Make complex assessments and engineering judgements to justify and sign off product variations

Design & specify | DS017

This activity is about making engineering judgements to justify and sign off product variations, where multiple changes are required to a group of tested products or systems. Such assessments often rationalise the results of several tests in a wider assessment report to cover ranges of products in different combinations and permutations. Such changes are always fundamental to the fire performance of the product or construction being assessed.

Culture & behaviour

Core abilities

Culture & behaviour
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Effective working behaviours

You must:

  • Work within limits of own capability and know when to seek advice from others
  • Manage own time effectively
  • Work effectively individually and as part of a team
  • Communicate effectively
  • Undertake personal development activities to maintain currency of competence
Culture & behaviour
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Design & specification behaviours

You must:

  • Challenge unsafe behaviours and activities, and report where necessary
  • Work in accordance with quality requirements and challenge where they are not being met
  • Act ethically to ensure safe outcomes
Culture & behaviour
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Leadership behaviours for design and specification

You must:

  • Demonstrate effective leadership
Currency of competence
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Experience making complex assessments and engineering judgements

You must have:

  • 1 instance of making a complex assessment and engineering judgement to sign off product variation, per year
Core abilities
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Core passive fire knowledge

You must:

  • Know the importance of passive fire protection in safeguarding buildings and people
    • To include: compartmentation; how PFP impedes fire to protect structures and people.
  • Know suitable vocabulary to discuss passive fire protection products
Core abilities
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Selection of construction products

You must:

  • Know how legislation and official guidance relates to the specification of passive fire protection products, and the consequences of non-compliance
  • Understand that buildings work as systems and know the importance of this when selecting construction products
  • Understand the organisation's construction products hierarchy and how to obtain advice and raise concerns as appropriate within it
  • Understand your responsibility to follow organisational rules about construction products
  • Be aware of the Code for Construction Product Information (CCPI) and how it is utilised
  • Know how conformity marking can be used to support product specification
    • To include: Use of the Declaration of Performance to compare products for the same scope of application; Knowing that not all products can be conformity marked
  • Understand how third party certification can support product specification
  • Understand how test reports can support product specification
Core abilities
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Impact of product variation in design and specification

You must:

  • Understand the potential impact of product variation on construction system conformance or compliance
  • Understand when product variation may be required
    • Where suitable products cannot be specified based on direct field of application and certificated product performance
  • Know organisational processes to escalate product variation queries
Specific abilities
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Clarifying requirements for complex product variation

You must:

  • Know what constitutes a complex assessment, with regards to product variation
    • Guidance can be found in the PFPF guide to Undertaking Technical Assessments of Fire Performance of Construction Products Based on Fire Test Evidence
  • Understand the importance of only making judgements within your specialist area
  • Know the level of complexity of assessment that you are competent to undertake
  • Know processes for escalating queries outside your area of expertise or level of competence

You must be able to:

  • Clarify requirements for the product variation requested
  • Redirect any queries outside your specialist area
  • Escalate requests outside of your level of competence
Specific abilities
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Use of data sources for product variation

You must:

  • Understand the difference between primary and secondary data on fire performance of construction products
  • Understand the importance of primary data in decision making
    • Including: Why engineering judgements should not be made based on secondary data alone
  • Understand organisational rules on levels of information needed to select construction products to create solutions
    • Including product characteristics, performance requirements and dependencies
Specific abilities
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Make complex product variation decisions

You must:

  • Know sources of supporting information for complex assessments, and the relevance of that information to decision making
    • To include information on: Performance and product characteristics, rules of application, test information, product interfaces and interactions, risks, durability, service life, access & maintenance, warranties and guarantees

You must be able to:

  • Source, review and interpret relevant supporting data to inform complex assessments
    • To include information on: Performance and product characteristics, rules of application, test information, product interfaces and interactions, risks, durability, service life, access & maintenance, warranties and guarantees
  • Make complex assessments and judgements about suitable product variations
  • Prepare reports on product variation, including justification for recommendations made
  • Follow organisational processes for report signoff and distribution

Currency of competence

Specific abilities

Culture & behaviour

Core abilities

Currency of competence

Specific abilities

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