BAFE Fire SP101 Extinguisher Maintenance Sector Scheme

Adopted Scheme Incorporating ST104

BAFE SP101 is a quality sector scheme covering Contract Maintenance of Portable Fire Extinguishers and Registered Fire Extinguisher Service Technicians Scheme.

BAFE merged these two schemes to form a new combined enhanced scheme, the aim being to enable the organizations requiring fire extinguisher maintenance to easily meet the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order by employment of a third party approved organization and service personnel with proven competency in fire extinguisher service and maintenance.

To enable an organization to become a BAFE approved listed organization it is necessary to meet all the requirements as set out in the scheme document:

SP101 – as with all BAFE schemes a standard has to be the foundation from which the scheme is built and, in the case of the service based schemes, ISO 9001 is this foundation. Fire Extinguishers are manufactured to BS EN 3 whilst siting and servicing is undertaken to Codes of Practice BS 5306 part 8 2000: and BS 5306 Part 3 2003. Full details are available within the scheme document. The purpose of this and the other serviced based schemes is to specifically enhance the requirements of ISO 9001 to unique areas of the fire protection industry and in this instance the maintenance of portable fire extinguishers.

ST 104 – This part of the scheme is somewhat different from the other schemes in that BAFE has placed the emphasis on the individual rather than the organization. It is a scheme pre-requisite that the technician requiring registration should be employed by an organization operating an approved ISO 9001 Quality System and would also meet the requirements of the BAFE SP101 scheme for the Maintenance of Portable Fire Extinguishers. The prime objective of this scheme is to increase the competence of the service technicians working in the field thus providing the end user with an improved and safer service.

The main benefits are:

§  Independent overview of technicians

§  Consistent level of service

§  Increased customer satisfaction

§  Recognized industry benchmark

§  Provides quality organizations with a market differentiator

Applicants joining the scheme are provided with a Registered Technicians Record which contains a guide to obtaining the BAFE registered service technicians qualification, the evidence of assessment, the assessment process, planning and achievement, and individual unit elements to be assessed.

The essential areas of knowledge to be covered by the assessment are:

§  Theory of fire

§  Types of fire risk

§  Maintenance procedures

§  Provision and siting of equipment

§  Health and Safety

§  Applicable British and International Standards

§  Regulatory and legislative requirements

The assessment of this knowledge is field based and is carried out by experienced, qualified, independent assessors who also have commercial and management skills. When the technician has successfully completed the identified areas in the Registered Technicians Record and has a positive recommendation from the BAFE field based assessor, the Registered Technicians Record is verified. This is usually carried out at the service organization’s premises. BAFE have the responsibility to verify the Registered Technicians Record. When the verification is positive the technician is entered on to the register and issued with a BAFE Diploma and Identification Card which are valid for a three year period. During the three year validity of the card, the technicians are subject to ongoing surveillance activity by the field-based assessors, thus ensuring continued compliance with the requirements and confidence for the employing organization.

The net result of companies embracing this scheme should be three fold:

§  Allows clients meeting the requirements of the scheme and the standard to gain ISO9001 registration and also BAFE listing.

§  The continuing assessment activity ensures that the company maintains the system and processes are in place to ensure ongoing compliance to requirements of the scheme. This should also provide opportunities for business process improvement in organizations.

§  Perhaps most importantly, it provides the end user with the confidence that the maintenance work they are paying for is being undertaken in a professional manner.

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