Published October 15, 2018
National Fire Chiefs have called on the Government to force landlords to retrofit sprinklers to high rise residential buildings.
They insist fire sprinklers should be retrofitted to all high rise residential properties over 30 metres served only with a single staircase.
And they want all high rise residential properties should be retrofitted with sprinklers when they are scheduled for refurbishment.
The National Fire Chiefs Council want all new high-rise residential structures above 18 metres fitted with sprinklers including student accommodation.
And they believe sprinklers should be fitted to external balconies, in line with other countries including Dubai, New Zealand, Norway and Australia.
Mark Hardingham, chair of the NFCC Protection and Business Safety Committee, made the recommendations of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in response to the consultation paper ‘Clarification of Approved Document B and Next Steps for Part B of the Building Regulations.
Grenfell
He wrote: “In the wake of the fire at Grenfell Tower, it is vital that we use this time to examine the shortcomings that contributed to the terrible events of 14 June 2017.
“The NFCC welcomes the consultation on the clarified versions of Approved Document B and the next steps for Part B of the Building Regulations.
“An urgent, full technical review of the guidance is needed and recommendations made by Dame Judith Hackitt needs to be fully considered and implemented.
“The NFFC recommends that:
- Sprinklers become a requirement in all new high-rise residential structures above 18 metres
- Student accommodation should be included
- Where high-rise residential buildings currently exceed 30 metres there should be a requirement to retrofit sprinklers when these buildings are scheduled to be refurbished
- Sprinklers should be retrofitted where high-rise residential buildings over 30 metres are served by a single staircase regardless of future refurbishment
“Fire in buildings across the globe have also highlighted the need for sprinklers to protect balconies. Fire can often start on balconies and execrable verticle fire spread on the outside of high-rise buildings.
“Any revision to building regulations should feature balcony coverage as a requirement.
“People must feel safe in their homes, therefore urgent action needs to be taken to improve the way buildings are designed, built and maintained through their lifecycle.”
Chief Fire
The NFCC is the professional voice of the UK fire and rescue services and is made up of a council of UK Chief Fire Officers. They insist the Government must ensure they follow through and implement all the recommendations made by the Hackitt Review to help communities safer.
As well as calling for sprinklers to be implemented and building regulations to be improved, they want better protection for firefighters.
He added: “Alongside sprinklers, we will naturally seek a full review of firefighting access and facilities particularly for large volume and high-rise buildings to ensure firefighters are offered the highest level of protection and are afforded the best opportunity to preserve significant damage to buildings and the environment.”
Terry McDermott, NFCC lead for Automatic Water Suppression Systems, added: “Sprinkler requirements in Wales and Scotland well surpass those in England, including domestic sprinklers in new social housing developments and suppression systems in new homes.
“NFCC would like to see English standards increased to at least the equivalent to these, improving consistency across the UK.”
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