Is there a Fire Safety Guide every building control body should read?
Late last year, Dame Judith Hackitt’s 121 page interim report, an Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, landed and made an immediate impact with its conclusion that current building regulations are unfit for purpose and open to abuse by those trying to cut costs.
In the critical report, prompted by the number of high-rises which failed emergency safety tests following the Grenfell tragedy, she wrote.
“The mindset of doing things as cheaply as possible and passing on responsibility for problems and shortcomings to others must stop”
The final phase of the report, scheduled to be completed in spring 2018, will examine the issues such as sprinklers, cladding, alarm systems and escape routes and the accompanying guidance documents which all too frequently mystify and confuse rather than simplify and assist.
Like many working in the social housing sector, metroSTOR’s Terry Bedford, anticipates this report will lead to sweeping and welcome reforms to existing fire safety building regulations and will hopefully go further and encompass outbuilding storage too.
‘No one can predict when an accidental fire will start but diligent fire safety precautions can affect how far and quickly it spreads. This week, New Year celebrations were marred by the Liverpool Echo Arena car park fire, which destroyed up to 1,400 vehicles in a multi-storey car park. Thankfully there were no casualties and the inferno was confined to the car park but it demonstrated how unforgiving fire can be.’
‘Whether by design or through oversight, I often ask myself why there is no guidance in place for outbuildings. With the significant fire risk scooters pose, the Mobility Scooter Guidance Draft, produced by NSHFSG and The Chief Fire Officers Association, has already flagged the necessity for safe storage.
‘But what is safe storage and how do you know if yours meets the required standards?’
‘At MetroSTOR we take fire safety seriously; incorporating a range of Euro-class A1, UK class 0 materials configured in to a comprehensive range of products that meet our client’s individual requirements. With no current legislative requirements, we believe it is important to offer our complete range of fire safe products to help prevent the spread of fire from within our units.’
‘In 2018, we want to take this safety mandate further and are currently working on a fire safety guide for outbuilding storage that will serve as a definitive guide for those designing, constructing and maintaining buildings with fire safety foremost in their mind. In the absence of statutory guidance, metroSTOR aim to provide a no-nonsense Fire Safety Guide that will instil trust and confidence ahead of the anticipated fire safety reforms.’