Standing tall

FOLLOWING THE Grenfell Tower tragedy, the fire industry is very much under the scrutiny of many people and organisations some of who are directly involved but most are on the periphery. Opinion and comments on the circumstances are wildly different but we must wait until the government inquiry is completed to fully understand what is needed to ensure we prevent this never happens again.

In the meantime, we can, and are taking action to review fire detection and fire protection in tall buildings and to make sure that the very best practices are invoked. While tall buildings are an overall description of the type of property, a tall building can be very different in terms of the use, the people using or living in the building, the location and access as well as the social environment.

Fire protection and fire detection can and does involve many technologies each designed to meet very specific risks with most of these solutions having long and excellent reputations for effectiveness. The key is in ensuring that the best and most effective solution is specified and here lies the challenge; as even when this is the case the overriding factor is nearly always cost. 

It’s often the case whenever there is a tragedy, not just in our industry, where there is increased media coverage and lots of ‘expert’ opinion. In addition, there are often ‘root and branch’ investigations as well as ‘lessons learned’ and then slowly, as the spotlight fades, the drive for improvement slows. There may be industry or even governmental intervention which can take time, and this is sometimes years in terms of new guidance or legislation being implemented, long after the event when memories seem to have faded.

Keeping people safe

Our industry has to be different: as it’s about life safety, so we have to take the necessary action and strive for improvement and better ways of preventing future incidents. We have seen many owners of tall buildings taking action to improve fire safety over recent months and many want these improvements as soon as possible. The difficulty of course is how to accomplish this to meet deadlines without compromise. More often than not, it’s often the case that people who are the everyday end users are often the most difficult to satisfy as it’s never fast enough or it’s too intrusive. 

This can be especially difficult to achieve when dealing with people living in the property; as this is their home, demanding both sensitivity as well as a need to approach in a manner that does not disrupt lives. Add to this the usual issues with regard to planning the installation and then gaining access to each dwelling to install products and cable, it becomes quite a challenge.

Dame Judith Hackett’s interim report on Building Regulations and Fire Safety was published at the end of 2017 in response to recent events pending the outcome of the fully detailed report scheduled for later this year and identifies a number of elements. Her report states that some stakeholders think there is a “one fix solution” but she highlights the fact that there are things that can be done now but as the inquiry continues, there is still a lot to learn, which will lead to changes of ideas, actions and modification to current thinking. 

An earlier letter, sent on 22 June 2017, circulated from Melanie Dawes of the Department for Communities and Local Government to Local Authority chief executives and Housing Association chief executives was targeted at the residential sector and the need to act quickly to ensure the safety of residents housed in tower blocks.

This highlighted the need to carry out tests and inspections on cladding as a matter of urgency, but also advised on interim measures recommended by a panel of independent experts. This included, amongst other suggestions, the risk assessment and is it up to date, engagement with residents with regard to localised fire procedures and risks and the provision of a temporary communal fire alarm system with detection. In particular the letter suggested that a wireless system may be a solution.

Local authority homes

We know from recent events in Aberdeen for example, that residents are not always open to the idea of having contractors work inside their homes. The local Authority has been trying to gain access to carry out essential work to three tower blocks where crucial fire protection is needed. The relationship with residents seems to have broken down, with the Authority looking to take legal action through enforcement notices, to gain entry and effect these necessary changes.

These residents have been made fully aware of the nature of these works and how important they are, in light of what has happened in London. It is also reported that nearly 50 dwellings out of almost 4,000 do not even have residential mains powered smoke detectors fitted, despite the Authority revisiting on a regular basis, and the tenants do not want them fitted! 

There may be other underlying reasons, but there are many such instances where residents would rather go without this necessary work, rather than have their lives disrupted. There is a perception that this work is going to be protracted and cause damage and disruption to their homes. Wireless fire detection systems can be installed in a fraction of the time it takes to run fire resistant cables and would effectively provide protection in days rather than weeks. 

Privately owned residential blocks seem to have a different set of challenges. In Manchester the local authority is considering the use of enforcement notices as some owners and managers have failed to provide the council with any fire safety information. There could be a number of reasons why this has not happened and why the timeframe does not mirror the activity levels in the local authority sector. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has instructed councils to gather information from owners of private tower blocks, including the type of cladding, if any, that is on the blocks. Where positive action has been undertaken to get better protection in place this has been done in a timely manner using technology, which can be installed promptly.

Wireless detection systems

We have now seen many such projects implement a wireless and hybrid approach, in a bid to meet the suggested actions and to provide fire detection in areas where previously there was none or very little. This has enabled dwellings to have protection linked to a central control panel, rather than rely on localised stand-alone detection, or in many circumstances no detection at all. The installation works required to add fire detection and alarm products is drastically reduced and can be completed in minutes rather than hours in each dwelling. 

It also ensures that interior decoration is not affected, which is a major consideration with any home or living space and intrusion into a private space, is both limited and non- intrusive. If a dwelling is unoccupied, or the resident is not at home, it can easily be bypassed and works can be actioned later when convenient. Wireless systems do not need to be installed to a stringent programme or a particular order, as they are not reliant on a cable running through the property. 

This increase in the accepted use of wireless and hybrid infrastructure, underlines the reliability of the technology, which although has been around for many years have often been seen as not quite as good as using fire resistant cable. EN54-25, which stipulates that wireless technology, should be as good as, or better than a wired equivalent, was published nearly 10 years ago and this changed the landscape dramatically in terms of what is available commercially. We have seen many more companies, including most of the industry leaders; develop their own wireless range of products or partner with established wireless innovators to meet this new demand.

New technology 

The industry has now seen significant growth of wireless and hybrid fire detection systems, due to this increased awareness of the capabilities of wireless and the growing need for speed and continuity, with regard for both convenience and impact on property fabric and decoration. Indeed, reports show wireless being used across all sectors, where once it was heritage, now it is commercial businesses generally looking for the best solution for the application, whatever the technology.

This takes us back to the beginning of this article, about the plethora of technologies now available to specifiers who are looking for the very best in protection. Wireless technology has also seen a lot of development with products, such as door holders being developed that integrate seamlessly into the system, using wireless and communicating directly with the main control panel. These will be battery operated, with no cables or power supplies and able to function and operate to meet the full requirements of EN54-25.

One of the major issues around door control is the amount of doors that are propped open using extinguishers or even wedges. Again, this is something that residents of tower blocks complain about. With a wireless door controller, costs are drastically reduced for both initial purchase and installation, compared with the more commonly used hard wired variety. This then allows the use of more door holders across a property, with the aim of eradicating the use of objects which do not respond to a fire alarm and add additional risk.

This also has the effect of ensuring fire extinguishers are in the correct location, where they should be, and are therefore able to be used earlier, which could stop a small fire from becoming a major fire. The drive to improve fire detection and fire protection must always be one which implements the best solutions and with new technology being launched or improved all the time it is imperative to embrace these innovations.

Ray Puttock is vertical sales and marketing director at EMS Ltd. For more information, visit www.emsgroup.co.uk

Free CPD Seminar - Evacuating premises safety (10 April)

Ray will be part of a panel session at the Fire Safety Event on 10 April at NEC, Birmingham, which will give key advice on how to safely evacuate premises. The session starts at 14:00 and not only is it free to attend but it is also CPD-accredited. You can register to attend the Fire Safety Event (10-12 April 2018) for FREE and you can also reserve your seat for this or any other CPD seminar at www.firesafetyevents.com