The FIA is the UK’s largest fire protection trade body, with more than 950+ company members who comprise a large proportion of the businesses in the fire safety industry.
A not-for-profit organisation, the FIA is a major provider of technical fire safety training and qualifications, offering over 300 individual training courses on 27 different subjects at 19 UK venues – in 2020 the FIA moved to providing its industry leading training online.
The FIA calls itself the prime technical resource for the UK fire safety industry, providing a platform for industry stakeholders to come together to resolve industry issues and produce best practice guidance documents, while promoting the professional status of the industry.
The FIA writes and revises British Standards to give manufacturers and installers the best possible guidance to ensure that products are safe, reliable, and can be installed to a professional level.
It says it cares greatly about the safety of the public, which is why its employees regularly write for a range of different magazines, educating hospitals, schools, nursing homes, and business owners on their fire protection responsibilities.
The body holds over 150 committees and working groups and is involved with a broad range of organisations that have an impact on the fire protection industry.
History of the FIA
The FIA originated as the Fire Extinguishing Trades Association (FETA) in the First World War in 1916, representing extinguisher manufacturers. After the Second World War, another organisation, the British Fire Protection Systems Association (BFPSA), was formed.
These two organisations merged in 2007 to become the FIA, describing itself as a community of professionals striving to raise standards of public fire safety. Since then, the FIA has added four new Councils, bought its own premises and become an awarding organisation (see ‘Training and Qualifications’).
Mission statement
The FIA’s stated objective is to promote, improve and perfect fire protection methods, devices, services and apparatus, providing technical support, guidance and opportunities for professional advancement through education and appropriate regulation through the representation of its members.
The organisation promotes and shapes legislation and the professional standards of the fire industry through close liaison with government and official bodies and other key stakeholders.
Training and qualifications
The FIA prides itself on its pioneering training and is a major provider of detailed and thorough fire safety training and qualifications within the UK fire protection market.
The body has trained over 5,000 fire safety professionals across 27 different courses UK-wide and online. Delegates from more than 950 organisations completed an FIA training course in the last year. It offers a wide range of dates and locations, as well as bespoke training courses.
The FIA’s trainers are industry experts, as they are specialists within their respective fields, most of them benefitting from huge experience learned from over 30 years in the industry.
Dedicated to British Standards within the fire industry, and with a detailed knowledge of industry best practice, they can offer both invaluable insights and real-life examples of how theory relates to everyday on-the-job scenarios.
Third party certification
The FIA maintains exacting standards and insists that its members are third party certified, or on the way to becoming so.
Companies must have third party certification such as BAFE SP203 (for detection, gaseous fire suppression or emergency lighting), SP101/ST104 (for maintenance of portable fire extinguishers) or LPS1014 (for those working with fire extinguisher or alarm systems) to be eligible for FIA membership.
Manufacturers and suppliers must be BS EN ISO 9001 certificated.
It aims for its members to be credible and to possess a reputation for high quality and exemplary service.
Achievements
The FIA has a proud history of working with the government and other key stakeholders to represent the views of their 950+ members and the wider industry. The FIA regularly and loudly trumpets the need for more qualifications to raise the bar of the fire safety industry. Its most recent achievement in the education field is its provision of new formal qualifications in fire detection and alarm systems. It now provides four separate qualifications each for designers, installers, maintainers, and commissioners..
Its non-profit status means that all its funding goes straight back into leading key research projects in line with its principal objectives, providing CPD days, and giving vital seminars to its members to keep them up-to-date with the latest changes in the fire industry.
The FIA also runs refresher courses, for example on the servicing and maintenance of portable fire extinguishers, as well as health and safety and environmental courses.
It provides on its website general advice on fire safety, information on new or revised regulations, and over 400 guidance publications.
FIA People
CEO: Ian Moore
Chair: Derek Gotts
Technical Managers: Robert Thilthorpe, Neil Budd, Will Lloyd
Export Manager: Dr Dave Smith
Compliance Manager: Kevin Stearns
Membership Manager: Chris Tilley
Training Manager: Michael Gregg
Marketing Manager: Renata Kopka
Operations Manager: Adam Richardson
Membership
For details of all FIA member companies, their specialisms and services, go to the members directory.
Fees for membership are based on the company’s annual turnover.
Latest news from the Fire Industry Association (FIA)
