Fire engineer

Building a Safer Future, Proposals for reform of the building safety regulatory system, A consultation, Published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) in June 2019, suggests that a fire engineer is: ‘A person with the ability to apply scientific and engineering principles, rules and expert judgement, based on an understanding of the phenomena and effects of fire and of the reaction and behaviour of people to fire, to protect people, property and the environment from the destructive effects of fire.’

Roles in construction projects: analysis and terminology, by Hughes, W. and Murdoch, J. R, published in 2001 by the University of Reading, defines a fire engineer as a: ‘Consultant designer with specific responsibility for contributing advice and information on civil engineering aspects of the design.’

Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 2 report overview, report of the public inquiry into the fire at Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017, published in September 2024, states:

'Designing buildings that are safe in the event of a fire requires particular skill. It is a skill that can be acquired only by specialised education and experience worthy of formal recognition. Unfortunately, the term “fire engineer” does not at present denote any formal qualification and as a result it is possible for a person to practise as a fire engineer without any formal qualification. The evidence we have heard suggests that not all those who profess to be fire engineers are capable of performing that role competently and that the complexity of the subject matter is not well understood.

'In those circumstances, and particularly given the importance of fire engineers in ensuring the safety of life, we think that the profession of fire engineer should be formally recognised and that both the title and the function should be protected by statute. Over time that would create a body of registered fire engineers who are capable of contributing to the design and delivery of safe buildings and of educating those construction professionals with whom they work in effective fire safety strategies. We therefore recommend that the profession of fire engineer be recognised and protected by law and that an independent body be established to regulate the profession, define the standards required for membership, maintain a register of members and regulate their conduct. In order to speed up the creation of a body of professional fire engineers we also recommend that the government take urgent steps to increase the number of places on high-quality masters level courses in fire engineering accredited by the professional regulator.

'....we recommend that the government convene a group of practitioner and academic fire engineers and such other professionals as it thinks fit to produce an authoritative statement of the knowledge and skills to be expected of a competent fire engineer. Such a statement would also enable others in the construction industry to understand better the nature and importance of a fire engineer’s work. We think it would be of benefit to those carrying out this work to have regard to the reports of the Warren Centre, to which we refer in Chapter 112.