Current affairs
all life safety systems. Regarding who needs competency, he noted that this can range from premises staff through to FRA assessors, maintenance workers, cleaners and fire wardens. Showing examples of poor PFP, Mr Passey
noted that damage by other trades was one large element, with his images providing ‘not unusual examples’. He cited new builds as featuring the same issues and incurring large costs. There are also various different types of guidance available for assessors to cover different property types. With four FRA types ranging from non
destructive to destructive and from common areas to individual flats, there are ‘implications’ for evacuation if there are differing elements for compartmentation regarding competency of installers and the unique nature of each flat. Outline content includes assurance through log books, Mr Passey said, reiterating that people should ‘make sure they are properly recording’ what changes have been undertaken on site. A lot of people have undertaken FRA training
but are not on competency registers. Fire engineering is ‘not a straightforward principle’ or a ‘quick fix’, as it is designed to ‘meet or better’ standards, ‘not to provide simple solutions or justify cost savings’. He concluded by citing the Institution of Fire Engineer’s definition of fire engineering, contrasting this with claims from engineers on what they can offer, whereby they suggest they will remove fire protection. Mr Passey stated that this was ‘not necessarily appropriate’ even if it was providing cost savings
compared to a prescriptive approach, and warned those attending to ‘be aware’ that the tool shouldn’t be used for value engineering. He repeated the importance of best practice and guidance, competent and certified people, and the added bonus of accepting business from trade association members.
Cladding and property
Referencing the recent Liverpool Arena fire, FPA technical director Dr Jim Glockling stated that not protecting the ‘key item’ – the car park – was a ‘strange decision; something was missed’. With the ‘low bar’ set by regulations, ‘things haven’t been tackled at source’, hence the ‘catastrophic loss’ and ‘extraordinary fire behaviour’ in fires. He explained the FPA and ABI’s test
programme and the 14 themes mooted for the review – or ‘everything that’s been going wrong over the years’. Three were chosen for the testing, namely: the adequacy of the current cladding testing regime; the standards and relative performance of sprinkler systems; and the effectiveness of detection and associated evacuation procedures. The last point’s two elements are likely to be ‘under scrutiny’ and are ‘common to many’ tall buildings, while sprinkler standards are ‘loose and fast’. Building owners ‘don’t want to exchange one problem for another’ when it comes to sprinklers, with water damage the highest cost incurred. When two ingredients for fire are put together, and a detection system can pick up both, you
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www.frmjournal.com APRIL 2018
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