Fire Protection Association (FPA, UK) News
Derby Crown Court sentenced Thirunavukkaradu Kuladaisamy to suspended prison time, as well as a large fine and court costs for fire safety breaches, after a fire in a converted house two years ago. Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service attended a fire at 1057 London Road, Derby on the night of 23 November 2019. According to local newspaper reports at the time, the police and fire service officers remained at the scene of the fire all night investigating the blaze. Fire safety regulations Respond...
Online supermarket - Ocado has suffered another robot fire at one of its fulfilment centers, impacting deliveries across south east England. The fire on 16 July was caused by three robots colliding on the grid that controls the fulfilment of shopping orders at the technology firm. Fifteen fire engines The fulfilment centre processes over 150,000 orders a week for the joint venture between Ocado and Marks and Spencer. More than 1,000 robots move around the grid, collecting food from crates and...
Fire and rescue services received money from the Housing Ministry to pay for work to review risks on residential buildings higher than 18 meters. The £6 million grant helped services like South Yorkshire to employ specialist staff to identify and review buildings in their area. South Yorkshire received £126,000 from the grant as part of the Building Risk Review program. Initially, fire and rescue services focused on identifying buildings with ACM cladding. The current phase of work...
The Welsh Government announced it will fund fire safety surveys for residential buildings over 11 meters to identify fire safety defects and measures to make them safe. building remediation Minister for Climate Change, Julie James confirmed the costs would come from the Welsh Building Safety Fund. She said, “It is critically important that we are able to understand the true scale of the problem in order to properly address it.” Leaseholders have not borne the costs of remediating...
In focus contains contributions from the four existing Police Fire and Crime Commissioners and two PCC candidates looking to take on fire. Since the PCC elections in May this year, the number of Conservative PCCs has expanded to 30 and they are now far in the majority across England. Prior to the May elections, the Home Office published the first part of a review into PCCs and made it clear they wanted to expand the model across the country. The much-trailed Fire White Paper will cont...
UL is investing in the installation of fire-resistance test furnaces at the FPA’s test laboratory. As part of the collaboration, tests for fire resistance, which form the basis of UK Regulations and support third-party product certification, will be processed quickly and effectively. Negotiations and construction planning for the new laboratory facility have commenced, with the new lab due to open in early 2022. Author's quote FPA Managing Director, Jonathan O’Neill OBE said...
The UK’s national fire safety organization, the Fire Protection Association (FPA), is further developing its collaboration with UL, a global pioneer in safety science, to support fire testing in the UK by expanding testing and laboratory capacities at the FPA’s test laboratory in Blockley, Gloucestershire. UL is investing in the installation of fire-resistance test furnaces at the FPA’s test laboratory. As part of the collaboration, tests for fire resistance, which form the ba...
The UK’s national fire safety organization, the Fire Protection Association (FPA), is further developing its collaboration with UL, a global leader in safety science, to support fire testing in the UK by expanding testing and laboratory capacities at the FPA’s test laboratory in Blockley, Gloucestershire. UL is investing in the installation of fire-resistance test furnaces at the FPA’s test laboratory. As part of the collaboration, tests for fire resistance, which form the bas...
The FPA has published a technical questionnaire developed by RISCAuthority to be completed at the design stage of building planning. The questionnaire is designed to elicit technical information around quality assurance where Modular Building methods have been used, to assist insurers with understanding the building design and construction system. The key challenges addressed are the insurance perils of fire and water exposure. Technical Checklist for England Modules are large and heavy compo...
Ministers have approved a new apprenticeship scheme for fire engineers but without an end-point assessment body in place, universities won’t be able to offer it in the autumn. This new qualification route for fire engineers comes at a time when demand for this expertise is on the rise. Planning Gateway 1 requires a Fire Statement to be produced. When this first stage of the ‘golden thread’ for buildings comes into force on 1 August, fire engineers will be needed to help comple...
In anticipation of the upcoming Fire White Paper, the Fire Minister launched a new website called 'Fire England', where the government is now hosting 'trusted, transparent, and consistent' information about fire. Previous Fire Ministers have trailed the creation of a fire-focused website for England, but it has not materialized until now. Unusually, this new website is located at www.fireengland.uk and not part of the standard gov.uk domain. Fire Kills campaign Fir...
The Fire Industry Association (FIA) and National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) have come together to produce a new Code of Practice to bring clarity to the use of premises information boxes for residential buildings. The Code of Practice for the Provision of Premises Information Boxes in Residential Buildings is in response to recommendations about fire safety information made by the Grenfell Inquiry. One of the recommendations focused on the provision of premises information boxes and this new Co...
Working with industry experts, the FPA has published a concise guide for sprinkler owners and specialist sprinkler maintenance contractors to inspect, test and maintain sprinkler systems to meet the required standards. Sprinkler system service and maintenance: guidance, records and checklists is supported and funded by RISCAuthority and is endorsed by the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA). Maintaining sprinkler systems The guide is freely available to download here and cont...
More residents than ever to benefit from sprinklers in their homes as Nottingham City Council funds fire safety improvements in their housing stock. Following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, Nottingham City Council agreed to an £8.5 million fire safety enhancement program. Nottingham City Homes manage the Council’s housing stock and have overseen fire safety works in low-rise and high-rise blocks across the city. Nottingham City Homes The program of works has led to sprinklers be...
BAFE statement on the fourth anniversary of the Grenfell Tower Fire. BAFE would like to recognize the fourth anniversary of the Grenfell Tower Fire and pay respects to all the people who lost loved ones and their homes because of this event. Regrettably, the fire highlighted multiple areas where substantial change is required to maintain a safe environment for people in their homes. BAFE has strong objectives to be part of this positive change to improve the fire safety arena and will c...
