Fire Protection Association (FPA, UK) News
Manchester Fire Chief sets out priorities for the next four years with a pledge to improve and regulate the built environment, in order to protect people, property, and the economy. This is the first Fire Plan for Greater Manchester since responsibility for the fire and rescue service moved to the Mayor, Andy Burnham. The Plan addresses the impact of major incidents such as the Manchester Arena attack in 2017 and the 2019 Cube fire in Bolton. Fire Plan Commenting on the launch of the Plan, Ch...
The UK Government has published draft legislation that will see planners include fire safety information and consult on it with the Health and Safety Executive, as part of a new gateway-based approach to building safety. This development is in response to Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Safety, where she identified a lack of fire safety considerations at the planning stage for high-rise residential buildings. Gateway review points The government consulted on propose...
During the National Sprinkler Week, Fire Chiefs will be highlighting how different approaches to sprinklers across the United Kingdom (UK) means that not all new schools will be protected. The FPA is supporting the campaign that runs from Monday, 17th - 23rd May. It will raise awareness of the benefits of sprinkler systems in keeping people and buildings safe from fire. sprinklers installation One area the NFCC is concerned about is new build schools. In Scotland and Wales, sprinklers are req...
The new Be Certain, Be Certified awareness campaign offers free guidance and resources to highlight the importance of third-party certification of fire doors in improving fire safety standards across the UK. third-party certification Third-party certification of fire doors provides independent evidence of the performance of a fire door and ensures that its performance data was not a one-off result. The campaign also gives expert insight into the third-party certification of fire doo...
National Safe Boating Week runs from 24 to 30 May. At the Fire Protection Association, they thought this would be a great opportunity to share knowledge, information, and testing standards when it comes to preventing boat fires. Watermist systems are an effective way to protect ships from fire. These systems have an important job and therefore must be properly maintained and tested and can help with that. Royal Navy Defence standards Receiving an accreditation underpins the importance of expe...
The demand for warehouse space is up due to online shopping, but insurer - Zurich says that warehouse sprinkler laws are outdated and should be changed. Recent research by Zurich reveals that the number of warehouses gutted by fire increased by 42 percent. Using Home Office statistics, Zurich found that in 2019/20 the number of warehouse fires stayed steady but the number gutted by fire rose considerably. insurance claims The cost of insurance claims has increased across the market. Zurich cl...
A fire broke out at New Providence Wharf, a high-rise residential building in East London, where cladding was due to be removed. London Fire Brigade firefighters tackled a blaze in a 19-story building where parts of the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors were alight. Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus carried out multiple rescues and two men were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. cladding remediation The London Ambulance Service said they had treated a number of people ...
A new guide provides assistance and recommendations on how to best specify cable containment systems to improve electrical safety in buildings in the event of a fire. Free to download, the new guide explains how to create a cable pathway through a building, while navigating the current standards landscape. electrical installation standards Creating Cable Pathways is published by Legrand UK & Ireland and takes on board changes to IET Wiring Regulations. It is in line with Dame Judith Hacki...
A hybrid event tackling future challenges facing the fire sector and beyond. Building on the success of last year, which saw more than 400 delegates attend virtually, this year’s FIRE Conference returns on the 9 November at the Queen Elizabeth II Center, London and will allow delegates to attend face to face or online. The joint initiative between the IFE, NFCC, and FPA is heralded as the center point for sector leaders and stakeholders to come together in a collaborative...
The number of Police Fire and Crime Commissioners could rise after the PCC elections on 6 May, as the UK Government indicates strong support for this type of governance. Currently, there are four Police Fire and Crime Commissioners in England: Staffordshire Essex Northamptonshire North Yorkshire Julia Mulligan is stepping down in North Yorkshire and Mathew Ellis is likewise in Staffordshire. PCC elections Other PCCs have shown interest in taking on governance in the fire but have bee...
FIREX International Connect 2021 is a brand-new, month-long digital event running throughout June. The upcoming FIREX International in-person event will take place at ExCeL London from 12-14 July, providing the first opportunity in over two years for the fire safety industry to unite face-to-face. “Both events present unmissable opportunities for the industry to reconnect and explore the innovative approaches to fire safety that have been born out of a challenging year,” said Chris...
Owners of a hotel in Leamington Spa have been ordered to pay £350,000 plus costs after a judge at Warwick Crown Court found them guilty of multiple breaches of the Fire Safety Order. 38 breaches of fire safety laws Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service inspectors visited the Falstaff Hotel on multiple occasions between 2017 and 2019, finding smoke alarms covered in plastic bags, fire escapes blocked with laundry, locked fire exits, and faulty alarms. The owners of Talash Ltd and parent f...
Fire Safety Bill receives Royal Assent and is an Act of Parliament, leading to major changes to fire safety in response to the Grenfell Tower fire. The Fire Safety Act 2021 provides the legal basis for meeting some of the recommendations from Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s Grenfell Inquiry Phase 1 report. series of regulations The Act makes changes to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, known as the Fire Safety Order. It’s not the end of the process, as much of the cont...
£9.5 million fire safety framework contract will see social housing providers accessing suppliers to provide external wall certification and fire engineering services. The Peabody Trust is pioneering a tender exercise to help find suppliers who can provide external wall assessments for their own building stock as well as allow other social housing groups to use the same framework. safe and affordable housing The Peabody Group is responsible for 71,800 homes across London and the southea...
Court hears how a rail worker suffered severe burns as a result of a fire caused by health and safety breaches in an electrical substation in Kent. Recently, Network Rail pleaded guilty at Folkestone Magistrate’s Court to an offense under the Health and Safety at Work Act for failing to protect the safety of staff. failure to maintain dehumidifiers The incident took place on 20 December 2018 after Network Rail failed, over a significant period of time, to prevent water from leaking into...
