Everyone is in unsettling times regarding building fire protection. There have been many changes in fire regulations over time and potentially more are ahead following many recent tragedies. In 2015-16, fire and rescue services in England attended 529,000 incidents: a 7% increase compared with the previous year. In total, there were 303 fire-related fatalities, and 7,661 casualties.
Fire brings devastation to buildings and lives, and the government has made regular amendments to Building Regulations over the years, most recently in 2013. However, not everyone is taking note. Just recently, residents of an apartment block in Manchester were forced to move out after it was found that fire safety standards hadn’t been met.
protect from potential fires
The Building Regulations for fires are split into five sections, taking into account two types of buildings:
- Dwelling Houses: Places where people live, including sheltered houses (excluding flats).
- Buildings Other Than Dwelling Houses: Offices, hospitals, shopping centers, apartment blocks etc.
Checkmate Fire outlines each section of the regulations below and discusses how to equip both dwellings and non-dwellings to ensure the building – and people inside – are safe and protected from potential fires. The regulation outlines two routes of escape: the first is horizontal, which refers to moving across a floor of a building towards a stairwell. The second method is vertical, which refers to walking down the staircase to safety.
test fire alarm
Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that the fire alarms are adequate and working
It’s crucial that these stairs lead people directly outside without needing to pass through another section of the building; and each room must lead directly to an escape route. The only exception here is for kitchens, bathrooms, laundry and utility rooms. The buildings should also consider wheelchair users too: vertical circulation must be present on the landing of each stairwell, so that they can safely wait for assistance.
Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that the fire alarms are adequate and working. They must have a standby power supply and extensions on buildings must also have fire alarms. For dwellings, smoke alarms should be fitted no further than 7.5 meters away from a bedroom door, and also be located in landings and halls. The user should place one in the kitchen – especially if they have an open plan area.
Internal Fire Spread
Don’t forget to test the fire alarm at least once a week. If they are in a large building such as a block of flats or offices then it’s important to run drills so that everyone knows how to exit the building safely, should a fire occur. According to official statistics, 28% of all dwelling fires, and 33% of non-dwelling fires that occurred didn’t have a fire alarm, which could have alerted the people inside much sooner.
Countless times, Checkmate Fire has inspected buildings with inadequate fire stopping measure, ill fitting fire doors and holes in ceiling voids you could play a game of tennis through, not to mention the discovery of the dreaded ‘pink foam’. Suffice to say, there are a lot of aspects of a building to work with to ensure its occupants are safe in the event of a fire. The benefits of adhering to passive fire protection standards are clear.
flame-resistant top coat
If the resident has a concrete beam, then provided it has steel reinforcement inside, that should be adequate too
Passive fire protection prevents the spread of flames and smoke in the event of a blaze, so getting it right saves lives, reduces the damage to buildings and equipment, helps to ensure the continuity of public services and the survival of businesses, and it can also reduce your insurance premiums. Fire is spread through flammable materials, so it’s important that residents reduce the risk and rate of this happening.
People may not be aware of this, but fire is most commonly spread through walls and ceilings, as opposed to floors (furniture can play a part too). For load-bearing walls (one which supports other elements of the building), it’s important that they’re built with steel beams so they can resist fire for 30 minutes, allowing time for people to escape. Alternatively, if the resident has a concrete beam, then provided it has steel reinforcement inside, that should be adequate too.
External Fire Spread
For internal walls and ceilings, materials used must be Class-1 rated in order to prevent fire from spreading. These materials usually have two layers: an intumescent first coat and a flame-resistant top coat. If a resident has timber cladding then they can apply a paint-on coating to protect it to a Class-1 degree. Everyone is too familiar with the fact that it’s not just preventing an internal fire that needs to be a priority; it’s externally too.
The issue is if combustible materials such as timber or plastic cladding are found close to a boundary (if any still exist). These walls must therefore be fire-resistant to stop fires from spreading to nearby buildings. One issue that the resident needs to consider is that glass in windows, as in order to prevent fire from spreading, it must be fire rated.
Access and Facilities
However, they should not forget that a window represents a means of escape, so once opened, there should be adequate space for a person to climb through. If a fire has occurred then obviously once they have called the fire services, they will want them to reach as quickly as possible.
However, the resident needs to ensure the following:
- Fire engines must be able to reach the building.
- The equipment (eg a hose), must be able to reach the location of where the fire is inside the building.
- There must be an adequate supply of water, at the right pressure, available to fight the fire.
Certification and Accreditation
Dry risers must be vertically installed on each floor, so that firefighters can connect their equipment
This is usually doable in dwellings, but the second point can become more difficult for larger buildings, such as high-rises. In this case, dry risers must be vertically installed on each floor, so that firefighters can connect their equipment and deal with the fire. Fires can be caused by a range of things, but cigarettes, cooking appliances and electrical items are the most common culprits.
Understanding the reasons is one important way to help prevent fires; but you should also ensure that your building (regardless of its use) meets fire safety requirements, so that should one occur, damage is minimized and those inside can reach safety. While the industry is full of passive fire companies of varying ranges of competency and experience the question on everyone’s mind is quite possibly ‘how can I ensure I choose the right company to do the job?’.
required level of fire integrity
Well, there is something that property owners, builders, estate and facilities managers can do to ensure the passive fire protection systems in their buildings are up to standard – insist on third-party certification. Accreditation schemes of this sort are available for both products and installers.
They were originally developed to drive up safety standards in the industry by ensuring that products were capable of achieving the performance claimed by manufacturers and that they were used in combination and fitted in a way that delivers maximum safety levels. One should look for the UKAS accreditation and LPCB certifications.
fire protection certification scheme
The installer schemes help to make certain that the products are fitted in a way that achieves the required level of fire integrity
The UKAS accredited certification bodies undertake multiple tests on products and check factory production methods before signing off items, to help buyers ensure that high-quality protection has been specified. Equally important are the installer schemes that help to make certain that the products are fitted in a way that achieves the required level of fire integrity.
To make certain installers are competent and that their work is of the right quality, certification bodies audit the company’s procedures and processes to confirm the scope of the work they can do under certification. This is backed by regular inspections of work in progress to confirm it is being completed to a standard that provides the maximum level of protection.
glazed partition systems
Checkmate were among the first companies in the industry to identify the need to drive up standards and were one of the founding members of the BRE / LPCB passive fire protection certification scheme. And their experience of working in this standards-driven environment has been entirely positive; it ensures they deliver systems that provide the highest levels of fire integrity without any negative effect on the end client’s chosen design scheme.
In fact, there are even third-party accredited products that were developed to be aesthetically pleasing, such as fire-resistant glazed partition systems. The third-party certification process works and is valued by building owners and insurers alike, giving them peace of mind that in the event of a fire, there will be time for evacuation plans to be executed and that the damage to their property will be kept to a minimum.
