FIRE SAFETY
American UL2196 test is certainly more representative of real life installed practice. Unlike the British tests for Protected Circuits, UL2196 is aligned with the test protocols of all other fire-resistant building elements, and therefore is a much better, more robust, test protocol. Given that most buildings and occupants rely on functional and reliable life safety and firefighting systems to protect life and property, it would seem logical that in the UK, these ‘protected circuits’ should not be allowed to be tested to different standards to every other fire-resistant component or structure, because logically they will be in the same fire. It might be better if they were subject to even higher standards in order to ensure that the critical life safety and firefighting systems remain functional during evacuation.
Essential wiring systems
Fortunately there are expertise and wiring systems both approved and available in the UK market to assist electrical design engineers in finding appropriate solutions for all major projects where egress times are long, or anticipated fire profiles may be in excess of the minimum regulatory requirements of today. The MICC company, based in Washington, Tyne & Wear, is one such manufacturer, which produces essential wiring systems for Protected Circuits in the most demanding applications for buildings, underground built environments, nuclear power, and especially for critical healthcare facilities. While it is common to design to the minimum code, professional consultants are generally indemnified from designing with a ‘fit-for-purpose’ mandate. It however remains necessary to exercise ‘reasonable skill and care’, even if the builder and/or project owners inherit more liability under the Sale of Goods Act5 due to implied terms that the goods and products supplied will be of satisfactory quality where a purchaser makes known a particular purpose.4
Regardless, there
remains an ethical and prudent incentive for the contracted professional consultant
Fire Time-Temperature Curves. In: Kajewski SL, Manley K, Hampson KD eds. Proceedings of the 19th International CIB World Building Congress, Brisbane 2013: Construction and Society, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, QLD, pp. 1-13.
3 Ingason H, Lönnermark A. Recent achievements regarding measuring of time-heat and time-temperature development in tunnels. Swedish National Testing and Research Institute, 2004.
Today our built environment is far more complex, especially in healthcare facilities, where large numbers of people have no or limited mobility.
to qualify, in the design, any known limitations of applied regulation and standards.
Post-Grenfell review
With the recent release of the post Grenfell ‘Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety’,6
(Dec 2017),
a clear lack of overall responsibility for ‘Fit for Purpose’ design, build, and manage has been identified in the UK. This only goes to underline that Trust Boards, especially, must understand the complex responsibility and liability framework of the current project approval, design, inspect, and construct environment, where architects, consultants, professional engineers, contractors, inspectors, and product suppliers, all have limited accountability. Most rely on existing standards and building regulations which, for wiring of critical life safety systems, are based on minimum requirements, and may not be optimal or even appropriate for a major healthcare facility.
References 1 Mather P. A Short History Of The ‘Standard’ (Cellulosic) and Hydrocarbon Time/Temperature Curves (2000).
2 Arinayagam AD, Mahendran M. Fire Safety of Buildings Based on Realistic
4 Fenwick Elliott Annual Review 2014/2015. Understanding your design duty – “reasonable skill and care’ vs. ‘fitness for purpose’ – mutually incompatible or comfortably coexistent?”
5 Section 13, Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982.
6 Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety: Interim Report. Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, December 2017.
Richard Hosier hej
Richard Hosier is the regional manager in Asia/Pacific for ‘the world’s largest manufacturer of mineral cables’, the MICC Group. He has lectured at institutions and universities around the world, and published many technical papers on advanced fire safe cable design. He was the winner of the Institute of Fire Protection Officers UK Technical Trophy award in 2014 for his research into fire performance wiring systems, and previously served on three Australian and New Zealand technical standards committees for fire-safe wiring systems and cables. Other publications by this author include: Fire Resistant Cables – 2017, Wiring Systems for Hospitals – 2015, Electric Cables Fire Performance – 2014, Wiring Systems for Nuclear Power Stations – 2014, and Wiring Systems for Road and Rail tunnels – 2014.
Copper mineral insulated wiring. 30 Health Estate Journal August 2018
©MICC
©MICC
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