Howard Passey talks to Sarah Brodie from the Association of British Insurers about what matters to the insurance industry when it comes to fire safety. In this third episode of the FPA’s brand-new podcast, Assembly Point, Howard and Sarah discuss how legislation offers the opportunity for welcome improvements to fire safety in the built environment. fundamental reform The ABI has argued for many years that there needs to be fundamental reform of the building safety and regulatory system...
The UK Government has published its second quarterly update on progress to meet the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations, highlighting the breadth of work taking place. In a useful development, the UK Government is providing thematic updates of the work taking place by the government, the London Fire Brigade, the National Fire Chiefs Council, and other bodies to respond to the 46 recommendations made by Sir Martin Moore-Bick in his Phase 1 report. update Key changes in this quarter include:...
The decision by Southampton City Council to fit sprinklers in all its high-rise residential blocks proves right with yet another fire quickly extinguished. importance of sprinklers Firefighters from the newly combined Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service were called to a fire in a flat on the 21st floor of a tower block in Southampton this week. The first crew was on the scene within three minutes and found that a cooker fire in the kitchen was already out on arriva...
A new consensus framework for building control bodies and fire and rescue services will help resolve disagreements about plans for building work to meet fire safety requirements. Government officials wrote to heads of building control and Chief Fire Officers last week to advise progress on one of the matters contained within its recent fire safety consultation. task force The consultation response, published by the government in March, noted a strong preference from respondents f...
BSI launches consultation on PAS 9980, new guidance to help fire risk assessors assess the risk of fire spread over external walls of multistorey residential buildings to aid remediation. PAS 9980 PAS 9980 is available in draft and BSI is inviting public comment on this Publicly Available Specification. It has been sponsored jointly by MHCLG and the Home Office and was drafted by C.S. Todd & Associates and a team of experts. Members of the drafting steering group include the BRE, National...
The Fire Protection Association (FPA) is delighted to announce they have been awarded UKAS accreditation to carry out fire tests on watermist systems to BS 8458:2015 Fixed fire protection systems – Residential and domestic watermist systems – Code of practice for design and installation. They are proud to be pioneering the way as one of the first UK fire testing facilities accredited to offer this important British Standard test. Automatic fire suppression systems The desire for a...
The Fire Protection Association is among the first UK testing laboratories to become UKAS accredited for BS 8458 water-mist system testing. The Fire Protection Association (FPA) is delighted to announce it has been awarded UKAS accreditation to carry out fire tests on water-mist systems to BS 8458 : 2015 Fixed fire protection systems - residential and domestic water mist systems - code of practice for design and installation. automatic fire suppression systems It is proud to be leading...
The Fire Protection Association (FPA) are delighted to announce they have been awarded UKAS accreditation to carry out fire tests on watermist systems to BS 8458:2015 Fixed fire protection systems – Residential and domestic watermist systems – Code of practice for design and installation. The Fire Protection Association is among the first UK testing laboratories to become UKAS accredited for BS 8458 watermist system testing. The Fire Protection Association (FPA) is delighted to anno...
Dispelling the myths about sprinklers, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service highlights the benefits of modern systems for both new builds and older properties. new year-long campaign This new year-long campaign led by the service’s Business Safety team will include COVID-safe events, as well as interactive social media chats, where local businesses can ask questions about how sprinklers work to extinguish fires at the source. The campaign will focus on different business sectors each...
The Grenfell Inquiry discussed the status of regulation within the professional fire risk assessment service market. This adds to the larger issue of the current landscape of fire safety and the ability of organizations to fulfil specific tasks to a competent standard. Module 3 Opening Statements In the Module 3 Opening Statements (29/03/2021) James Maxwell-Scott QC for RBKC (Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea) highlighted that “Industry practice is likely also to be relevant to...
Essex wood treatment firm, Prime Biomass Ltd created a huge fire safety risk to the local community by storing more than double the agreed limit of wood waste. A jury at the Old Bailey returned unanimous guilty verdicts against two directors of an illegal waste wood operation in Essex. One director was ordered to pay £50,000 in fines, compensation and legal costs while the other faces a five-year ban as a company director. A third director was acquitted by a majority verdict. five-week t...
Marking a year of challenges and change, IFSEC Global reviews a year of fire safety and publishes its list of the top influencers in fire safety. The Fire Safety Annual Report covers a wide range of fire safety topics and looks at how the fire safety industry has responded to Covid-19. In his foreword to the report, Ian Moore, Chief Executive of the Fire Industry Association said: “It has been an unpredictable and a somewhat turbulent year for us all. Broadly speaking, our year...
The confidential reporting system for the building industry now includes fire safety and has been relaunched as CROSS, Collaborative Reporting for Safer Structures UK. CROSS-UK welcomes reports about fire safety and structural safety issues related to buildings and other structures in the built environment. Reports include information that will help others to learn from safety issues and typically look at concerns, near misses or incidents. Structural Safety’s main function Establ...
The Fire Standards Board for England is seeking views by 9 April on a new overarching standard for Fire Protection. Having recently published the first fire standards focused on operations, the Board is now consulting on two draft standards for protection and prevention. The Fire Standards Board commissioned the development of the Fire Protection Fire Standard through the National Fire Chiefs Council’s Protection Policy and Reform Unit (PPRU). A working group, with representation from ser...
Roy Wilsher steps down as NFCC Chair after four years, handing over to his successor, Mark Hardingham. Created in 2017, the NFCC is the professional voice of the fire and rescue service and builds on the legacy of the Chief Fire Officers Association. Prior to taking on the role of Chair, Roy Wilsher was Chief Fire Officer of Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service. He was in charge when the Buncefield oil depot exploded in 2005, this was one of the largest fires in Europe since the second wo...
