FIRAS Installer certification scheme

Warringtonfire operates UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) accredited certification schemes for both products and for companies involved in their installation. 

The FIRAS scheme promotes good practice for the installation and maintenance of passive fire protection products and requires the use of quality assurance methods in procedures, competence, and documentation to ensure that appropriate quality control is being carried out and documented by the certified company.

What is the FIRAS Installer certification scheme

FIRAS is a voluntary, third party certification scheme for installation contractors of both passive and active fire protection systems, operated by Warringtonfire and accredited by UKAS to BS EN ISO/IEC 17065:2012.

The FIRAS scheme was established in 1994 and continues to date to be the leading certification body for companies installing passive and active fire protection systems.  The FIRAS Rules and Regulations are now in their 18th edition and are continuously improved, made more robust and adaptable to industry and regulatory changes over time.

What the FIRAS scheme offers

The FIRAS scheme for installer certification compliments Warringtonfire schemes for product certification; together they endeavour to provide systems giving confidence to specifiers, contractors, enforcement authorities, regulators and end users that by using third party certified products together with installers it will provide the added assurance needed to achieve the required level of fire performance in practice.

Our auditors are selected for their experience in the industry, knowledge of fire protection and their ability to work constructively alongside our clients in an endeavour to confirm that our clients continue to meet our requirements and that products/systems which they install are able to achieve the required level of fire performance.   Although a company is allocated to a specific inspector based in part on the logistics of their location, for impartiality purposes all companies receive audits by other FIRAS inspectors.

The modules for which FIRAS offers certification

• Fire rated reactive coatings to structural steelwork (Intumescent Paint)
• Fire rated sprayed cement or gypsum type coatings to structural steelwork (Sprays)
• Fire rated board encasement to structural steelwork (Boards)
• Fire rated penetration seals/fire-stopping and linear gap sealing (Penetration Sealing)
• Fire rated cavity barriers (Cavity Barriers)
• Fire resisting partition systems (Partition systems – Dry Lined)
• Fire resisting partition systems (Partition systems – Steel Faced)
• Fire resisting partition systems (Partition systems – Composite)
• Fire resisting timber doors/doorsets (Timber Doors)
• Fire resisting metallic doors/doorsets (Steel Doors)
• Fire resisting composite doors/doorsets (Composite Doors)
• Fire resisting metallic doors/doorsets (Aluminium Doors) Certifire certificated systems only
• Fire resisting roller shutter doors/doorsets (Roller Shutters)
• Fire resisting ducting systems and ancillary items as part of that system (Ducting)
• Fire resisting glazing screen systems (Glazing Systems)
• Fire door maintenance to maintain a doorset to the relevant fire test evidence to BS 476 Pt 22 or BS EN 1634 (Fire Door Maintenance)

The Certification Process

FIRAS Certification can only be held by a company and not an individual installer. The company must demonstrate that their ability to work strictly within the FIRAS scheme requirements, with good product knowledge and an understanding of regulations plus the overriding importance of the correct installation of life safety systems being installed correctly.

FIRAS initially assesses the company by auditing its office-based activities and is followed by a sample inspection of a site/project where fire protection is being installed.

Are you ready to apply for FIRAS certification?

Q1 Have you installed four contracts that included fire rated products? Yes/No

Q2 Were these contracts on a supply and fit basis? Yes/No

Q3 Does the company have a written Sub-Contract agreement with Sub-Contract employees? Yes/No

Q4 Did these four installations take place within last 6 months? Yes/No

Q5 Have you been trading for a minimum of 6 months? Yes/No

If you answered yes to all the above questions then you are eligible to apply for FIRAS certification.

Please complete the relevant form below and a member of the FIRAS team will contact you. 

If you need to speak with an expert for further information in relation to your application, please email FIRAS@warringtonfire.com . Please be aware due to the high demand for our services we may take up to 72 hours to respond.

Once in the scheme (A member company)

Upon award of certification, member companies are required to register all contracts/projects which they are undertaking on the FIRAS Maintenance Suite.  This enables our FIRAS Inspectors to randomly select a contract/project for a site surveillance audit in an endeavour to satisfy FIRAS that the company work/continue to work within the scheme’s requirements.

FIRAS membership demonstrates that the member company is capable of achieving the scheme requirements, however it is still the company’s responsibility to ensure that it achieves and continues to achieve those standards at all times before certifying their work.  It must be noted that it is not the role of FIRAS to inspect a member company's work on all projects undertaken or to act as a supervisor or clerk of works for the member company's customer.  Not all projects undertaken by the member company are audited by FIRAS, and on the sample projects on which a surveillance audit is undertaken, only a selection of the work undertaken by the member company will be reviewed at a snapshot in time. 

A number of inspections will be conducted routinely each year. Member companies are expected to work fully in accordance with the scheme requirements with all installations supported by documented specification i.e. acceptable forms of evidence as detailed in the FIRAS Rules & Regulations which are required by FIRAS to allow the system to be certified under the scheme.

Why choose a FIRAS certified installation contractor?

FIRAS certified contractors are required to undergo a three-stage assessment process, and only when the applicant contractor has satisfied all of these criteria is certification awarded:-

• Assessment of office management systems
• Assessment of workmanship of site for all trade disciplines for which certification is sought
• Competence assessment of supervisory and installation employees

The FIRAS Maintenance Suite (FIRAS Register/Database) contains the details of companies who are certified installers of fire protection in accordance with the requirements of the FIRAS Schemes.

Each FIRAS certified company is required to continue to demonstrate compliance with industry standards and material/product manufacturer installation instructions in order to reassure their clients that the fire protection installed by them is correct to specification and will provide the required level of fire protection.

The FIRAS Maintenance Suite (FIRAS Register/Database) is regularly reviewed to ensure that the company maintains a level of staff who have undertaken assessments with FIRAS as either supervisors or technicians in accordance with the scope of work the company provides under their certification.