Day to Day care of church buildings and property

Fire Risk Assessment

It is a legal requirement for all churches and public access buildings to undertake a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA). This must be carried out in accordance with Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

The FRA must be carried out by a competent/qualified person and reviewed on an annual basis and whenever a building (or part of it) is changed, modified or extended. There are independent companies who specialise in undertaking FRAs which you can find out more about from here xxxx. Further guidance is available xxxx. The assessment reviews:

  • fire prevention

  • means of escape

  • emergency lighting

  • training

  • fire detection and alarms

  • fire extinguishing equipment

  • tests and practice evacuations

  • record keeping and monitoring

Legionella in church buildings

Church Elders are legally responsible for taking all reasonable measures to prevent incidences of legionella within their church buildings. The potential risk of an outbreak of legionella within the water supply system, tank, hoses or outlets must be assessed by a competent person. To confirm (or otherwise) that legionella is/is not present in the system, a number of water samples, taken from vulnerable locations within the system , must be analysed by an accredited laboratory.

Further information and guidance is available from the Health and Safety Executive website: xxxxx