Fire safety should be about value, not compliance

摘要

Recently, a fire-safety assessor reported that he had come to an impasse. A building under his care needed a five-year pressure test, but the testing company wouldn't do it without being indemnified, in case the system blew out. The client's insurer, however, refused to give said indemnity. The practitioner was stuck - could he assess the system if that test hadn't been carried out? If so, what could he say about its performance? What liability did he carry personally? More importantly, how could he ensure that the council would not sue his client, who would most likely blame him for not completing his assessment?