Authoritative Statement issued by Fire Engineers Advisory Panel

The Government is committed to delivering on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Panel’s Phase 2 report recommendations concerning fire engineers, strengthening public safety by building a highly skilled and sustainable profession exhibiting high standards of professional accountability.

The Authoritative Statement of the Fire Engineers Advisory Panel (itself established in April this year to provide advice to Government on the fire engineering profession) is a response to the Inquiry’s call for an authoritative statement of the knowledge and skills to be expected of a competent fire engineer as part of the overarching recommendation that fire engineering should become a regulated profession.

Aside from this primary aim, the Fire Engineers Advisory Panel was also asked to look at the wider context of the fire engineering profession, including education, the role and its responsibilities, behaviours, experience and skills.

The accompanying next steps statement sets out how central Government will implement both the recommendations of the Inquiry and the advice of the Fire Engineers Advisory Panel, the members of which include Professor Luke Bisby FRSE FREng (from the University of Edinburgh) and Dr Barbara Lane CEng FREng FRSE from consultancy Arup’s global fire safety practice, who served as an expert witness for the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

Current state of affairs

The Grenfell Tower fire exposed profound and systemic failures across the building safety system, including widespread gaps in professional competence, ethical behaviours and oversight. The Inquiry showed how unclear responsibilities, inconsistent standards and weak assurance allowed unsafe practices to take hold and left residents unprotected. These shortcomings not only led to a catastrophic loss of life, but also significant societal harm and costs.

Within that landscape, the Inquiry drew attention to certain high-risk professions, fire engineering among them. The discipline “lacks a coherent educational foundation and clear, consistent requirements” for entry to the profession. There’s no single recognised pathway, and although some programmes exist and some engineers choose to become Chartered, accredited programmes, structured education and wider capacity building remain “limited and uneven”. This leads to significant variation in the qualifications and skills of those practising as fire engineers, with “insufficient emphasis” on the ethical practice fundamental to ensuring life safety.

These gaps, and the over-specialisation in siloed technical areas, are “undermining the development of a competent workforce” capable of supporting an effective regulatory system in what’s now a complex and rapidly changing built environment.

Professional practice is similarly fragmented. Fire engineering principles and the role of a fire engineer are often poorly understood or undervalued within multidisciplinary teams, leading to the marginalisation of fire engineering input. Ethical standards and expectations of professional conduct are inconsistently defined and monitored, while the variety of education and competence means that engineering principles and guidance are sometimes not applied effectively to real-life situations.

As a result, “confidence in the profession is poor” and capacity remains too low. This will not meet current or future needs, places vulnerable individuals and the wider public at risk and undermines people’s rights to safe housing.

In addressing these challenges, the establishment of fire engineering as a regulated profession has to deliver clear outcomes for the safety of people and the built environment. These outcomes include:

*a system in which buildings are consistently safe for the people who live in, use and occupy them

*a resilient and competent workforce that operates ethically and is accountable for protection of life through the quality of its work

*viable and attractive education routes leading to sustainable careers

*a profession that values its duty to protect people and so earns and maintains the trust of the public

Central to this vision is ensuring that fire engineering solutions consistently protect everyone, including the most vulnerable. “This will depend on mechanisms such as enforceable standards for entry and practice, a nationally recognised competency framework, mandatory accreditation of education pathways and robust regulatory oversight of professional and ethical conduct.”

Future regulation

The Fire Engineers Advisory Panel supports the Government’s intention to regulate both the title and function of fire engineers. While further detail will be shaped through consultation, these elements should underpin the development of statutory regulation:

*In principle, a new protected title for fire engineers will be introduced, with legal restrictions on its use

*Again in principle, statutory regulation will define the functions and activities that can only be performed by an individual who’s registered and has met specific requirements. Fire engineers will hold formal responsibility for the development and stewardship of the fire safety strategy, with clear duties defined in regulation

A competent fire engineer needs strong technical knowledge and the ability to work across disciplines. This includes an understanding of core architectural and engineering principles: fire dynamics, prevention, human behaviour, building structures, systems and operations and fire-fighting needs alongside good analytical and communication skills.

They must understand the regulatory framework across the building lifecycle in order to interpret and apply requirements proportionately. Fire engineers should clearly explain and demonstrate how their fire safety strategy meets these requirements and engage stakeholders, such as other design disciplines, contractors, Building Control/standards bodies, Fire and Rescue Services, insurers and building users.

Structured process

The Fire Engineers Advisory Panel considers that this broad foundation of knowledge and skills is comparable to other engineering disciplines wherein it’s a two-part process to acquire the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours necessary to be formally recognised as a competent engineer. It is the Fire Engineers Advisory Panel’s view that fire engineers should operate consistently on the same principles.

This means that, long-term, the development of a competent fire engineer will be a structured process that must involve (at least both of) formally accredited education and supervised professional experience. Entry into the profession should typically begin with the completion of a relevant accredited higher education programme, which provides foundational scientific and engineering knowledge alongside specific learning in fire engineering principles and practice. The Fire Engineers Advisory Panel recognises that confidence in new entrants to the profession depends on the quality, consistency and availability of UK education programmes.

On that note, the Fire Engineers Advisory Panel recognises that university education should remain the main route into the profession. However, well-designed alternatives, such as accredited apprenticeships, may be appropriate where they deliver outcomes equivalent to a fire engineering degree.

There must also be clear pathways for existing fire engineers to demonstrate competence and for qualified professionals from other disciplines to transition into the regulated fire engineering profession.

Comment from the IFE

The Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) has commented: “Having actively contributed to the development of the policy paper, the IFE welcomes this important publication which provides much needed clarity.”

The IFE continued: “As the global body for fire engineers, the IFE recognises the significance of this statement in shaping Best Practice and supporting the safety of communities. We will now consider the document and review its content in light of our responsibilities as a professional engineering institution.”

In conclusion, the IFE noted: “Our commitment remains to uphold the highest standards of competence and ethics within the fire engineering profession, thereby ensuring that guidance and policy continue to reflect the needs of society and the built environment.”

*Read the Authoritative Statement and the policy paper focused on next steps for reform of the fire engineering profession