British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association Ltd (BAFSA) News

With school exam season now in full swing, BAFSA (The British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association) is reminding the Government and education authorities, as part of this year’s Sprinkler Week (20-25th May), about the increased threat of fire to schools during the summer term – a time when pupils and staff are under most stress. According to the Government’s own data, less than 8.5% of new schools built since 2015 have automatic fire sprinklers fitted and yet there were around...

BAFSA is delighted to announce the approval by OFQUAL, the Qualifications Regulator, of the ABBE Level 3 Award in Inspection and Commissioning of Commercial Fire Sprinkler Systems. This new BAFSA qualification relates to the inspection, commissioning of commercial fire sprinkler systems design in accordance with the LPC Rules inc BS EN 12845. Those taking the course will gain the knowledge and skills required to determine sprinkler design in relation to storage configurations, inspection of the...

BAFSA has applauded Cheshire Fire Authority’s recent investment of £36,000 in sprinklers to help protect a newly renovated block of flats in Warrington, United Kingdom (UK). To date, Cheshire Fire Authority has invested over £200,000 in retrofitting sprinklers in high-rise blocks across the county and this most recent project is the 18th building they have helped protect from fire. Sprinkler retrofit work at Kingsway House The installation of the sprinkler system in the buil...

BAFSA kicked of its 50th anniversary celebrations at the House of Lords last week with a special lunch in the Attlee Room to mark the occasion. The association which was founded in 1974, invited 50 key stakeholders from across the fire safety sector and honored guests including, Lord David Goddard, Sir Ken Knight, Bob Blackman MP and Ann Jones OBE. BAFSA’s 50th anniversary celebrations The lunch saw the ‘premiere’ of a short 50th anniversary video, narrated by broadcaster, N...

On 5th February 1974, 50 years ago the very first meeting of the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association was held.  The seven founding member companies were: AFA Minerva, (EMI) Ellis Fire Protection, Fire Snow, Haden Young, Mather & Platt, Matthew Hall Mechanical Services, Merrol Fire Protection, and Mr. Leslie Heaviside of Mather & Platt was made BAFSA’s fire chairman.  Achievements in fire safety On 8th February BAFSA will be celebrating its achievements in im...

A recent fire incident, involving a sauna in a mixed-use building in London’s Fitzrovia, was closed within 70 minutes, thanks to the presence of an automatic fire sprinkler system. Full details of the incident brought to their attention by LFB can be read on BAFSA’s Sprinkler Saves website, which documents saves, in order to provide evidence of sprinklers doing their job. Business interruption Contrast this with a fire in a commercial leisure center brought to BAFSA's attention...

BAFSA CEO - Ali Perry chats to Fire Safety Matters Editor - Brian Sims for Episode 35 of the Fire Safety Matters Podcast. In conversation with Brian Sims, Ali Perry examines several areas including competence in the sector, sprinkler systems for schools and the recent car park fire at Luton Airport. Fire Safety Matters magazine Ali Perry also writes a heartfelt piece calling on the Government to mandate sprinklers in schools in the current issue of Fire Safety Matters magazine. He says: &ldq...

Luton Airport suffered a huge fire in its Terminal 2 multi-story car park. The fire tore through the recently modernized car park, causing a significant structural collapse, severe damage to more than 1,200 cars, and serious disruption to flights.   The car park was part of a significant £160m redevelopment project in December 2018. Despite this modernization, the fire and rescue service revealed the car park was not equipped with fire sprinklers.   A 12-hour blaze The blaze s...

BAFSA member RSP Fire Sprinkler Systems has reported how a house fire caused by an accident involving a cigarette lighter was quickly brought under control by the actuation of a single sprinkler head. The fire broke out on 18 November 2023 in a bedroom in a private home in the South Wales valleys. Not only was the fire quickly extinguished, but RSP Fire Sprinkler Systems said that they had completed a full reinstatement of the system within two hours of the call-out.  fire sprinkler sys...

