FIS is pleased to launched a new Fire Engineering Advisory Service, providing members with early, structured access to specialist fire engineering advice to help manage increasing regulatory, contractual and professional risk.  Built on the proven model of the FIS Legal Helpline, the service creates a controlled gateway to competent expertise, enabling members to make informed decisions and access the best possible advice in a structured way to assist with legacy or live design issues.

A structured response to growing industry risk

The service has been developed in response to mounting pressures on specialist contractors, including the transfer of design responsibility, ambiguity in compliance expectations, inconsistent use of test evidence and challenges surrounding legacy projects.

At its core is a Fire Engineering Advisory Helpline, offering members:

• A single point of access for fire engineering queries
• Early-stage advice to clarify technical and regulatory risk
• Guidance on responsibility boundaries and decision-making
• A structured route to further assessment where required

The helpline is time-bound and advisory, supporting risk triage.  Where issues require further input, members can progress in a clear and controlled way to additional structured, discounted support packages such as fire engineering assessments, technical reviews and, where justified, bespoke fire testing.  All such services are contracted directly between the member and provider, ensuring clarity of responsibility, liability and professional scope.

Delivered with expert support and future flexibility

The service launches with PartB as delivery partner, who bring multidisciplinary fire engineering expertise and specialist materials engineering capability to the service.  Beyond individual enquiries, the service will also act as a source of sector-wide intelligence, helping to identify recurring technical challenges and, where appropriate, collaborative approaches to testing and evidence generation.

Iain McIlwee, Chief Executive of FIS, said:

“Our members are increasingly being drawn into the design process and asked to make complex fire safety decisions without clear boundaries, information or adequate support. This service is about putting structure, clarity into that process – by creating a trusted gateway to competent advice.  In doing this we are helping members manage risk effectively, supporting responsible decision making and at the same time building a stronger evidence base for the whole sector.  Through a consolidated approach we hope to avoid repetition and ensure that critical time and resource are not wasted dealing with the same issues across multiple projects.  It also gives us a strong platform to support collective intervention if appropriate.”

Andy Gordon, Director of Fire, PartB added:

“We are seeing increasing demand across the sector for clear, proportionate fire engineering input at the right time in the decision-making process. Too often, specialist contractors designers and product suppliers are expected to interpret complex fire requirements without a clear line of sight to the appropriate level of expertise.  This service creates a structured route to competent advice, helping members understand risk early and make better-informed decisions, while ensuring that more detailed input is properly scoped and delivered under the right professional frameworks.”

Availability

This service is available to members with immediate effect, and more information is available here. Further details will be shared at the FIS Conference on 22 October.

For further information or for any questions please email info@thefis.org or call us on 0121 707 0077.