Expertise / Fire safety
Fire safety certificates and disability access certificates
Fire safety certificate and disability access certificate applications, fire risk assessments and compliance advice, delivered through Fire Safety Consultants, AOCA's joint venture with OCF.
AOCA, in conjunction with OCF, has established Fire Safety Consultants to pool resources and expertise and provide specialist fire safety and accessibility consultancy. It brings together internationally recognised expertise in fire engineering, fire safety compliance, accessibility, inspection, due diligence and structural fire engineering.
For most building projects in Ireland other than houses, a Fire Safety Certificate and a Disability Access Certificate must be granted by the building control authority before work starts. We prepare and manage both applications, and we carry out the fire risk assessments and compliance reviews that existing buildings need.
Fire safety certificate applications
A fire safety certificate application has to show the building control authority that the design meets Part B of the Building Regulations, either by following Technical Guidance Document B or through a performance-based fire engineering design. We prepare the fire strategy, the compliance report and the drawings, lodge the application, and deal with the authority's queries through to grant.
Where works were carried out without a certificate, or the design changed after one was granted, we prepare regularisation and revised fire safety certificate applications.
Disability access certificate applications
A disability access certificate confirms that a new building, extension or material change of use complies with Part M of the Building Regulations on access and use. We prepare the access statement and drawings and lodge the application alongside the fire safety certificate so the two run together.
Beyond the certificate we advise on accessibility, inclusive design and compliance with the relevant accessibility requirements, designing buildings everyone can use.
Fire risk assessments and inspections
We review building designs and existing buildings to identify fire safety risks and compliance issues, and carry out fire risk assessments covering hazards, existing measures and practical risk-reduction recommendations. Inspections cover fire doors, emergency lighting, alarm systems and passive fire protection, and we design and review fire detection, alarm and emergency lighting systems for compliance and life safety performance.
Apartment buildings and passive fire protection
Much of our fire safety work is in apartment buildings with defects from the construction boom: missing fire stopping, poor compartmentation and cavity barriers, and fire doors that do not perform. We assess structural behaviour in fire for steel, concrete, timber and composite structures and advise on fire stopping, compartmentation, cavity barriers, fire doors and structural fire protection, and we have followed the Government's remediation scheme for these buildings closely.
Common questions
Do I need a fire safety certificate for my house?
No. A single dwelling house, and an extension to one, is exempt. Apartment buildings, commercial, industrial, educational and most other buildings need a certificate for new construction, extensions and material changes of use.
When is a disability access certificate needed?
For new buildings other than dwelling houses, and for material alterations, extensions and changes of use to them. Apartment blocks need one for the common areas.
Work was done without a certificate. What now?
A regularisation fire safety certificate or regularisation disability access certificate can be applied for. We inspect what was built, identify what has to change and prepare the application.
Who carries out the work?
The Fire Safety Consultants team, drawn from AOCA and OCF, working from the AOCA offices in Portlaoise, Dublin and Manchester.
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