Tactics, objectives, and choices: Building a fire risk index

This work summarises the key points that can be drawn from the extensive body of literature associated with fire risk indexing methods. A comprehensive definition of fire risk indexing is provided and the sometimes opaque mechanics of indexing are described in detail. Issues arising from fire risk indexing methods are explored, and the variety of terminology associated with this method is clarified. It is also explored how the development and operation of indexing methods are entangled with issues of reliable expert elicitation and professional competence of the end user. It emerges that the greater the complexity of a method, the more the workings of the method become obfuscated. This creates an inherent tension between the simplicity of the method and its transparency to the users – an issue the developers of fire risk indices ought to address from an early point.