As a responsible building manager, ensuring the safety of your occupants should be your top priority. However, one crucial aspect of building safety that is often overlooked is the maintenance and repair of smoke control systems – as these systems are often hidden in walls and ductwork, they are frequently forgotten. Due to patchy record-keeping, some building managers may not even realise that they have these types of systems installed in their buildings and therefore inadvertently overlook their maintenance and repair. 

Smoke ventilation systems are installed in a wide range of building types (most typically multi-storey and large, open-plan single-storey) and are designed to protect lives and property in the event of a fire - ignoring their maintenance can lead to catastrophic consequences.

Smoke ventilation systems are used to remove heat and smoke from buildings during a fire. They keep escape routes clear for people evacuating the building and also make access routes into the building safer for the firefighting service and first responders. This enables them to reach those in need and the source of the fire more quickly.  

In this article, we'll explore the hidden dangers of neglecting smoke control system repairs and why proactive maintenance is essential for any building.

As an architect, it is crucial to stay up to date with the latest legal requirements to ensure the safety and well-being of occupants in high-rise residential buildings. One critical aspect of building safety is smoke ventilation, which plays a vital role in fire prevention and evacuation procedures. In this blog, we will outline the current legal requirements for smoke control in residential buildings, including the latest updates in the Building Safety Act.

Both pressurization systems and smoke shafts are commonly used for smoke control in buildings to protect escape routes. But how do you decide what approach to take for your building? The decision is influenced by legislation and standards, building configuration, budget and space requirements - there is no universal “right” choice, but there’s certainly a best choice for each individual building. In this blog, we will give you an overview of the differences between these systems, how they work and other key comparisons that can help you understand what’s best for your project.

To get started on the topic of smoke control dampers (or 'smoke dampers', as they are sometimes called), let’s first explore exactly what they are and why they play an important role in keeping buildings and people safe.

In basic HVAC terminology, a damper is a mechanism that allows air to flow when it is open and limits airflow when it is closed.
A smoke and fire damper is a device that permits the flow of air when it is open, but when it is closed, it not only limits airflow but also blocks the passage of smoke and fire. On activation, whether automatically by a detection system, or physically through the effect of heat on a thermal device, these dampers close to prevent the passage of fire and smoke. They only re-open when manually reset.

Smoke Control Dampers permit the flow of smoke into or through a smoke control system when open, but may also close to prevent fire spread. Therefore, they may open or close at different times depending on the smoke control strategy for the building.
Smoke control dampers are crucial components of fire protection systems, particularly when it comes to preserving a building's fire safety strategy.

They offer direct fire resistance when closed and are tested to maintain their opening area under heat conditions when open. These dampers are invaluable in safeguarding the structural integrity of a building and preventing the occupants from harm in the event of a fire.

Smoke control and fire dampers are important for fire safety in buildings. Regular maintenance by a competent company is crucial. In this blog, we will explain your responsibilities for maintaining and repairing these dampers.

The recent amendments to the fire safety regulations since the Grenfell fire in 2017 have affected the responsibilities of the ‘Responsible Person’ in the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO). As of 23 January 2023, there will be additional duties that you will have to carry out if you own or manage a building with smoke control systems, particularly if it is a high risk or high rise residential building (a multi-occupied residential building at least 18 metres in height or 7 or more storeys). In this blog, we will cover what those changes specific to smoke control systems look like and how Colt can help you stay safe and legal. Changes in other aspects of fire safety also apply, but are not covered in this blog. For the full list of updates, you can find more information here: Check your fire safety responsibilities under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). 

In order to install the correct smoke ventilation system in a residential building, it is important to size the vents (also known as AOVs') correctly, otherwise the system will not be compliant.

In residential buildings, the most common approaches to smoke control are natural ventilation and/or mechanical smoke ventilation systems. With natural ventilation, automatic opening vents installed on either the side or roof of the building will open when triggered to allow smoke to escape from the building - they act very much in the same way as opening a regular window would. With mechanical ventilation systems, powered vents actively pull smoke out of the area they are installed to protect in the event of a fire.

There are different approaches to sizing vents for each of these solutions. In this blog, we will cover the guidance from Approved Document B and also provide some advice from our designers.

Strong winds and storms are becoming a more frequent feature of the autumn and winter weather patterns in the UK. External building features, such as brise soleil and other types of solar shading are being exposed to these more unpredictable elements - it is your duty as a building owner or operator to ensure your systems are well maintained.

An “AOV” or “Automatic Opening Vent” is a smoke or fire vent that will open and close automatically when triggered by a control system to help vent smoke or heat out of a building in the event of a fire. As such, they are considered life safety systems and form an extremely important part of a building's fire safety strategy. They are predominantly installed on the roof or side of the building to clear smoke from corridors or common areas such as lobbies and are also used to protect escape routes (such as stairwells) in residential or commercial buildings. They may also be required in buildings that feature open-plan interiors (such as atria) or in large single-storey buildings such as warehouses or factories where smoke would otherwise just build up indefinitely.

How do Pressurization systems work?

To get started on this blog, let's first look at how pressurization systems (or pressure differential systems) work to remove smoke from a building.

If you own or manage a building, you will know that the proper maintenance and testing of life safety systems such as smoke control is extremely important and should not be taken lightly. That is why we demand only the highest standards from our service and maintenance engineers. It is also why we are proud to announce that we have recently opened our updated Colt Service Training Centre at our manufacturing plant in Havant.

Smoke control systems are an invaluable and crucial part of a building’s fire safety systems that work in conjunction with a range of other components to keep buildings and people safe in the event of a fire.

EN 12101 "Smoke and Heat Control Systems - Part 2: Specification for Natural Heat and Smoke Exhaust Ventilators" is a European test standard that all smoke ventilators need to be designed and manufactured to in order to operate effectively. Crucially, it provides a set brief for how a ventilator should perform when in operation, specifying key points like the number of lifecycles it should be tested to, snow load it should be able to lift, wind load it should withstand, aerodynamic free area it should achieve and the temperature at which it should operate, without reducing in area.

If you read our blogs regularly, you will know that we recently asked our design team to help us answer some of our customers’ most frequently asked questions on smoke control. In Part 1, we covered four topics: car park ventilation, natural vs. mechanical ventilation, smoke dampers and environmental ventilation. If you missed that instalment, read it here.

In Part 2, we will be answering questions on CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics), the components of a smoke control system, when you need smoke control in a building and pressurization systems.

Every day, our technical consultants and designers deal with a wide range of projects and challenges that require specific knowledge and expertise in smoke control design and installation.

To help us share some of this knowledge with you, we asked them to compile a set of questions and answers for the most frequently queried topics from customers - we ended up with eight subjects:

Car Park Ventilation

Natural vs. Mechanical Ventilation

Smoke Control & Fire Dampers

Environmental Ventilation

CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)

The Components of a Smoke Control System

When Do You Need Smoke Control in a Building?

Pressurization Systems

In part 1 of this blog, we will cover Car Park Ventilation, Natural vs. Mechanical Ventilation, Smoke Dampers and Environmental Ventilation. To get an email notification when Part 2 is released, subscribe to our blog.