I received some excellent questions during the Q&A section during the recent webinar that I presented. Here you can see my answers to these questions, slightly edited for clarity.
The background to the webinar is provided on our recent blog. In this blog we refer to Revision 2 of ‘Guidance on Smoke Control to Common Escape Routes in Apartment Buildings (Flats and Maisonettes)’ from The Smoke Control Association (SCA), which is available for download from www.feta.co.uk/smokecontrol. This is an important revision to the Guidance.
There is also a recording of the webinar available.
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Topics:
Smoke Control,
Regulations,
Webinar,
Corridor ventilation
When specifying a smoke control system, designers devote a lot of attention to choosing the right equipment - fans, vents and smoke barriers - for the job. They follow the standards set by EN 12101 for fans, vents and smoke barriers so that when the time comes, whatever the circumstances, the equipment will be capable of the job expected.
Electrical wiring – the vital link
But if this equipment relies on power supplies and signals to operate and continue operating during a fire, specifying the right equipment is not enough: designing and specifying the cabling linking the elements of the smoke control system requires just as much attention. Electrical wiring is the vital link between the control system and the equipment, the source of power and backbone of the smoke control system on which success or failure depends.
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Topics:
Smoke Control,
Regulations
At our recent webinar on Commissioning and maintaining smoke control systems, I received some excellent questions during the Q&A section. Here you can see my answers to these questions, slightly edited for clarity.
There is also a recording of the webinar available.
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Topics:
Smoke Control,
Regulations,
Webinar
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (“RRO”) covers fire safety for workplaces and replaced most of the pre-existing legislation. It sets out the role of the ‘responsible person’ tasked with ensuring the safety of occupants.
The RRO places on that person a duty to keep an up to date risk assessment for fire safety and to ensure that all systems required as part of that risk assessment are regularly tested, maintained and kept in good working order. This role entrusts them to identify, manage and reduce the risk of fire.
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Topics:
Smoke Control,
Regulations,
Whitepaper
The debate: what is it all about?
Over the last few years there has been a lot of discussion about use of inverter control for smoke extract fans. This has centred on concerns that the changing characteristics of the fan motor as it heats up may cause inverter failure. Inverter manufacturers do offer models with an “emergency mode”, where the majority of protections are disabled with the intention of allowing the motor to run to destruction.
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Topics:
Smoke Control,
Smoke Containment,
Regulations,
Controls,
Car Park Ventilation
First of all a big thank you to all those who attended my webinar last Friday on 'The General Principles of Smoke Control'. If you missed it or would like to watch it again, a recorded version is available here. Many questions were asked after the presentation and I decided to post them here for everybody’s benefit.
- How does smoke clearance and smoke control differ from smoke management?
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Topics:
Smoke Control,
Regulations,
Car Park Ventilation,
Smoke shafts
Getting the design of car park ventilation systems right is essential 
to the safety of a car park, as they must provide both day to day ventilation for the people using it and protection against fire, as required by Building Regulations. However, it’s not as straightforward as you might think.
Simple guidance on "free areas"...
Guidance on the ventilation requirements for car parks to meet the Building Regulations’ requirements is available in Approved Document B (ADB) and Approved Document F (ADF) for England, and their equivalents in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
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Topics:
Smoke Control,
Regulations,
Smoke ventilation,
Car Park Ventilation
Smoke control systems are an essential element in any building’s design for their vital role in preserving life and property. Product and design standards relating to smoke and heat control systems are in constant evolution, as they updated and expanded in response to regulations and experience in the field. Navigating the complexities of designing an effective smoke control system and complying with the standards and regulations in force can seem daunting.
Fire Risk Management magazine recently asked me to provide an overview of the current standards and available guidance in the field of smoke control, as well as an outlook on forthcoming developments.
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Topics:
Smoke Control,
Regulations
Specifying weather louvres is a complex business. In an earlier blog we explained how the key considerations to make fall into three areas: aerodynamic performance (pressure loss through the louvre panel), resistance to rain entry, and exposure and wind loads. We also published a white paper, available for download here , where we explain the EN13030 test standard and its limitations and set out the critical points to cover when writing an effective specification.
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Topics:
Regulations,
Energy saving,
Louvre
“Marry in haste, repent at leisure”, as the saying goes. This case is not quite so dramatic but PAS 121 (in common with most PAS) was written in haste and it shows.
At last though we have a replacement (in fact 2 replacements) in the form of BS 8524-1 and BS 8524-2, both published last month. These have been developed through the full BSI process and are much better.
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Topics:
Smoke Control,
Fire Containment,
Smoke Containment,
Regulations
The inquest into the Lakanal House tragedy concluded last week and the published verdict and recommendations raise important concerns regarding fire safety in local authority tower blocks, and particularly in aged housing stock.
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Topics:
Fire Containment,
Regulations,
Residential Buildings
Starting in July this year, all construction products covered by harmonized European Standards under the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) will have to be CE marked to be legally sold in the UK and Ireland. This is a good thing for the building industry, as it will give purchasers the peace of mind that all the products they buy meet minimum criteria, as shown by CE Marking supported by test reports and documentation. For critical products, such as fixed fire fighting equipment, the CE marking has to be backed up by Independent testing and certification by a Notified Body.
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Topics:
Regulations
It’s not often I’ll do a rant but I’ve had enough of companies falsely claiming that a ‘system’ is CE marked. Quite simply it’s just not possible and I think it’s wrong to mislead people.
In any industry, and especially in one like smoke control where the stakes are high, it’s the responsibility of the industry to educate and inform customers and specifiers and not to feed them false and misleading information. It’s not right and could affect the integrity of the industry and reputation of those making the claims – you know who you are!
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Topics:
Smoke Control,
Regulations
As National Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week approaches (19-25 November), we ask what is the best approach to designing a car park ventilation system that guarantees good air quality at all times.
The requirements
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Topics:
Regulations,
Smoke ventilation,
Car Park Ventilation
to the safety of a car park, as they must provide both day to day ventilation for the people using it and protection against fire, as required by Building Regulations. However, it’s not as straightforward as you might think.
