Due to a change in legislation (Regulatory Reform Order – RRO), a Fire Certificate for a building is no longer issued by a fire officer. The responsibility now sits with the ‘responsible person’. A full risk assessment must be carried out on all aspects of a business with each process being evaluated.
A commercial kitchen will be identified as a significant fire risk in any risk assessment. The risk within a commercial kitchen clearly cannot be entirely removed as the food still needs to be cooked and so the responsible person must choose the most effective means of managing the risk.
Since the introduction of the Regulatory Reform Order (RRO) there have been several recorded cases of prison sentences being issued for failure to comply with the legislation.
It may also be a requirement of a buildings insurance policy to have a fire suppression system. Insurance companies are increasingly specifying fire suppression for their clients. There may also be benefits to policy terms if systems are installed.