With wildfires recognised as an ‘emergent risk’ in the UK, what can be done to HVAC systems to mitigate the impact on the health of people in buildings? Phil Lattimore looks at the worldwide effect of wildfire smoke
Tag: Fire
Fire and façades: key guidance
To ensure the fire safety of building façades, designers should pay special attention to firestopping. CWCT’s David Metcalfe highlights the latest guidance on this key area and rounds up the most recent information on designing fire-safe façades
Dousing fire fear in museums
Museum owners are wary of fire sprinklers in sensitive spaces, but Arup’s Jake Cherniayeff says they should be considered along with gaseous suppression and innovative hybrid mist and nitrogen systems
Step change: designing stairs for fire safety in high-rise buildings
A government consultation calling for two staircases in high-risk residential buildings of more than 30m has raised questions about how this and the amended BS 9991:2021 will impact fire safety design and developments.
Phil Lattimore reports
Safety first
The CIBSE BSER&T journal is seeking paper abstracts for a special issue on fire safety, as honorary special issue editor Professor José Torero, of UCL, explains
Evacuation lifts: an alternative escape route
Evacuation lifts have the potential to offer a safe route out of a building. Arup’s Eoin O’Loughlin and Harry Wiles, and Matthew Ryan of The Fire Surgery, look at the challenges and opportunities of incorporating them in fire strategies
A question of competence
The draft Building Safety Bill sets out new requirements for professional competence. Hywel Davies considers proposals in the draft framework
Tall order: fire safety guidance for façades
Following the ban on the use of combustible materials in some building façades, two industry bodies have come together to produce guidance on these legislative changes. Liza Young looks at the wider implications of the new regulations
What the Building Safety Bill means for construction
The Building Safety Bill sets the stage for the most fundamental reform of regulations relating to the construction and operation of buildings in two generations. Hywel Davies says it will lead to radical change for all
Build to safely perform
In his Presidential address in May, Stuart MacPherson urged us not to return to business as usual as we emerge from the current crisis. Hywel Davies considers what that might mean for building safety