As an employee-owned business, our success is built on the unique talents and diverse interests of #TeamTrident. We believe in fostering individual expertise, which allows us to provide a variety of services, including those that are highly specialised. A great example of this is our Building and Fire Safety team, a group of surveyors who are experts in fire safety and compliance.
We recently spoke with two key members of this team, Christian Watkins from our Leeds office and Tom Cansfield from our Bristol office, to learn about their career paths and how they became specialists in this crucial area.
A Shared Motivation
The tragic Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 was a watershed moment that shifted the building surveying industry’s focus towards fire safety.
“I entered the industry around the time of the Grenfell Tower tragedy,” Christian explains. “This significantly shifted the focus of many surveying roles towards urgent fire safety inspections.”
Tom adds, “It was a national catastrophe—an unimaginable loss of life that exposed systemic failures in fire safety across our built environment. Like many, I was deeply shaken by the event.”
In the wake of tragedy, there was a nationwide review of façade materials and other external systems. The goal was not only to protect lives but also to restore public confidence in buildings.
For Tom, it instilled in him a strong sense of responsibility. “As a Chartered Building Surveyor, I wanted to better understand the factors that contributed to such a disaster and play a part in ensuring it could never happen again.”
Christian’s background in construction proved invaluable in this new landscape. He found a natural alignment between his skillset and the industry’s urgent needs, which made the work both “manageable and genuinely rewarding.” He adds, “Much of the work required a detailed understanding of construction and building systems. I found I was able to engage with this technical work effectively.”
First Steps to Expertise
For both Christian and Tom, the first step toward becoming the experts they are today was completing the RICS External Wall Systems (EWS) training course.
“I completed the EWS course in 2021,” Tom explains. “It demonstrates competence in undertaking PAS 9980 Fire Risk Appraisals of External Walls and completing EWS1 forms for buildings with a top floor below 18 metres. It was a vital step in helping address the ongoing challenges faced by those affected by cladding issues.”
Christian adds, “After achieving my RICS chartership, I pursued additional specialist training in fire safety, including the EWS training, fire safety management courses and fire door inspection training.”
How Trident Supported Their Journey
At Trident, we do all we can to encourage and support our team in undertaking professional development courses, helping them become their best selves.
“Trident has been highly supportive,” Christian tells us. “They have funded my additional training and qualifications and provided study leave to help me focus on coursework and exams.”
Tom shares the same sentiment. “I’m grateful to Trident for supporting my development by giving me the time and flexibility to complete the RICS External Wall Systems (EWS) course diligently.”
In addition to crucial training support, both Tom and Christian have had access to a diverse range of fire-related projects, giving them valuable on-the-job experience.
“Working on these projects helped me to consolidate my learning in real-world settings,” Christian says.
Tom adds, “I’ve worked on a variety of related projects including residential buildings and cladding surveys on commercial buildings, to overseeing cladding remediation projects. It has enabled me to build real-world expertise in fire safety.”
“One of the most rewarding experiences to date was inspecting a high-rise residential tower and helping replicate its construction for a full-scale BS 8414-2 fire test—to observe firsthand how its external wall system would behave in a real fire scenario.”
A Rewarding Journey
Today, Tom and Christian are key members of our Building and Fire Safety team. The hard work they put in to specialise in this area has been both personally and professionally rewarding.
“Professionally, developing this specialism has instilled a greater depth of technical precision and critical thinking in my daily work,” Tom says. “Personally, working in fire safety has made me more mindful of the human impact behind every decision. Knowing that my actions can directly affect the well-being of residents has heightened my motivation and commitment to excellence.”
Tom adds: “I’m also proud to now give back to the profession as an RICS assessor, supporting and evaluating those pursuing the same qualification. It’s a privilege to help raise standards and ensure that more surveyors are equipped to tackle these complex, high-stakes issues with confidence and care.”
Christian shares that “It’s allowed me to take on client-facing roles much earlier in my career than I might have otherwise, and I’ve been able to build a strong professional profile within the sector. I’ve also had the opportunity to act as an RICS EWS course assessor and contribute articles to the RICS Building Surveying Journal—opportunities that arose directly from my involvement in this specialist area.”
Thanks to Tom and Christian for giving us insight into their careers and time at Trident.
If you would like to learn more about our Building and Fire Safety team, please click here, or to get in touch please email tom.cansfield@tridentbc.com and christian.watkins@tridentbc.com