BAFSA’s advice service has recently seen a number of enquiries regarding installation certificates for residential sprinkler systems.
BS 9251: 2021 and its previous 2014 iteration talks about ‘compliance certificates’ as a requirement for new sprinkler systems and includes a note saying these should not be confused with ‘certificates of conformity’. This is because only contractors who are third party certificated can issue these as the CoC’s are issued under the authority of the relevant UKAS-accredited certification body – LPCB, FIRAS and IFCC. Any doubts about the authenticity of such a certificate should be directed to the relevant approving body.
There is no ‘standard’ format for a certificate of conformity. It should also be noted that certificates are issued for ‘systems’ and would not normally be issued for parts of a system such as each flat in a block of flats.