How Can Fire Safety Equipment Affect My Property Insurance?

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Fires are an unfortunate but common problem affecting many commercial properties in the UK. Depending on the severity of the fire, many businesses face substantial losses and are often unable to bounce back.

To minimise the loss and help with the financial burden, many businesses buy property insurance that provides them with cover in case of such incidents.

There are, however, certain prerequisites that the property owners must fulfil in order to be eligible for the cover and to keep themselves and their property safe.

One major requirement is the installation of commercial fire safety equipment that not only keeps the property safe from the outbreak of fire but can also help meet insurance requirements and lower insurance costs.

Read on to find out how fire safety equipment can affect your commercial property insurance and what you must do to play your part:

FIRE SAFETY EQUIPMENT AND COMMERCIAL PROPERTY INSURANCE

Businesses can opt for multiple forms of insurance to ensure their commercial property remains protected from the financial damage that fire can cause.

While there are a few required insurances, such as the Employers’ Liability Act 1969 that ensures that you have at least a minimum level of insurance cover against any such claims, you can have contents and building insurance as well to provide additional coverage should a fire occur on-site.

Each insurance policy will differ in terms of its requirements, with some asking businesses to show proof of fire safety in order to be eligible for cover.

HOW CAN FIRE SAFETY EQUIPMENT AFFECT YOUR COMMERCIAL PROPERTY INSURANCE?

The obvious and main benefit of fire safety equipment is the added safety that it brings to your property and everyone in it.

In addition to that, implementing the right fire safety measures can lower your insurance premiums and allow you to enjoy financial as well as health and safety benefits.

Despite the importance of fire safety in commercial properties, the only required insurance for businesses are employers’ liability insurance and commercial motor insurance. However, by implementing some fire safety policies and equipment, you can receive insurance premiums at a much lower cost.

Even something as basic as a smoke detector can help you reduce your insurance premiums by £3 or more on average. The more comprehensive your fire alarm system is, the more illegible you are to reduced insurance premiums.

There are, of course, several factors that determine how much you can save on your premiums, cause the insurance companies to charge you a higher premium, or downright refuse you. They include:

An up-to-date fire risk assessment
Fully functional and maintained fire safety equipment
Fully functional and maintained fire suppressants

By making sure that these fire safety practices are implemented, you can save money on insurance premiums or avoid being refused insurance altogether.

While the importance of fire safety cannot be overstated, the fact that you can save money while protecting your staff, visitors, and property are too good an opportunity to pass!

UP-TO-DATE FIRE RISK ASSESSMENT

A fire risk assessment is a requirement under The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 for all non-domestic properties. It needs to be carried out once a year by a competent person and includes measures to reduce or possibly eliminate the risk of fire.

If you have not had a fire risk assessment conducted recently, it can have a negative impact on how insurance companies view your level of risk and the premiums you have to pay.

If it has been a long time since your last fire risk assessment, it is recommended to arrange one immediately and carry it out as soon as possible.

According to legal guidelines, a fire risk assessment may be carried out by a competent individual, and that doesn’t necessarily mean a qualified Fire Risk Assessor.

It does mean that the person must be comfortable and well-versed with the requirements and be able to do the following:

Record all the findings clearly and in detail,
Get a fire safety action plan developed according to the requirement,
Get the fire safety action plan implemented,
Regularly update the fire risk assessment.

A fire risk assessment includes 5 key steps that help reach the objective of identifying and eliminating fire risk. They include:

Identifying the fire hazards

Understanding the most common causes of a fire will help you identify the potential hazards. A fire needs a source of ignition and a potential source of fuel or oxygen to start. If you wish to reduce the risk of a fire erupting, you must keep ignition sources and fuel apart.

All businesses contain sources of heat and ignition, and while some may be obvious such as open flames or cooking equipment, others may be less obvious such as electrical equipment and heat from chemical processes.

Identifying the people at risk

Once you have identified the fire hazards, move on to identifying the people at risk. In the event of a fire, everyone is at risk, but some people may be at a greater risk than others due to their physical condition or the nature of their job.

They could be someone working in a hazardous area in the workplace or customers and visitors who are not familiar with the business’s operation. Children and the elderly and particularly susceptible.

Evaluate, remove, or reduce the risks.

Start by thinking about your findings from the first two steps and classify them as either low-risk, normal risk, or high-risk. Next, try to come up with ways of removing or reducing the risks.

You could remove the hazard altogether, reduce it to the point where there is little to no risk, replace the existing hazard with a safer alternative, remove the hazard from the workplace, or develop a fire safety policy to ensure the risk is minimised or eliminated.

Record your findings, prepare an emergency plan, and provide training

Keep a record of all your findings, including all the fire hazards and what you have done to reduce or remove them. Keeping a written record is a good idea, especially if you have more than 5 people on the property.

You must have a clear plan of how to minimise the risk and keep people safe in case of an emergency. You need to ensure that everyone in the building knows what to do in case of a fire and is trained for their roles.

Review and update the fire risk assessment regularly

Conducting a fire risk assessment isn’t enough; you need to regularly review and update it, especially in the event of the risks changing.

Any significant changes in risk must be taken into consideration and other occupants must be alerted ASAP to revise the emergency plan and re-train staff.

FIRE SAFETY EQUIPMENT

The presence of fire safety equipment is extremely important to minimise the risk of fires and reduce insurance costs.

Fire alarm systems are usually installed in commercial buildings to protect life and/or property. The type of system best suited for your commercial property will depend on the type of building, type of occupancy, and level of risk.

Fire alarm systems are covered under BS 5839, which includes the code of practice for their design, installation, commissioning, and maintenance.

