NEWS FPA agrees new testing partnership
THE FPA and safety science organisation UL have signed a partnership to ‘transform’ testing and certification of UK facades and building envelope products. This alliance aims to ‘increase
cladding fire testing capacity and improve building product certification in the UK’, as well as ‘enhance the capability’ and ‘broaden the scope’ of testing available to bodies including developers, social landlords, specifiers and manufacturers. After the Hackitt Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety called for ‘major changes’ to UK fire testing, ‘significant’ revisions to the BS 8414 standard cladding tests are also expected. These developments follow the
FPA’s testing programme in league with the Association of British Insurers (ABI), which presented a ‘detailed critique’ of the regime. With the increased capacity needed for UK cladding testing, the partnership aims to develop multiple new test rigs in compliance with the updated standard from early 2019. Both organisations noted that
the ‘long-term’ partnership and ‘international alliance’ will ‘help restore confidence in product testing and certification’, with the increased capacity and ‘quality’ of large scale fire tests helping improve
Jonathan O’Neill, managing
the testing sector. The current UK facilities for testing facades are ‘booked up for at least the next six months’, so many manufacturers are testing products and receiving accreditation outside the UK. UL will invest in the FPA’s fire
test and research facilities in Gloucestershire, both ‘enhancing the capability and broadening the scope of testing available’, with product testing and certification to be made available ‘from within the FPA’s test lab’. Other testing to be made
available will include ‘building envelope inspection services’ and ‘additional forensic services’ for those owners concerned about cladding, insulation and other materials’.
Obituary – Alan Doig
THIS MAY, Alan Doig, the former president of the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) sadly passed away.
Alan was born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, and
after leaving school joined the Royal Marines for a short time before joining Fife Fire Brigade in 1976, where he very quickly moved up through the junior ranks, becoming leading fireman in two years and sub officer instructor at Gullane Training School the year after. In 1981, he was promoted to station officer, and in 1985 was seconded to the Fire Service College in the rank of assistant divisional officer. It's fair to say that Alan became very well known during his time
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at the College, and some of the stories about his time there make very interesting reading! In 1988, he applied for and gained a substantive post in the rank of ADO in Staffordshire and later became the staff officer to the chief fire officer. One year later he was promoted to DOIII and a further year later in 1989 to DOII. He attended the Brigade Command Course in 1992 and still remained in contact with the members of that course, all of whom meet up annually. He became divisional commander in the rank of senior divisional officer in 1993, before reaching principal officer rank as assistant chief officer in 1994
JULY/AUGUST 2018
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and DCO in 1996. In 1999, Alan took command of Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service. Soon after, Alan became a member of the CFOA board, eventually becoming president: a post he held with great distinction, leading to the honour of being awarded a CBE and QFSM. On retirement, he held a number of consultant appointments, most notably as deputy chief executive of the East of England Ambulance Service.
During his retirement, he spent time completely renovating a house in Buxton, and also became chairman of his local golf club. Our thoughts are with his family and friends
director of the FPA, said: ‘The Hackitt Review confirmed problems in the UK fire testing market. Teaming up with the world class team at UL offers FPA an unrivalled opportunity to provide a market leading solution to cladding testing. UL’s mission and expertise perfectly complements the FPA’s, and its global presence ensures customers gain barrier-free access to world markets.’ Chris Hasbrook, vice president and general manager of UL’s building and life safety technologies division, stated: ‘UL is committed to increasing the facade fire testing capacity in the UK as well as the quality of those tests, an area of weakness highlighted by the Independent Review led by Dame Judith Hackitt. We will ensure we play our part in rebuilding public confidence in a robust, reliable and real-life testing regime.’ James Dalton, director of policy at
the ABI, said: ‘The ABI commissioned the FPA earlier this year to review the current cladding testing regime of BS 8414, and it was found seriously lacking in five areas. This testing regime is not fit for purpose, so we welcome this partnership to improve fire safety testing and certification. We need multiple lines of defence to ensure the safety of all buildings in the future, not just high-rise blocks.’
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