Fire & CO Alarms
Early warning – fresh opportunities
The inquiries, investigations and regulatory reviews following the Grenfell Tower fire cover issues ranging from sprinkler systems to material combustibility. But little has been said about fire detection and alarms, their key role in occupant safety and how this should be reflected in new regulations and standards. That is now starting to change, as alarm manufacturer Kidde explains.
W
ithout doubt, wider installation of interconnected smoke and heat alarms is an essential first
step for fire safety in all dwellings, not just high-rise/high risk buildings. They offer straightforward, low cost early warning of fire – and the same is true of CO alarms to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. Specifiers, developers, housing providers and installers should now be encouraged to reappraise how these essential life-savers should be deployed intelligently for optimum effect. But this means not only detecting dangers quickly but also ensuring that all occupants are alerted to them.
Code of Practice However, we can no longer rely on current Building Regulations Approved Document guidance, considered ‘unfit for purpose’ in Dame Judith Hackitt’s recent review. Approved Document B (AD B) and other national recommendations for smoke and heat alarms are based on the Code of Practice BS 5839- 6:2013. Although Kidde considers that the current Code still offers the best available guidance on minimum safe standards in most situations, it does raise issues of concern and it is also currently under review.
www.ewnews.co.uk The Code defines ‘Grades’ (the reliability of a
system in terms of its power sources) and ‘Categories’ (in which areas smoke/heat alarms are required for detection). In most cases, guidance set out in tables can be applied as a minimum.
The standard recommended by the Code applicable to most properties with up to three storeys and no single floor over 200sq m is Grade D (mains with back-up) and Category LD2 (essentially alarms in circulation areas, living rooms and kitchens).
Approved Document B failings Building Regulation guidance documents in Scotland and Northern Ireland generally mirror the Code with Category LD2 for most general housing. However, in England and Wales, AD B falls short, requiring only Category LD3 with smoke alarms just in escape routes. But smoke alarms in living rooms are important. As the Code stresses, with Category LD3 the evacuation time once fire is detected in the escape route “might not prevent death or serious injury of occupants of the room where fire originates”.
This raises the fundamental question of whether current guidance ensures that all occupants can clearly hear interconnected
As a straightforward, low cost early warning, smarter installation of smoke, heat and CO alarms is an essential first step.
Smoke alarm in sitting room.
alarms sounding. At the heart of the matter is the humble internal door which, when closed, reduces the passage of smoke through to the other side and delays triggering a smoke alarm there. Similarly, it also reduces the passage of sound from an alarm, limiting the ability of occupants on the other side to hear it.
●Continued over August 2018 electrical wholesaler | 23
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