Fire safety equipment typically includes:

Manual call points (MCPs)
Automatic fire detectors (AFDs)
Electronic sirens or bells
Control and indicator panel

Manual call points (MCPs), also known as break-glass fire alarms, are used to allow the occupants of a building to alert the rest of the people of a fire or other emergency.

They require a human to manually raise the alarm by breaking the glass and are usually placed near exits, landings, fire escapes, or high-risk areas.

Due to their manual nature, these systems are most likely used in combination with automatic fire detection systems rather than solely on their own.

Automatic fire detection refers to a system that doesn’t require human intervention to trigger. It includes automatic sensors and detectors based on the type and level of risk present, including heat detectors, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and multi-sensors detectors.

CATEGORIES OF FIRE ALARM SYSTEMS

Fire alarm systems are divided into different categories based on their nature and the type of protection they provide. The categories are:

Category M

Category M fire alarm systems are manual systems with manual call points and an acoustic or visual alarm. Businesses may install manual call points after a fire risk assessment or it may be determined by the insurance providers.

Category L

Category L stands for life protection and refers to systems installed particularly to protect people on the property by providing the earliest possible warning sign and allowing the occupants of the building to safely evacuate.

These systems are further divided into sub-categories based on the level of protection they provide:

Sub-category	Description
L1 systems	Installed throughout the building to provide the earliest possible warning
L2 systems	Detectors placed in all escape routes and rooms leading to the escape routes, with additional detection in high-risk areas
L3 systems	Detectors placed in all escape routes and rooms leading to the escape routes
L4 systems	Provide early warning of smoke in corridors and placed in escape routes
L5 systems	Used for meeting specific fire safety objectives

Category P

Category P stands for property protection and refers to systems installed particularly to protect property by providing the earliest possible warning sign and minimising the time it takes to detect the fire and extinguish it.

These systems are further divided into sub-categories based on the level of protection they provide:

Sub-category	Description
P1 systems	Provide the earliest possible warning to minimise the delay between ignition of the fire and arrival of fire-fighters
P2 systems	Installed in high-risk areas of the building and where the contents are particularly valuable

MAINTENANCE AND TESTING

Maintenance and testing are an integral part of fire safety in the workplace. Simply installing fire detectors and alarms is not enough; you need to make sure that they are in full working order and fully serviced to enjoy maximum safety and financial benefits.

Regular maintenance checks and inspections must be carried out to make sure that all the alarm systems are working and all faults and issues are caught and fixed before they turn into a serious problem.

Two types of inspections must be carried out: by the users of the system which fall under the responsibility of the responsible person(s), and inspections and maintenance checks carried out by a competent person, who is usually a trained engineer.

The user tests can be scheduled on a weekly and monthly basis, whereas the more detailed inspections carried out by trained engineers are done on a twice-yearly basis.

Weekly tests

A weekly check is carried out by the users of the system to ensure that there are no major faults in the system along with familiarising the occupants, staff members, and employees with the sound of the alarm.

The test must be done at a set time and day every week and must not exceed a minute so that the occupants can easily differentiate between the test and an actual alarm.

In systems with multiple manual call points, a different call point must be tested each week so that all of them are included in the schedule over a period of time.

The automatic locking systems and fire doors must be checked to see whether they close properly and, in the end, all the findings recorded in a Fire Log Book.

Monthly tests

While the MCPs and smoke detectors are checked every week, it is recommended to check the backup power systems such as the batteries and generators every month to ensure an uninterrupted power supply.

The tests include checking the fluid and coolant levels, the results for which are again recorded in the system logbook to review and take necessary action.

Yearly tests (minimum 6 months)

According to BS 5839, a commercial fire alarm system must be subject to periodic testing and inspections every 6 months by a competent person with specialist knowledge and skill.

The objective of these tests is to identify faults in the system and take preventive measures to ensure its continued reliability. They are also a requirement of your insurance provider and may result in reduced premiums.

The duration between these tests may be adjusted according to the size and complexity of the system. For high-risk commercial properties, it may be best to have them done every 4 months instead of 6.

During the tests, a trained engineer follows a fire alarm maintenance checklist and inspects the logbook for all reported incidents, carries out a visual inspection of the building and the system for any obvious signs of damage and deterioration, and conducts a thorough inspection of all the devices and components.

EXTINGUISHERS AND FIRE SUPPRESSANTS

Fire suppressing equipment like fire extinguishers carry certifications that have expiration dates on them, and if you are found to be using expired extinguishers, it may result in your insurance being invalidated.

Extinguishers come in different types and their water, dry powder, and foam must be discharged and refilled every 5 years and replaced every 20 years. In the case of carbon dioxide extinguishers, they must be replaced every 10 years.

CONTACT CALDER SECURITY

At Calder Security, we offer you a comprehensive solution for all your fire safety needs that include professional installation, maintenance, monitoring, and repair.

We understand that every property is different and the specification of the system depends on several factors including the type and size of the building, the number of occupants, and how high risk it is.

We can help you cut through all that and advise you on the best fire detection system for your building that complies with British Standards, HSE, Building Regulations, and Fire Officer Guidelines, in addition to meeting the requirements of business insurance.

We also understand fire regulations and provide professional maintenance checks and reminders for when the checks are due to help you stay compliant with the law. We work fast to restore your fire alarm system to excellent condition and always strive to meet your expectations.

We offer various levels of monitoring via a 24-hour monitoring centre using Dualcom and BT Redcare signalling, which is the most secure alarm monitoring system and the largest supplier of intelligent alarm signalling services in the UK.

If your system starts to malfunction, you can rely on our highly skilled engineers to restore your system to full working order in one visit. We offer a 24-hour call-out service for customers and can also repair fire alarms not installed by us thanks to our extensive knowledge and experience.

Photo by LYCS Architecture on Unsplash

How Can Fire Safety Equipment Affect My Commercial Property Insurance