Protection systems


were being used on site, they were unable to provide the required level of fire resistance. In some instances, non fire resisting products are used instead of proven products, while in others, fire resisting products are omitted altogether, particularly those items that are in ‘closed up’ areas and out of sight when the building has been completed (eg cavity barriers and penetration sealing in risers and ceiling voids). Arguably there is a construction, design and management (CDM) issue here for designers regarding access, inspection and maintenance.


Cultural shift


Dame Hackitt made the point that, in order for any changes that follow the building regulations review to have a lasting legacy of safer buildings, there will need to be a full cultural shift in our approach to constructing buildings3


. The question that we should be


asking in the fire safety industry is: how can we effect this change? A number of the issues raised in the interim


report to the building regulations have been recognised and known in the fire safety industry for decades – it shouldn’t have to take a fire on the scale of Grenfell, with the resulting tragic loss in life, for things to change. This being said, nothing is done unless there is a driver, be it penalties, cost or other motivation. However the IFC Group has always argued that with life safety, drivers should not be retrospective after the event has occurred, as this is too late when dealing with the lives of people and their safety. Passive fire protection, as well as other aspects of fire safety in the built environment, needs to be at the forefront of good construction practice, where corner cutting and poor workmanship is considered totally unacceptable. Specialist, competent manufacturers, installers and maintainers of fire resisting products need to be the norm, where third party certification is the minimum barrier to entry when it comes to fire resisting products and installation. Apprenticeships and training in passive


fire protection also need to be high on the agenda in colleges and other educational establishments offering qualifications in the construction industry, not only to make people aware of the industry as a viable and rewarding career path, but also to help fill the widening skills shortage in this sector. All tradespeople that are involved with


service installation, whether network system engineers or plumbers, need to be trained and made aware of the importance of maintaining fire compartment lines for means of escape


December 2017 Dame Judith Hackitt DBE FREng


and protection. Staff within offices and public buildings, as well as landlords and tenants must be made aware of the contribution they can make to fire safety within the buildings they work and live in. Fire safety should not just be cost and


regulation driven – it should be recognised by government and the public as a specialist part of the construction industry, providing a critical life safety protection system to which everyone should be entitled as a basic human right


Peter Barker is fire safety manager and a team leader at International Fire Consultants Ltd, IFC Group. For more information, view page 5


References 1. BS 476-20: 1987 (incorporating amendment No. 1) Fire tests on building materials and structures. Method for determination of the fire resistance of elements of construction (general principles)


2. See ‘The golden thread’, Fire & Risk Management, March 2018, pp.36-41, Peter Barker


3. Building a Safer Future, Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety: Interim Report, Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government by Command of Her Majesty, December 2017


www.frmjournal.com MAY 2018 21 Cm 9551


FOCUS Building a Safer Future


Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety: Interim Report


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