Stephen Willett, the Fire Safety Building Regulations: Part B trainer





Meet Stephen Willett, the Fire Safety Building Regulations: Part B trainer. Stephen has been a trainer with CIBSE since 2021 and his area of expertise is fire.

Keeping up with developments in building and systems design and technology puts the professional in a better position to ensure systems are fit for purpose and compliant with relevant legislation.
- Stephen Willett

Tell us a little about yourself

Stephen Willett: I joined the fire service in 1989 as a firefighter and moved from operational to fire safety in 2003 until 2016, spending time as an inspecting officer and also a fire safety trainer towards the end of my service. 

Since retiring from the fire service, I have been a senior fire consultant and fire safety tutor for a company that now trains most of the UK’s Fire and Rescue services fire safety departments. My current role is split between training development and delivery, but I still very much enjoy the teaching side of things. 


What do you enjoy most about being a CIBSE trainer?

SW: Interaction with a wide variety of professionals and the transfer of knowledge and ideas between the groups, I always feel that as a trainer I get as much from the training as the delegates do.



Do you encounter any challenges as a trainer?

SW: While not every question throws up a challenge directly, it can lead to other questions and diving further into a topic or even going off at a tangent. Sometimes getting out of the tangent is challenging as, while it’s not covered in any area of a syllabus, it’s an excellent discussion drawing out lots of learning points.



What is your favourite part about your topic area?

SW: Without a shadow of a doubt, any element that is affected by human behaviour. We are all such complex intellectual and emotional beings that our behaviour in response to fire or fire signals can be difficult to predict, but not necessarily irrational (even though it may first appear that way).

Why do you think that it’s important that building services professionals keep up with their professional development?

SW: Aside from the inevitable loss of skills if they are not regularly used, technology often moves forward at a rapid pace, and legislation and guidance move forward at a more sedate speed. 

Keeping up with developments in building and systems design and technology, puts the professional in a better position in ensuring systems are fit for purpose and compliant with relevant legislation.


If you could go back to your younger self when you started working in building services, what advice would you give yourself? What would you tell someone who is just about to start or consider working in building services now? 

SW: Never stop questioning and never stop learning.



Find out more about the Fire Safety Building Regulations: Part B training course


Become a CIBSE Trainer

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