The devastating Luton Airport carpark terminal fire is a “Regrettable reminder of why BAFSA continues to call for sprinklers to be fitted in all modern, multi-storey carparks,” BAFSA’s chief executive, Ali Perry has said. “Almost all modern cars are significantly larger, more massive and contain much greater amounts of plastic than ever before. They produce fires which are larger and propagate much faster than was previously possible. When electric vehicles catch fire, f...

BAFSA’s chief executive, Ali Perry, has welcomed the news this week that an expert working group is to be set up by The Scottish Government to consider if sprinkler systems should be made compulsory in historic buildings that are converted into hotels. The Scottish Government’s decision comes in the wake of The Cameron House Hotel fire in Loch Lomond in December 2017, which resulted in the deaths of two men. A Fatal Accident Inquiry into their deaths heard that sprinkler systems cou...

Ahead of the much anticipated review of BB100 for England, British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association Ltd’s (BAFSA) sprinkler ambassador and the driving force behind the website, Sprinkler Saves UK, has compiled a report for the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) to form part of the industry’s case to Government to make sprinklers mandatory in all new schools in England as they are in Scotland and Wales. Report highlighting sprinkler saves The report covers 10 sprinkler saves re...

Armstrong Priestley are the first company to have employees pass the BAFSA Inspection and Commissioning Course, which allows them to apply for the new Industry related CSCS SKILLS card. “The new Blue Skill Card for ‘Commercial Fire Sprinkler Engineers’ is a first and we are proud to have our engineers qualified and be amongst some of the very first people to carry the new trade related card,” says Steve Brailey, Joint Managing Director at Armstrong Priestley. Blue Skill...

British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association’s (BAFSA) Chief Executive - Ali Perry has been appointed by the Health & Safety Executive to the Building Safety Regulator’s (BSR) new Industry Competence Committee (ICC). Industry Competence Committee The Industry Competence Committee (ICC) has been set up to support the work of the Building Safety Regulator. Its aim is to provide insights and guidance from industry stakeholders, in order to help improve competence levels across the...

Kitchens are the seat of more fires than any other location in purpose-built blocks of flats, according to statistics from BAFSA’s Incident Data Report No 3. And the image, shared by Triangle Fire Systems, from an incident on June 25, at a residential block of flats in Birmingham shows the benefits of having sprinklers installed in these types of premises. Not only was the fire contained and controlled, smoke damage was limited to one area, reducing the impact on the resident’s abil...

The chief executive of the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA), Ali Perry, has praised a recent report in Inside Housing magazine that highlights the shockingly low-level of sprinklers retro-fitted in high-rise residential buildings since the Grenfell tragedy. The data from the Inside Housing report was gathered from 37 large social housing providers in England and found that out of 1,768 of these, only 334 (18.9%) had been fitted with sprinklers, and over half of these were f...

Eldery residents, at an assisted living complex in Brighton, were protected from a potentially devastating kitchen fire, thanks to the fact that the property management company had had the foresight to fit an automatic sprinkler system at the premises. Four pumping appliances from Brighton, Roedean & Hove were mobilized to the incident on the 5th floor of the six-story complex. The kitchen fire was in an open plan apartment and had spread to the extractor fan. Automatic sprinkler system...

A West Midlands mum has thanked Birmingham City Council for ensuring that a ‘life-saving’ sprinkler system had been installed in her tenth-floor flat, when a fire caused by an electric bike cut off her family’s only escape route out of the building. Even though 25 firefighters were mobilized and at the scene within three minutes – the sprinkler system had already brought the fire under control. Had they not been fitted, the outcome would have been very different. Import...

A new publication that focuses on incidents in Greater London where fire sprinklers have helped protect our communities from fire has been published BAFSA in time for this year’s Sprinkler Week (15-22nd May). Greater London Review, provides powerful evidence of the role sprinklers play, as part of an appropriate package of fire safety measures, in reducing the impact of fire on people property and the environment. The review is broken down into three key areas: a look at fire trends in G...

Delegates attending this free to attend seminar, which is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, 22nd February, 2023, in Hamilton, Scotland, will participate in an intense 3 hours of presentation, delivered by experts, focusing on automatic fire suppression standards and regulations. Water Mist Roadshows This is the second in the series of Water Mist Roadshows hosted by the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA) and the Fire Industry Association (FIA). Earn valuable CPD hours for fr...

