Pyroman

You got me. I normally summarise, because it is so long winded sometimes! Either way, I hope it answered your question!

There is no Formal competency requirements, but like every trade, even having the bit of paper is no substitute for experience. The FIA do a single day design course, which is the usual "proof" that you know what you are doing, but the FIA make it very clear that it is just a learning curve. They also do an Install module and a Maintenance module, as well as others. There are 2 schemes, BAFE which is modular, (Design/Install/Maintain)and many of the Electrical and Security schemes have assessors who can take you through the process, the other scheme, mentioned by Sparky above, is LPS1014 which is more detailed and stringent. At the end of the day what needs to be remembered is that your system is rarely checked, or called into question - but its only when something goes wrong that the magnifying glass comes out, the insurer almost always sends in a Fire Engineer to assess the damage and reduce their costs, and much more importantly (in my mind) the Fire Authority are likely to question any potential risk to life - it really is a case of do it right, prove that you have done it right, record that you have done it right and then you can sleep at night!