The report found that proof of competence was considered the most important factor when choosing a fire safety supplier, with 69% of respondents describing it as essential. At the same time, many respondents were unsure whether their provider was certificated, who certificated them or how competence should be demonstrated. The report states that this gap between accountability and competence assurance remains a challenge for Responsible Persons* when it comes to making informed fire safety decisions.   

To address this, the report makes two principal recommendations:  

• The UK Government makes UKAS-accredited third-party certification the required mechanism for verifying competence – requiring Responsible Persons to use UKAS-accredited third-party certification bodies as the means of verifying a fire safety provider’s competence.  

• The UK Government makes competent providers easy to identify and appoint – by establishing a single, authoritative register of UKAS-accredited third-party certificated fire safety providers** 

 To explore the report’s findings further, we spoke with John Stewart, Director – Operations, and Christopher Miller, Senior Quality & Compliance Business Partner, at Chubb Fire & Security UK & Ireland about what they mean in practice. 

The Challenge of Demonstrating Competence 

One of the report’s key findings is that awareness is no longer the primary challenge. According to the research, 93% of respondents believe focus on fire safety has increased, 76% say fire safety has become a higher priority in the last five years and 79% expect investment to increase over the next five years. Yet despite this, 73% either do not know whether their supplier is certificated, are unsure who certificated them or use an uncertificated provider.  

John Stewart, Director – Operations, Chubb Fire & Security UK & Ireland

This suggests that while organisations increasingly recognise the importance of fire safety, many still find it difficult to assess competence when selecting providers. 

John Stewart, Director of Operations, said:

“Responsible Persons face increasing obligations and need clear, reliable ways to identify competent providers. Independent third-party certification can play an important role in that process, helping organisations make informed decisions and demonstrate due diligence. 

“As an industry, we must continue to make fire safety simpler to navigate, while maintaining the highest standards of technical expertise, compliance and customer support. Ultimately, improving competence across the sector helps create safer buildings and better outcomes for the people who use them.” 

Certification and Competence Assurance in Practice 

The report’s recommendation for greater use of UKAS-accredited third-party certification is intended to help provide that clarity. As a fully accredited provider, Chubb recognises the important role certification plays in providing independent assurance and supporting informed decision-making. For Responsible Persons, certification can provide a recognised benchmark when assessing providers and confidence that organisations have been independently assessed against established standards.  

Christopher Miller, Senior Quality & Compliance Business Partner, said:

Christopher Miller, Senior Quality & Compliance Business Partner

“The important message is that certification needs to be supported by ongoing technical competence, current standards, effective oversight and evidence that work meets the relevant requirements. 

“We support the principle of clearer verification, while bringing a practical operational perspective to how competence is maintained, not simply how certification is obtained.” 

Christopher also highlighted that certification provides valuable independent verification and forms part of a broader approach to competence assurance that includes technical expertise, practical experience, training, quality assurance and ongoing assessment. Together, these elements help build confidence in competence across the sector. 

A National Register of Competent Providers 

The report’s second recommendation is the creation of a national register of competent providers, intended to make it easier for Responsible Persons to identify organisations whose competence has been independently verified.  

The proposal reflects a wider objective shared across the industry: helping organisations make informed decisions when appointing fire safety providers. It also creates an opportunity for further discussion around how competence is defined, evidenced and maintained across different areas of the fire safety sector. As discussions around the report’s recommendations continue, an important consideration will be how any future framework can support confidence in competence while remaining practical and accessible across a diverse provider landscape. 

As John highlighted during the discussion, improving confidence in competence is closely linked to agreeing what good competence looks like in practice. The report’s recommendations create an opportunity to explore those questions further and build greater consistency in how competence is identified and evidenced across the sector. 

While certification and provider verification can help Responsible Persons identify competent providers, clear and consistent expectations around competence will remain an important part of the discussion. 

Christopher also highlighted that competence can be assessed and evidenced in a number of ways. 

“There are many different ways that you can validate someone’s competence.”  

Qualifications, practical assessments, field inspections, apprenticeship programmes, technical experience and documented sign-off processes can all contribute to demonstrating competence in practice. Collectively, they provide evidence that competence has been assessed rather than assumed. As discussions around competence assurance continue, these are the types of measures that may help inform how competence is assessed, evidenced and maintained across the sector. 

The broader conversation is not only about helping Responsible Persons identify competent providers, but also about establishing clear and consistent expectations around what competence looks like in practice. Certification, qualifications, assessment processes and ongoing verification can all play a role in supporting that objective.  

Whatever form future competence assurance initiatives take, there is broad agreement on the outcome they are seeking to achieve: helping Responsible Persons make informed decisions and strengthening confidence in the providers they appoint. The report’s recommendations contribute to that discussion, while also creating an opportunity to explore how competence can continue to be assessed, evidenced and maintained in practice. 

Chubb’s Perspective 

The report raises important questions around how competence is assessed and verified across the fire safety sector. Chubb’s perspective is that: 

• Confidence in competence is critical for Responsible Persons making fire safety decisions.  

• UKAS-accredited third-party certification provides an important and recognised benchmark for assessing competence.  

• Certification forms an integral part of a broader approach to competence assurance. 

• Competence is supported through technical expertise, training, governance, oversight and quality assurance.   

• Maintaining competence is as important as demonstrating it.   

• The shared objective across the industry should be helping Responsible Persons make informed decisions and achieve safer outcomes.  

*In The Fire Safety Competence Gap report, the term Responsible Person is being used to describe the statutory role not only in England and Wales but also in Scotland and Northern Ireland – each of which have their own similar legal framework and equivalent term. Please see key definitions on page 15 of the report.  

** Similar to the role of the Gas Safe Register in helping consumers find registered gas businesses