FIRE SAFETY & SECURITY Prioritise fire safety with early engagement
The Building Safety Act has, correctly, pushed fire safety to the top of the agenda in building design. With the introduction of the gateway scheme to support higher standards, the need for early engagement is clear. Here Craig Abbott, technical director of passive fire protection specialist FSi Promat – part of the Etex group, discusses how early engagement will improve fire safety – and how to get it right first time
W
hile the implementation of the Building Safety Act is still at an early stage, the existing model of design and build will need to be replaced to meet the
demands of the gateway scheme, with increased specification at the design stage the obvious solution. Under the Building Safety Act, introduced following the Hackitt Review into the Grenfell tragedy, the expanded gateway scheme can impose a hard stop on construction projects that
don’t adhere to the increased building safety standards – with the provision of passive fire protection systems being an integral part of this new process. Approval is required from the Building Services Regulator – within the gateway scheme – before any work can get underway. So, architects are required to demonstrate how the building design not only meets the required regulations, but also complies with the demands of the building design, intended use, and is supported by the information needed for the golden thread.
Accurate specification
While design and build has been a popular model since the 1980s, enabling contractors to take control of fulfilling the design and construction of a building, the gateway system requires all information relating to building safety to be specified and documented before work can get underway. Passive fire protection is an essential element of building safety. To this end, it needs to form part of the design that is submitted to the gateway scheme for approval. This makes the early, accurate specification of fire stopping and cavity barriers a critical part of any construction project. From a passive fire protection point of view, the changes in regulations support the standards that the industry strives to uphold – and early specification will support this. Importantly it ensures that the correct passive fire protection system is in place for that specific building or application, taking into consideration factors including movement, interactions with the substrate, service penetrations, and that effective compartmentation is in place to help to control the spread of fire.
8 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER JUNE 2024 Read the latest at:
www.bsee.co.uk
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