Fire Safety

Following the tragic fire at Grenfell on 14th June 2017, the government
conducted a complete review of the claddings used on high rise residential buildings. The result of this
review was the introduction of significant changes to the relevant legislation including a We
have compiled a detailed review of the Combustible Cladding Ban.
We’re seeing that developers are more often choosing to go beyond
just compliance with industry standards when it comes to fire safety. There’s an aspiration to have
buildings that don’t just meet standards but exceed them. To assist in this, our balcony anchors all come
with a StubGuard® as standard – the StubGuard acts as a fire-stopping measure, attached directly to the
anchor. Façade fire safety compliance has changed a great deal since the tragedy at Grenfell Tower
in 2017. There’s now a requirement for façade elements to be completely non-combustible. We comply with that
by using A1 S1 D0 materials, from the aluminium we construct the balconies with to the decking we install.
Since the change in building regulations post-Grenfell, we’ve seen
laminated glass be inadvertently banned due to a lack of exception on the combustible materials list.
Certain types of glass do come with a risk of shattering if exposed to severe heat, but laminated glass will
not shatter by design due to the PVB interlayer, making it safe for use as a balcony balustrade. We have
worked with the British government to try and rectify this. Competency is, as of the 6th of April
2024, mandatory and required by the Building Safety Regulator. This comes with a requirement for everyone in
the construction industry, not just those on-site or in design, to prove their competency to a certain level
every year. This will, the industry hopes, improve the perception of safety both within the industry and
outside of it, making everyone aware of gaps in their own competency and of
others. Summary of relevant documents:
Regulations differ for Scotland & Northern Ireland, ensure compliance with regional requirements.
For example, Scottish Mandatory Handbook.A 5-day lunch & learn series to help you understand the current and future fire safety
regulations Sapphire are, and have always been, strong advocates for safety testing. This can come in many forms.
Having a research & development centre on-site in our head office allows us to rigorously test any
product innovations we’re working on before they’re approved for release to sales. We also partner with
various third-party organisations across the UK, Ireland and globally to perform fire safety tests, such as
the fire tests we performed in Belfast in 2023. To better understand the protective effect of the balcony in
the event of a fire, we commissioned balcony fire safety testing at the Efectis test centre in Belfast. For
one of these tests, a full-size balcony Cassette® was constructed to fit the furnace size. This was fitted
with class-A-rated decking, and a variety of soffit panels were fitted so the relative effect of these could
be monitored. You can learn more by visiting the event page below. Sapphire advocates the use of aluminium
soffits on all balconies. However, where soffits have been omitted or are perforated (for architectural or
cost reasons) there is clear evidence to suggest the use of class A deckingshould be considered to
reduce the risk of rapid balcony fire development. You can learn more about what we’re doing by attending a
15-minute Balcony Safety CPD Presentation. Further details can be found in our recently published balcony
safety whitepaper. Request your copy in the Whitepaper section
below.
Recommendations regarding fire safety on balconies in high rise residential
blocks.This Whitepaper looks at laminate glass used in balconies and balustrades and how it is
affected by the Combustible Cladding Ban. Working with Resibuild we
deliver a number of sustainability events.We are
leading an event hosted by Resibuild on reducing fire risk in residential
buildings.
We bring our research to you in a comprehendible CPD that takes you on a journey through
the numerous balcony fires that occurred in the past 3 years, the history of balconies, laminate glass and
the combustible cladding ban.This Fire CPD purely looks at current case studies of a few recent fires that have happened
this year, explores common causes and how these can be designed out.