Risk assessment (RA): This should deal with confirming the assumptions that were made at the time of the design of the building. Are they still valid and are the control measures adopted in the fire protection design still valid? Many RA’s that we come across do not even acknowledge the presence of a strategy, that may or may not be valid. For example a key strategy assumption might be that the fire pressurisation system is robust and will always provide protection. The assumption is that maintenance will be performed to a rigorous level. If this does not happen, then the assumption is invalid, and potentially, the whole strategy is flawed and invalid, leaving a dangerous building. The chart below relates these issues and obviously Airvent is involved at various points on the chart:

Chart developed by GC Miles, Fire engineering consultant. Information flow protocols may vary from site to site.