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can better ‘improve the correct response and reduce false alarms’. Dr Glockling noted that this was an innovation ‘there for the taking’. The government and insurers have different views on life safety versus property protection, with the latter in fire safety being ‘entirely voluntary’ and falling ‘far short’ of the commercial sector – which is ‘quite in tune’ with the idea of resilience and continuity planning. Special measures ‘way over and above’ the
law are required, and education is integral, while fire engineering and its ‘tremendous bag of tricks’ is well placed to help with property protection. Resilience measures are achievable ‘if done at the outset’, though homes are ‘not a level playing field’ because all materials perform differently, and homeowners need better information. There is a minor risk of fire death in the UK,
he went on, addressing tall building fire factors including rates of fire, compartmentation and fire sources. He pointed out that regulations don’t address a combination of internal and external spread, or external ingress, in what he called a ‘failure’ of the regulations. On fire spreading through voids, he showcased examples and explained work the FPA has done to try to convince government, with little success. On combustible voids, there is a ‘catch up period’ between modern methods of construction and trades in construction, Dr Glockling said, referencing the ‘greater sensitivity’ of buildings. Moving to cladding, he explained what it constitutes, as well as the BS 8414 tests, and concerns relating to these being undertaken on ‘perfect form’ models as opposed to real life set ups.
44 APRIL 2018
www.frmjournal.com
With competing requirements for cavity
barriers to both vent and yet be sealed in the event of fire, Dr Glockling referenced intumescent strip technology, noting that there was ‘little conclusive evidence’ it worked. He showed an example of one about which the company’s own marketing material stated that the technology saw a ‘technical failure’ that had been ‘deemed to have occurred’. On sprinklers, he pointed to ‘poor
understanding’ of what the standards seek to achieve, though he took comfort from both the industry and approving bodies’ response to ‘making good sense’ of the standards that exist. By considering the ‘whole picture’, including detection and evacuation, and by using approved providers, building owners can better mitigate the risks.
Evacuation policies
Mr Passey said that while it would be ‘nice to think every building and floor would have a plan’ with routes, locations and other important information, we should be ‘mindful of how many people actually look at those’. Plans need to be simple and straightforward, and occupant safety is obviously most important. Mr Passey outlined fire safety objectives that are expressly featured in building regulations and approved documents. These include early warning of fire, appropriate
means of escape and resilience from effects of fire and smoke, with B1 relating to warning and escape, and B3 to internal fire spread. The regulations are ‘succinct’ and ‘don’t tell us too
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