Technical Archives

FIS launches Fire Engineering Advisory Service to strengthen competence and reduce risk across the sector

by Clair Mooney | 30 Sep, 2026 | Main News Feed, Member Benefits, Membership, Technical

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.

Addressing a broken design process

by Clair Mooney | 29 Sep, 2026 | Main News Feed, Technical

FIS has been working with contractors in membership to better understand how the failures of the design process and the way in which design responsibility is novated presents unreasonable levels of risk to the specialist drylining contractor. When the design of drylining packages land with the specialist subcontractor with no controls placed on the scope of the package or competence requirements, the contractor will often be asked to take on risks that cannot be adequately priced or managed. Working with members of our Drylining Working Group, FIS has been working on a number of interventions that provide meaningful controls in these circumstances:

We have been working on improving the coverage of our quality control checklists to include design and tender stages that help members follow a more robust process. These checklists are available on the FIS website and are being regularly updated.
In Summer this year, we published a comprehensive competence framework for Drylining design engineers that makes it easier for contractors appointing design expertise (either in-house or using consultants) to demonstrate competence and place further controls on the exposure to design risk.
Design code of practice documents are in advanced draft both for the drylining design package and separately for the overall fit-out process. These documents will provide much needed standardisation to the design process that includes the need for a design responsibility matrix, including critical timelines for appointment, gateways that ensure risks are managed at crucial points throughout RIBA stages 3 and 4 that are typically overlooked and controls to highlight process and further reduce risk around complex design interfaces that are not normally understood by principal designers.

This subject is explored in more detail in this article in SpecFinish.

All of this work is drawn from an FIS Consultation with members on Design Challenges and a paper written in 2024 and ongoing work with the CQIC up in Scotland focussed on understanding limitations in contract awards containing Contractor Design Portions.

Government updates Approved Document B with 2029 fire safety amendments

by Clair Mooney | 28 Sep, 2026 | Main News Feed, Technical

Volumes 1 and 2 of Approved Document B were republished this week by Government to include 2029 amendments.

Changes are based on the response to consultations on sprinklers in care homes; removal of national classifications and second staircases from 2022 to 2024, and the more recent consultation that concluded in July this year.

Withdrawal of the outdated national classes for reaction to fire (BS 476) is already concluded and the subsequent withdrawal of the remaining BS 476 fire testing standards for fire resistance will be concluded in September of 2029 ending a long period of dual specification.

The latest versions of Approved Document B can be accessed and downloaded using the links below:

Volume 1: Dwellings

Volume 2: Buildings other than dwellings

Summary of 2029 amendments

If you have any questions about these changes and how they might impact your business, please contact our Technical Director jamesparlour@thefis.org

Help Shape the Future of Plastering Standards

by Oscar Venus | 25 Jun, 2026 | Technical

The standards for internal plastering (BS EN 13914-2) and external rendering (BS EN 13014-1) are currently being revised and have entered public comment with a deadline for submission of comments of the 14^th July.

The standard for internal plastering (Part 2) is relevant to many of our members and has provisions crucial to our Shine a Light campaign dealing with unfair snagging practices.

Anyone with a BSI account can download a copy of the drafts and submit comments, but we wanted to give members the opportunity to join a call to discuss collaboratively how FIS should comment against these standards.

FIS is hosting an open forum on Thursday 2^nd July from 90:00 until 12:00 online where members can discuss the standard and influence comments that will be returned. If you are interested in attending this session and/or have particular clauses you wish to be reviewed at the meeting, please contact either jamesparlour@thefis.org or damianhill@thefis.org

Regulator Proposes Scheme to exempt Fire Doors from Gateways

by Iain McIlwee | 23 Mar, 2026 | Building Safety Act, Main News Feed, Technical

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has opened a consultation proposing the introduction of a self‑certification scheme for fire door installation, maintenance, and replacement across England and Wales.

Under the plans unveiled in late March, certain fire door works, in both higher‑risk or lower‑risk buildings, could be carried out without the need for formal building control approval, including exemption from the gateway process that currently applies to higher‑risk buildings.

The move aims to reduce delays and improve efficiency by allowing competent, authorised installers to sign off their own work within a strengthened oversight framework. This proposal sits within a broader review of the Conditions of Authorisation (CoA) for competent person schemes.

The consultation opened runs for three months, closing on the 3rd June. Stakeholders across the construction and fire safety sectors are encouraged to contribute, particularly as the proposals have potential to reshape how fire door compliance is managed in both routine and high‑risk settings.

Ths FIS will be feeding in on behalf of our community. Speaking on the launch of the consultation, FIS CEO Iain McIlwee stated:

“It is good that this is now on the agenda. This consultation responds to one of the first challenges we raised with the Regulator prior to the Building Safety Act being implemented. Replacing Fire Doorsets is regulated works, but if happening in isolation, often goes below the radar of building control approval. It is vital that this work is controlled, but equally triggering a whole Gateway approach creates a potentially disproportionate amount of administration at the Building Safety Regulator. A more pragmatic approach will, I am sure, be welcomed. The devil is in always in the detail, so we will review this with members and respond as appropriate. It is encouraging that we are finally getting into these issues and can work together as a supply chain to reshape the process in a practical and proprtinate way for the better.”

The full consultation which incorporates the proposals related to fire doorsets is available on the Building Safety Regulator’s website here.

Reaction to fire of wall linings

by Clair Mooney | 26 Sep, 2025 | Technical

Collaborative Reporting for Safer Structures UK (CROSS) has published a report relating to reaction to fire classification of wall lining materials, pointing out the importance of understanding the testing regimes required for materials in different applications and how performance will likely be affected by composite panel constructions. Whilst the technical advice on testing applies to all wall lining products, the reporter here is particularly concerned about the classification of linings in and around freestanding pods which may have been overlooked in the requirements of Building Regulations guidance; Approved Document B due to being considered furniture items, and therefore not assessed for compliance by those responsible for fire safety in the design.

It is also important to understand that freestanding pods can have implications on both passive and active fire protection systems given their function as a room within a larger space.

The full report can be seen here: Reaction to fire of wall linings | CROSS

If members have questions about design, specification, procurement or installation of pods, please either consult our Specifiers Guide to Partitions, or get in touch with our technical team who will be happy to help.