Fires remain the greatest threat facing those responsible for safeguarding the built heritage. While other risks such as theft, flood and even insect or fungal infestation can damage buildings and their contents, only fire can destroy them completely. Each year, throughout the world, there are fires in all types of historic and heritage buildings – in 2019 alone there were 400 serious fires recorded in such properties. A number of these fire outbreaks reach serious proportions, where mea...

The FPA’s Assembly Point podcast continues its second series with a deep dive into sprinkler and water-mist standards. In the latest episode of Assembly Point, the FPA’s suppression systems expert and Principal Consultant, Dale Kinnersley facilitate a technical discussion on sprinkler and water mist standards.  existing and new standards He is joined by Adrian Kay, Head of Technical Compliance and Quality Fire Suppression at Johnson Controls; Alan Crichton, Design Course Trai...

British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA) invites everyone to join a one day, free-to-attend, seminar. The details of the BAFSA seminar include: Where: Poole Quay Hotel, The Quay, Poole, Dorset BH15 1HD, United Kingdom (UK) Date: Thursday, 8th September, 2022 Hosted by Dorset & Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service (DWFRS), in partnership with the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA) Rise in automatic fire suppression systems installations An increasing num...

BAFSA is pleased to announce Sprinklers Training Academy based in Dorset has commenced delivery of the L2 Certificate (Experienced Worker Route) in Fire Sprinkler Installation. The Academy joins West College Scotland, Neath Port Talbot Group of Colleges, and Llandrillo College in delivering this online qualification. Certification requirements The link given on the BAFSA website explains the nationally recognized qualification (Level 2 Certificate in Fire Sprinkler Installation) covering Resi...

The conference program, devised by Europe’s two largest professional sprinkler organizations – EFSN & BAFSA will feature many innovative and ground-breaking developments from the water-based fire suppression industry worldwide. Over 50 presentations will be delivered over the two days. Residential sprinklers systems It is been five years since the Grenfell Tower disaster but the fallout continues. One reaction has been to see residential sprinkler systems much more widely appli...

II Aspire has announced that the recent review of the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Mechanical Fire Protection has been approved and published by the Government. BAFSA is pleased to have worked with II Aspire on the Steering and Working Group, along with other industry employers, to review the existing NOS, then update and agree on the changes necessary to ensure the NOS are reflective of industry changes to maintain and improve standards of practice. National Occupational Standa...

Recently, sprinklers have protected a school, a retirement housing block, and a 13 story residential building from fire. Yet again sprinklers are recorded as protecting the young, the elderly, and the vulnerable from fire thus providing society with the necessary resilience to the damaging forces of fire. Chip pan fire: Retirement Housing Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service were called to a chip pan fire in the first-floor kitchen of a residential block of 112 flats. A single conc...

The National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Mechanical Fire Protection have recently been reviewed by professionals across the fire industry. These standards relate to any non-electrical device used for fire protection such as, sprinklers; gas systems; water mist and powder; foam and chemical systems; dry and wet risers; fire mains. Industry best practice A consultation on the content of the National Occupational Standards to determine whether they reflect industry best practice and what so...

Nothing beats a conference, when it comes to making new contacts or re-establishing old ones. The British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association Ltd (BAFSA) has announced that the internationally renowned Fire Sprinkler International 2022 (FSI 2022) exhibition, taking place in London, from May 31 to June 1, 2022, will bring the international fire protection community together once again. Fire Sprinkler International 2022 At Fire Sprinkler International 2022 event, attendees will hear from renown...

It is now approaching five years since the Grenfell Tower disaster but the fallout continues. One reaction has been to see residential sprinklers systems much more widely applied in the UK. Users will hear how the London policy on sprinklers restricts funding for social housing to apartment buildings protected with sprinklers. Grenfell was partly made of combustible materials and Daniel Joyeux of Efectis will present French guidance on how to protect wooden residential buildings, sprinklers bei...