BFC joins BAFE Council

The British Fire Consortium, the largest trade association in the fire industry with more than 250 members, is the latest organisation to join the BAFE Council. The aim of BAFE is to promote third party certification in fire safety and its council comprises representatives from certification bodies, end users, manufacturers, installers and regulators to ensure a balanced and truly representative approach to promoting quality in fire safety.

The BFC will be represented on the BAFE Council by its General Secretary, Roger Chamberlain, who said, “The BAFE Council is perceived as the fire industry’s ‘top table’ and, as the largest trade association in the industry, it’s important that we have a seat! Our members have a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge which we can offer the Council and, at the same time, we will be able to glean new experience and knowledge in return. This will enable us to keep our members up to date with industry developments, particularly in respect to schemes and standards.”

The BFC’s own membership is largely made up of independent fire safety companies offering a variety of services including the supply and maintenance of alarm systems, portable fire extinguishers and sprinkler systems, as well as training and consultancy services. There are also several fire safety equipment manufacturer members.

Uniquely for a trade association in the industry, the BFC does not insist that its members are ISO 9001/BAFE registered. Roger Chamberlain explains, “Currently, the basic measure of competency in portable fire extinguisher maintenance is that a technician should have passed an examination of competence by one of the recognised Trade Associations -such as our own. By doing this and also adhering to our own stringent quality standards of commercial and working practice, our members are still able to present correct and professional credentials to their clients without having to go down the ISO/BAFE route. However we fully support the BAFE quality certification scheme for those members who choose it as a forward development path.”