Breaking Down Barriers
Fostering Communication Between Stakeholders and the Fire Brigade
Effective communication is the cornerstone of any successful relationship. At Holmes, we strive to act as an open conduit of strategic information between the approval authorities and the project team.
This allows us to continually engage all project stakeholders and guide the overall fire engineering process, educating each partner in the role and impact of the fire safety strategy on the overall development. This transparent approach to dealing with fire concerns allows us to tease out and address the needs and desires of each stakeholder, resulting in a high level of collaboration between all parties. The end result is a major reduction in project risk, and a highly collaborative and progressive project solution involving specific buy-in from all stakeholders.
Fire brigade involvement on projects can create feelings of fear and dread among developers and project managers alike, but this shouldn’t be the case. Fire brigade personnel are trained professionals who have chosen to serve their communities, and will be the ones running towards a horrific fire event to help you while others run away. This gives them a unique and valuable perspective in the construction and design process, which should always be considered in any fire engineering strategy. At Holmes we pride ourselves on our proactive engagement of the fire brigade as a valid and key stakeholder in the design process. We foster communication between parties, and translate the needs of the fire brigade into an effective fire engineered solution. This generally does not result in increased project costs or timeframes, but rather aids in a critical understanding of the key functions of the fire brigade and how these functions can be achieved within the building design framework. As fire engineers our role is to convert this knowledge into a considered approach to building design, understanding and utilising the unique nature of each project design to develop a strategy which aids fire brigade intervention efforts in the case of an emergency.
