independent audits of their activities. It also ensures that: The company has correct procedures for quality management Its service personnel are correctly trained The company and its technicians are regularly and independently audited It has a complaints procedure BAFE (British Approvals for Fire Equipment) is a non-profit making organisation dedicated to improving standards in fire protection. For more than 20 years, BAFE has been adopting schemes (and where necessary developing its own) whereby independent third party certification bodies test and approve to recognised standards. BAFE is not only supported by manufacturers, installers and maintainers of fire protection products but by, amongst others, the Government, Trading Standards and the Health and Safety Executive. Vale Fire Safety Ltd is registered to the SP101 scheme and our service technicians to the ST104 scheme. For more information about BAFE see our links page.

BAFE schemes SP101 & ST104

The only nationally recognised 'Independent Third Party Quality Scheme' for companies undertaking the supply, installation and ongoing maintenance of portable fire fighting equipment is BAFE SP101/ST104. This ensures that companies registered to this scheme are ISO9001:2000 approved and that both the company and service personnel are subject to ongoing independent audits of their activities. It also ensures that:

The company has correct procedures for quality management

Its service personnel are correctly trained

The company and its technicians are regularly and independently audited

It has a complaints procedure

BAFE (British Approvals for Fire Equipment) is a non-profit making organisation dedicated to improving standards in fire protection. For more than 20 years, BAFE has been adopting schemes (and where necessary developing its own) whereby independent third party certification bodies test and approve to recognised standards.

BAFE is not only supported by manufacturers, installers and maintainers of fire protection products but by, amongst others, the Government, Trading Standards and the Health and Safety Executive.

Vale Fire Safety Ltd is registered to the SP101 scheme and our service technicians to the ST104 scheme. For more information about BAFE see our links page.