A London Fire Brigade investigation into a residential high-rise fire in Poplar revealed that the building’s ventilation systems failed to clear toxic smoke from escape routes putting the lives of residents at risk. In a report published on 1 June, fire investigators found that smoke detectors on the floor of the fire failed to operate the Automatic Opening Vent (AOV) and the cross-corridor fire doors. This meant that the smoke collected in the hallways and prevented the safe escape...
The Home Office has re-published the LGA guide on fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats as part of its overhaul of fire safety guidance. Fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats was originally published by the Local Government Association in 2011. changes to government policy The MJ reported in April that the LGA had distanced itself from this guide. The Home Office said they had taken the decision to host the guide, “Following the Local Government Association’s a...
The new edition of the biannual BAFSA member publication, Focus provides a round-up of work taking place in the sprinkler industry. John McCann, BAFSA Chairman welcomed members to the June 2021 edition of Focus magazine, the voice of the automatic water-based fire suppression industry. He reflected on the pressures faced by the construction industry resulting from pent-up demand from COVID-19, as well as the ensuing scarcity and rising costs of building materials. He is delighted that mo...
A court has quashed an appeal brought by a restaurant owner against a hefty fine after a fire revealed major fire safety breaches in the premises. Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service originally brought a prosecution against Beta UK Ltd who owns Malik’s Restaurant in Cookham, Berkshire. The case was heard by Reading Magistrate’s Court in October 2020. Fire at Malik’s Restaurant in Cookham, Berkshire Police have said they think the attack was an attempt to endanger lives"...
The Department for Education has published a revised version of Building Bulletin 100 and is now consulting on updated and expanded guidance that sees school boarding accommodation included for the first time. BB 100 is non-statutory guidance that advises how to minimize the spread of fire within a school and how to ensure the building structure is adequately resistant to the effects of fire. It also sets out the requirements for fire and rescue services to access schools in the event of a fire...
Hammersmith and Fulham Council have appointed Kier Places to carry out remedial fire safety works across its 17,000 housing stock over the next five years. The list of capital works includes upgrades to firefighting equipment in housing blocks as well as work on sprinklers. With continuing concerns across the country about the state of external walls on high-rise residential buildings, the contract includes external façade remediation along with new window installations. deliver a quali...
Housing Committee Chair, Clive Betts MP sets out his concerns about the gap between the guidance for external wall surveys and the reaction of mortgage lenders to their implementation, which is leaving leaseholders to face the consequences. Issues with the EWS1 process The Chair of the Housing, Communities, and Local Government Committee, Clive Betts MP, wrote to the government on 21 May to highlight continuing issues with the EWS1 process. This follows the publication of guidance in March by...
In a brand-new episode of Assembly Point, RIBA past president, Jane Duncan OBE, explores why fire safety must be taken seriously, and what action still needs to be taken to ensure tragic events such as Grenfell are never repeated. Jane is the Chair of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Expert Advisory Group on Fire Safety formed shortly after the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017. Its work is based on two key principles: To be visible and transparent in their discussion and outp...
Greater Manchester Fire and rescue service rounds off National Sprinkler Week with new videos promoting the benefits of sprinklers for local businesses. Love 2 Sleep is a major supplier of bedding to hotels, NHS and others based in Salford. There was a fire in their factory at 0215 which activated the sprinkler system; this alerted both the fire and rescue service as well as the business owner. Results of sprinklers Speaking about the fire in this video, the company representative said: &ldqu...
Notting Hill Genesis is looking for fire experts to help with fire safety and compliance across its 66,000 portfolios of homes across London and the southeast. fire safety services Launched on the government’s procurement portal Tenders Direct on 18 May, the Fire Consultants Framework 2021 is made up of five lots that cover a range of fire safety services related to the design, construction, refurbishment, maintenance, and management of housing stock. The housing association has allocat...
A court in Preston fined the former owner of the Plaza Beach Hotel in Blackpool £15,000 for multiple breaches of the Fire Safety Order that saw it treated as an unofficial HMO. Findings Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service first visited the hotel in September 2017 and prohibited its use after finding: Several members of staff sleeping in the basement with inadequate fire detection, Fire separation throughout the hotel was inadequate, Fire doors would not close, Combustible materials...
West Midlands Fire Service starts a 12-month trial of aerial drones to provide valuable footage to help with responding to fires and for fire investigations. The drones will be used to take video footage and high-resolution still images above incidents. Drones Drones can provide improve situational awareness for those in charge of incidents, helping decision-making and operational response. The six drones that WMFS will be using over the next year are M2ED drones that have a 30-minute flight...
Essex Fire Chief pledges £70,000 to the local council to ensure most vulnerable benefit from sprinklers as part of match funding approach to dealing with fire risk across the county. sprinklers Seven housing estates in the Felmores area of Basildon will be retrofitted with sprinklers. Previously, Essex County Fire and Rescue Service provided £50,000 to Basildon Council to fit sprinklers in a high-rise residential block. This announcement coincides with the NFCC’s National Sp...
Fire organizations have come together for the first time to create a Core Code of Ethics based on the Nolan Principles that puts supporting communities first. The National Fire Chiefs Council, Local Government Association, and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners have jointly published a Core Code of Ethics that sits alongside a new Fire Standard. This is in response to one of the recommendations made by Sir Tom Winsor in his State of Fire and Rescue reports. The Fire Minister, Lo...
Portsmouth City Council is investing £9.5 million over the next five years in retrofitting sprinklers in high-rise blocks as part of a £22 million package of fire safety measures. The announcement comes at the start of the NFCC’s Sprinkler Safety Week and is supported by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service working in partnership with the city. retrofit program The retrofit program was due to start but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The council carr...
