NEWS Government announces high rise sprinklers review
THE MINISTRY of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has announced proposals to ‘ensure more sprinklers in new high-rise blocks of flats’. Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick and Building Safety Minister Lord Younger stated that the proposals would see sprinklers ‘installed in new high-rise blocks of flats’, as part of an ‘important step forward in the government’s commitment to ensuring residents are safe in their homes’. The consultation – open until
28 November – proposes to reduce the building height ‘for when sprinklers are required’ from 30m and above to 18m ‘or other relevant thresholds’, while a protection board was set up ‘immediately’ by the Home Office and National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) to ‘provide further reassurance to residents of high-risk residential blocks that any risks are identified and acted upon’. It will be supported by about £10m
a year, and will provide ‘expert, tailored’ building checks and inspections ‘if necessary’ on all English high risk residential buildings by 2021. The board will operate until a new building safety regulator is established, and a new building safety regime is introduced. It will ‘ensure building owners are acting on the latest safety advice’, keep residents updated and make sure that interim measures ‘are in place’ for buildings clad with aluminium composite material (ACM), with work informed by data collection by local authorities to identify cladding types, and funded by a government contribution of £4m. In turn, from 12 September, the application process for the £200m fund for removing ACM from privately owned buildings was opened ‘to accelerate the pace’ of removal and replacement. The consultation forms ‘part of the first proposed changes to building regulations in England covering fire safety within and around buildings’, including introducing emergency evacuation alert systems for fire and rescue service use. Mr Jenrick stated: ‘Residents’
safety is our utmost priority and we are making vital improvements to ensure
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buildings are safe. I have listened to concerns on sprinklers from residents and building owners and our proposals are an important step forward in shaping the future building safety standards. ‘The new Protection Board will
make sure building owners don’t flout the rules, as well as ensuring fire safety risks in other buildings are being addressed. Government funds are available for private building owners to remove and replace unsafe ACM cladding, and let me be clear, inaction will have consequences and I will name and shame those who do not act during the course of the autumn. There is no excuse for further delay – and for building owners to fail to take action now would be frankly disgraceful.’ Lord Younger said: ‘I’m determined
to ensure buildings across the country are safe for residents and the opening of our private sector fund and commitment to new building safety legislation is an important step in driving that forward. This government is acting and I’m calling on all building owners and developers to step up and make any changes needed to ensure their buildings are safe.’ NFCC chair Roy Wilsher stated: ‘NFCC has lobbied for the more widespread use of sprinkler systems, most recently in our response to the government consultation on [ADB] in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire. We are delighted that government have made this commitment to improving
OCTOBER 2019
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fire safety. This announcement and consultation will go some way to bringing legislation in England closer to that which already exists in Scotland and Wales. NFCC has played a vital role in providing advice to government and will continue to do so with the announcement of the creation of the Protection Board which I will chair.’ London Fire Brigade assistant commissioner for fire safety Dan Daly added: ‘We welcome the news that the Government have listened to our concerns on sprinklers and intend to consult on the inclusion of sprinklers in new residential high rise buildings at 18 metres and above. For over ten years, we have lobbied for more buildings to have sprinklers as it is a simple way to save more lives and reduce the risks to firefighters. ‘The current guidance accompanying building regulations states that all new residential buildings over 30 metres should have sprinklers installed and this is not good enough. Sprinklers provide much needed time when a fire breaks out in any building with people in it. They are the only system that tackles the fire immediately and they protect people and properties. Modern fire suppression systems target the seat of fire rather than an entire building. The impact of fire on people’s lives and property far outweighs the monetary cost. The Brigade will do all it can to explain the life and property saving value of sprinklers during this consultation.’
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