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BSEE-JUN21-P32 Rehau_Layout 1 16/05/2021 11:40 Page 32


BSEE


Now more than ever, each aspect of a high­rise multiple occupancy building’s design and construction must include fire safety measures. With end user expectations for comfort and safety higher than ever, Franz Huelle, Head of Technical at REHAU Building Solutions, explores how building services can deliver high performance without compromising on fire safety compliance.


Consequently, when specifying each aspect of a development, developers and contractors face a dilemma: ensuring compliance with fire safety regulations, while maintaining high-quality, comfortable living conditions for occupants. Occupant living conditions can be negatively impacted by a low- quality or poorly installed building services solutions. For instance, sound from the system could travel through building structures, permeating into living and working spaces, or deposits could build up in pipes compromising hygiene for occupants. More importantly however, soil and waste or plumbing and heating systems can be a route for fire to spread throughout a building.


T Fire safety first


Construction professionals are guided on fire safety and acoustic considerations by the Building Regulations. Approved Document B, 2020, of these regulations provides the framework for fire safety standards in all building types. It sets out detailed guidelines around preventing fires spreading through building services in multiple occupancy and high-rise


developments. Approved Document E, 2015, examines the resisting the passage of sound in buildings, and what considerations should be made during the design and specification process to facilitate this. Alongside establishing standards for correctly sound-proofing individual residences, it also sets out how to correctly install drainage systems through separating floors or walls.


In order to meet the stringent regulations associated with high-rise multiple occupancy developments, building services engineers are expected to prioritise fire safety. However, amid the property development boom, those working on apartments and offices are also under pressure to deliver high- specification, comfortable spaces for occupants. Evidently, these two aspects need to go hand in hand to ensure building services engineers can meet these end user requirements.


The silent treatment


In REHAU’s latest report – Designing Healthy Apartments – 60% of the 520 maintenance and engineering contractors and architects surveyed said the need for good acoustic performance has increased over the last five years. Evidently, as construction has been turning to the skies, the high-rise boom in the UK’s cities has led to an awareness of sound passing through residences, and a requirement to mitigate this. When selecting a development’s soil and waste system, considering fire safety regulations alongside acoustic performance ensures adherence to legislation outlined in the Building Regulations while providing occupant comfort throughout developments. While Approved Documents B and E provide extensive information on their specific topic, they do not address how associations can be made between them. As such, without a clear and explicit link, it is up to construction professionals to bring together these seemingly separate aspects and ensure the specified solution delivers on both. Where fire safety is concerned, fire collars play a very important role in soil and waste system, as they provide protection against the spread of fire through pipework. As such, correct collar installation is vital to ensuring multiple occupancy buildings are as fire-safe as possible. However, this is also important for delivering high levels acoustic performance. If they are fitted in contact with the corresponding pipework, they can provide a direct channel for vibrations to transfer into the building’s structure.


Insulated plumbing


Another route for fire to spread through floors of a high-rise building is via the penetrations created by the heating and plumbing pipework. Often running from plant rooms in the basement, pipe penetrations need to be made safe to not allow


32 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER JUNE 2021


fire to permeate from residence to residence or between offices. Some projects also require the pipe insulation to have a minimum fire resistance. While such insulation can be added to pipework after it is installed, the process of doing so can be time consuming. For contractors with tight deadlines who could potentially receive fines when they don’t meet them, the delays from insulating regular pipe post install can be costly.


Factory applied fire-rated pipe insulation is now being made available to developers and contractors to remove this step and save installation time. Especially on large projects where there are multiple disciplines of contractor on site, having this option could be vital to ensuring delays are mitigated and buildings are handed over on time.


Bringing safety and performance together


As pressure falls on developers and contractors to specify high- performance, regulation-adherent buildings, the responsibility of providing solutions to meet this challenge falls onto suppliers. Companies such as REHAU work to produce solutions that are fully compliant with all fire safety regulations, while delivering best performance.


For instance, RAUPIANO PLUS, the soil and waste solution from REHAU, delivers excellent soundproofing performance with a 17 dB sound rating and brackets that limit the passage of sound into a building’s structure. Fire collars ranging in sizes and for regular or angled fitting, on top of fire stop tape, makes RAUPIANO completely compliant with fire safety regulations while providing its best acoustic performance. The system is fire- resistant for up to 120 minutes and


carries a European Technical Approval (ETA) against BS EN 1366-3: Fire resistance tests for service installations. Penetration seal. Using valuable insight from contactors working on large high-rise projects, REHAU has also developed a pre-insulated version of their plumbing and heating pipework, RAUTITAN. With Class B-rated insulation to BS EN13501-1 pre- applied at the factory, this option saves valuable installation time on site. Where hygiene is concerned, polymer pipework like this has a smooth surface that eliminates deposit build up, while the fact it is lead-free means potentially harmful substances leaching into water supplies.


When it comes to building services, though low-cost options may initially seem attractive for specifiers, the risk of inspection failure and expensive replacement and reinstallation work outweighs any initial short-term benefit. With high-rise developments increasingly under the spotlight, it is therefore in all stakeholders’ interests to invest in fully compliant solutions that can resolve all concerns around acoustic performance, speed of installation, and compliance with government regulations.


For more information on REHAU’s building services solutions, visit the website.


www.rehau.uk Read the latest at: www.bsee.co.uk


he specification of building materials for multiple occupancy and high-rise buildings is under an unprecedented level of scrutiny.


FIRE SAFETY & SECURITY High­Rise Fire Safety on Every Level


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