Residential Fire Sprinklers
The growing trend towards the use of sprinklers has led to many BFC members specialising in the design and installation of domestic and residential sprinkler systems. The impact a sprinkler system can make on both the safety of a building and on its design is significant as this article explains.
A sprinkler system is the only device which can detect a fire, sound the alarm, call the fire brigade and control or extinguish a fire all at the same time! Research into their effectiveness is fuelling the move towards their mandatory installation in certain buildings throughout the UK.
The Scottish Executive has already stipulated this in new and converted care homes, high rise flats and sheltered housing - largely due to the opinion of Scottish Fire Service leaders that sprinklers are the only way to protect the elderly and vulnerable who are difficult to evacuate from the scene of a fire when an alarm is raised. Since our own government has announced that it wants to reduce domestic fire related deaths by 20% by 2010, it’s clearly time for specifiers to consider the benefits of these “instant fire fighters”.
In North America, the National Fire Protection Association has published a report which said that, with sprinklers present, the chances of dying in a fire are reduced by between half and three quarters, and the average property loss is cut by between a half and two thirds. The report also comments on the high reliability of sprinklers and found that when failures did occur these were entirely, or primarily, caused by human error.
Research completed by the BRE on behalf of the government also looked at the benefits and effectiveness of sprinklers in residential accommodation. In the majority of test scenarios, the addition of sprinklers proved effective in potentially reducing casualties in the room of fire origin and connected spaces. The most common cause of fire related death is from smoke inhalation. Sprinklers dramatically reduce the amount of smoke created as they attack the fire in its early stages and, because sprinklers wash the larger particles out of smoke, its density and toxicity is reduced.
How sprinklers work:
The sprinkler heads are attached to a network of pipes usually connected to the mains water supply. The heads incorporate a heat sensitive mechanism, usually a glass bulb or thermal link (which disintegrate at a predetermined temperature normally 57-68ºC), thus allowing water to flow through the system and triggering the alarm which will be sounded throughout the building.
The water is directed onto a diffuser within the head which breaks up the water into small droplets and directs the spray to a specific area. Each sprinkler head is individually activated by the heat of a fire and, in the majority of cases, only one head will be triggered which will be sufficient to extinguish most fires.
A key barrier to the adoption of sprinkler systems used to be the fear of water damage – but domestic fire sprinklers only spray 10 – 15 gallons of water per minute. When this is compared to a fireman’s hose which delivers 250 – 500 gallons per minute it is obvious which will do the most damage!
Planning implications:
Sprinkler systems, particularly in HMO conversions, can also lead to Building Control relaxations of passive fire safety measures. These include the extension of travel distances to escape points, relaxation of 30 minute fire resistance rules (for walls, doors, ceiling and floors), as well as a reduction in the requirement for portable fire extinguishers and intumescent seals on doors to escape routes.
Additionally they may also permit stairs to open directly into a ground floor lounge area. Sprinklers may even have a positive impact on initial planning permissions which are at risk of being rejected or setback through insufficient access caused by street width, long dead end streets, or insufficient turning space for fire appliances.
In addition to the cost savings represented by the relaxations of these passive measures, the cost of installation is often small in relation to the value of the property and when the potential for fire damage limitation is considered. Ongoing maintenance and testing need not be expensive as normally this can be taken care of during just one yearly maintenance call.
BS 9251 2005 stipulates that systems should only be installed by trained specialists such as members of the British Fire Consortium.
More information about the British Fire Consortium from Alison Hopkinson at Leigh Anderson Associates on 01296 631898 or at ah@hopkinson-white.co.uk
A sprinkler system is the only device which can detect a fire, sound the alarm, call the fire brigade and control or extinguish a fire all at the same time! Research into their effectiveness is fuelling the move towards their mandatory installation in certain buildings throughout the UK.
The Scottish Executive has already stipulated this in new and converted care homes, high rise flats and sheltered housing - largely due to the opinion of Scottish Fire Service leaders that sprinklers are the only way to protect the elderly and vulnerable who are difficult to evacuate from the scene of a fire when an alarm is raised. Since our own government has announced that it wants to reduce domestic fire related deaths by 20% by 2010, it’s clearly time for specifiers to consider the benefits of these “instant fire fighters”.
In North America, the National Fire Protection Association has published a report which said that, with sprinklers present, the chances of dying in a fire are reduced by between half and three quarters, and the average property loss is cut by between a half and two thirds. The report also comments on the high reliability of sprinklers and found that when failures did occur these were entirely, or primarily, caused by human error.
Research completed by the BRE on behalf of the government also looked at the benefits and effectiveness of sprinklers in residential accommodation. In the majority of test scenarios, the addition of sprinklers proved effective in potentially reducing casualties in the room of fire origin and connected spaces. The most common cause of fire related death is from smoke inhalation. Sprinklers dramatically reduce the amount of smoke created as they attack the fire in its early stages and, because sprinklers wash the larger particles out of smoke, its density and toxicity is reduced.
How sprinklers work:
The sprinkler heads are attached to a network of pipes usually connected to the mains water supply. The heads incorporate a heat sensitive mechanism, usually a glass bulb or thermal link (which disintegrate at a predetermined temperature normally 57-68ºC), thus allowing water to flow through the system and triggering the alarm which will be sounded throughout the building.
The water is directed onto a diffuser within the head which breaks up the water into small droplets and directs the spray to a specific area. Each sprinkler head is individually activated by the heat of a fire and, in the majority of cases, only one head will be triggered which will be sufficient to extinguish most fires.
A key barrier to the adoption of sprinkler systems used to be the fear of water damage – but domestic fire sprinklers only spray 10 – 15 gallons of water per minute. When this is compared to a fireman’s hose which delivers 250 – 500 gallons per minute it is obvious which will do the most damage!
Planning implications:
Sprinkler systems, particularly in HMO conversions, can also lead to Building Control relaxations of passive fire safety measures. These include the extension of travel distances to escape points, relaxation of 30 minute fire resistance rules (for walls, doors, ceiling and floors), as well as a reduction in the requirement for portable fire extinguishers and intumescent seals on doors to escape routes.
Additionally they may also permit stairs to open directly into a ground floor lounge area. Sprinklers may even have a positive impact on initial planning permissions which are at risk of being rejected or setback through insufficient access caused by street width, long dead end streets, or insufficient turning space for fire appliances.
In addition to the cost savings represented by the relaxations of these passive measures, the cost of installation is often small in relation to the value of the property and when the potential for fire damage limitation is considered. Ongoing maintenance and testing need not be expensive as normally this can be taken care of during just one yearly maintenance call.
BS 9251 2005 stipulates that systems should only be installed by trained specialists such as members of the British Fire Consortium.
More information about the British Fire Consortium from Alison Hopkinson at Leigh Anderson Associates on 01296 631898 or at ah@hopkinson-white.co.uk