PROOF
What independence actually saves you
Anyone can say they're independent. Here's what it looks like in practice: real situations where a second, independent view changed the bill, the risk, or both. Figures are anonymised.
THE DIFFERENCE
These are real projects, anonymised, drawn from work led by our founder across his career in fire and building safety.
Real situations, real numbers
Hotel · Fire doors and strategy
A 200-bedroom hotel was told to replace almost every fire door, at up to £2,500 each.
The doors were only five years old, fitted when the hotel was built. A fire door inspection found them gappy and without smoke seals, and the recommendation was to condemn and replace nearly all of the roughly 100 communal doors, at £1,800 to £2,500 a door. We reviewed the fire strategy to test what was actually required, traced the original doorset manufacturer, who had since been bought out, and worked with the successor to recover the original paperwork. The manufacturing data showed the doors could be upgraded to meet the standard rather than ripped out, bringing the cost down to £800 to £1,000 a door, before the decoration and room downtime that ripping out every door would have caused. We phased the work as a costed plan, targeting empty rooms so the hotel kept trading throughout.
Replacing a door is easy to sell. Proving it can be upgraded takes the original data and a proper strategy.
Commercial estate · Compartmentation and risers
Years of fire risk assessments found nothing, because no one was checking the building's main risers.
The landlord had assessed the common areas for years with no compartmentation issues flagged. While helping with the fire doors, we found the risers serving the whole building ran inside each tenant's demise, behind their front doors. They were the landlord's responsibility, but because they sat in the tenants' space, neither side had been inspecting them. Inside, the compartmentation was old and damaged, punctured over the years by tenants' own data cables and alarm wiring running up into the ceiling voids. We worked with the landlord and every tenant to untangle whose services were whose, recorded the risers clearly as the landlord's demise so future assessments and surveys would catch them, then set an action plan to seal each penetration and reinstate the compartment lines.
Risk doesn't respect a tenancy boundary. We followed the building, not the paperwork, and logged it so it stays found.
High-rise mixed-use · External walls
One assessment said replace the whole facade. A second, on the same building, said leave it.
A high-rise of around ten flats over commercial floors had a facade that was mostly brick, with cladding over certain sections. The client had paid for an EWS1 that called for complete repair and replacement of the facade. A second opinion on the same building concluded the opposite, that nothing needed doing. We worked through the building on risk rather than opinion and found the truth sat between the two: most of it was sound, a few areas needed targeted remedial work. We set out a proportionate plan and kept the local fire service in the loop throughout, so everyone trusted the outcome.
Two assessments, opposite answers, and a client left to gamble. Independence broke the tie, with nothing riding on the result.
Hotel · Enforcement notice
A new hotel manager inherited an enforcement notice, for problems his predecessor had ignored for years.
Compartmentation and fire door defects had been flagged at the hotel for years. The fire service had seen the risk assessment, told the previous manager to fix them, and been ignored. When a new manager took over, the fire service returned and handed him an enforcement notice on the spot. We mobilised fast, sending a team of fire door and compartmentation contractors well outside our usual area, and ran the project from start to finish: the works, the handover documents and the close-out. Everything was in place and evidenced before the fire service's enforcement visit.
He inherited the problem. We made sure he didn't inherit the prosecution.
Managing agent · Portfolio review
Sixty buildings had been assessed as if they were all the same, recommending costly works several didn't need.
The portfolio ran from purpose-built blocks to converted houses to high-rises, but one assessor had applied the same approach and guidance to all of them, without reaching for the right guidance for each type, such as LACORS for some of the conversions. The result was a run of recommendations that were not just unnecessary but sometimes the opposite of what the building needed: smoke vents where none were required, extended alarm systems in blocks on a stay-put policy that did not need flat-by-flat warning, and door upgrades driven by the wrong standard. We broke the portfolio down by building type, matched each to the correct guidance, and where needed reviewed the fire strategy so the design and the recommendations lined up. The reassessments could then stand on sound fire engineering, not a patchwork of misapplied documents.
A purpose-built block, a converted house and a high-rise are three different problems. Treating them as one costs money and misses the real risks.
IN THEIR WORDS
What clients say
Swipe for more →"A pragmatic, highly knowledgeable and risk-based approach. They distil complex technical and regulatory requirements into practical, deliverable actions."
Michael Stynes
Technical Services Manager, Lambert Smith Hampton
"They translate complex technical and regulatory matters into clear, actionable advice. A knowledgeable, reliable and professional partner in fire safety."
Oluwaseun Adeniran
Senior Commercial Property Manager, Daniel Watney LLP
"Projects completed on time and within budget, without exception. In a sector where reliability is non-negotiable, the track record has been exemplary."
Darren Goff
Senior Facilities Manager, Ethos Group
"They turn technical findings into manageable action plans. The value is not solely dependent on Sam as an individual; the wider delivery model draws on experienced specialists."
Matthew Spivey
Managing Director, Synergy Fire
“Knowledgeable, pragmatic and solutions-focused. Sam combines technical expertise with commercial awareness, turning complex fire safety and compliance issues into practical, deliverable solutions.”
Andrew Goodall
Facilities Manager, Daniel Watney LLP
“OmniFire provided knowledgeable, pragmatic and professional support, turning complex fire stopping and compartmentation challenges into clear, practical routes to compliance.”
Lorenzo Sajeva
Director, LS Fire Protection
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