Fire Sector Summit


understand, interpret or even receive relevant information, and with no certification, there is consequently confusion about performance. Second was ‘inadequate coordination’,


smoke extract ductwork just one example people ‘consistently get wrong’. Many aspects are tested to old standards, and all fire safety ‘should be incorporated in the design stage’. The third point was ‘received wisdom’, many


trades thinking ‘the best is what you did before’, so a process might not have consideration or consultation. The design stage is ‘where detailed decision making happens’, and ‘needs careful monitoring’, as there must be a ‘responsibility that designs are coordinated and meet standards’. As a ‘major milestone in a project lifecycle’, it is ‘critical’ that fire safety is paramount. Alistair Murray, director of fire engineering,


spoke about building design programmes shrinking, while quality standards are ‘not defined’, as design responsibility is often left to contractors. Consequently, ‘many attempt cost reductions’, so ‘must be properly advised’. As the clerk of works role disappeared, and the role of the design team moves into construction, he asked how standards are monitored or observed. Aluminium rainscreens are specified against


then swapped in over higher performing, fire safe materials, while cavity barriers are ‘entirely omitted’ and products ‘fitted poorly’. With installation part of the building regulations, it should be ‘simple’ but it actually ‘causes issues with construction and fundamentally impacts on performance’. He noted that we ‘must find better regulations,


materials and methods of construction’ to enable evacuation, firefighting and structural fire protection – ‘who’s checking, certifying or installing?’ he wondered, asking if issues were due to the ‘drive to finish, poor work or lack of inspections’. Because standards and quality ‘massively


vary’, many buildings are ‘not built to standard or inspected’. Life safety should be considered, he argued, asking ‘how can you be compliant if checks aren’t being done?’ Dr Lane then spoke on how BS 9999 ‘seems


to be ignored’ despite regulating handover – she had ‘never seen it applied’, this posing risks to the responsible person. Active fire protection is ‘sometimes not integrated’ and fire safety is ‘reliant on opinion, not a validated or tested solution’. Remedial works raise questions of who pays, who is managing, what’s repaired first and why, marking the ‘total absence of a plan’. A ‘consistent, safe system’ can come through competence, quality, materials and regulation, while material and system performance is significant, and compliance unavailable ‘at the cheapest price’. For Arup, ethical behaviour and making regulations the end approval stage are the way forward.


‘No one’ issue ‘should be treated in isolation’, with building regulations required for handover (design, construction and compliance) as well as materials testing, data and processes in a ‘clearly defined’ system before a gateway review process.


Resilient and sustainable


‘Our first and often last lesson in buildings is resilience’, began RISCAuthority’s Dr Jim Glockling, warning of the dangers of trimming without due regard for safety and without public say. Speaking on balancing building resilience


with environmental demands, he underlined that life safety is the government’s prime consideration, before sustainability; yet FM’s study, Sustainability and Risk, showed that improving sustainability by increasing energy efficiency could increase the relevance of risk elements by a factor of three. ‘Sustainability is sexy; fire is not,’ he said. While


resilience measures are not mandated in law and are often viewed as relating only to businesses, as costly and covered by insurers or the fire service, sustainability is seen as bringing instant reward, savings, political and grant support. Unlike resilience, it has a scoring system and mandated elements. ‘So which would a homeowner choose: double glazing or a sprinkler system?’ he asked. Poor resilience decisions have led to businesses


folding and ‘woeful neglect’ in schools, hospitals, care homes and social housing. Were schools built of better materials, the whole sprinkler debate and sprinklers themselves would be unnecessary. Home owners and tenants should be better informed about the materials used in their buildings. Glaring examples of a lack of common sense


are a chemistry laboratory destroyed by fire at Nottingham University (built of wood!), the largest UK (timber framed) recycling centre in Leeds and London’s first proposed (timber) skyscraper. Building structure, insulation and cladding can significantly alter risk factors, he continued, while outdated regulations also play their part, as they assume a perfect build, rather than addressing potential vulnerabilities from modern construction methods (MCM) and combustible materials – ADB being a case in point. Good performance of products and systems


and accurate installation are key, but these are often tested in ‘perfect encapsulation’, which can lead to adopting poorer performing materials such as plasterboard and aluminium composite material. ‘Many buildings nowadays are probably only compliant on the paper they are drawn on’, Dr Glockling commented, as people adjust them over time without considering that their variations could invalidate those tests. Increasingly, important design decisions are outsourced to contracted fire engineers; modern


www.frmjournal.com DECEMBER 2017/JANUARY 2018 37


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