WERE FIRE SAFETY SYSTEMS COMPROMISED AT GRENFELL?

摘要

No smoke control system could have coped with the extraordinary circumstances of the Grenfell Tower, given how quickly the fire climbed the outside of the building. Neither, for that matter, would sprinklers.Fire will spread very rapidly up any building wrapped in highly flammable plastic with air gaps or chimneys all the way to the top. Once the fire was racing up the cladding, all active fire protection measures were outside of their design parameters.That does not mean, however, that the industry has nothing to learn from Grenfell - particularly around how systems are procured, commissioned, installed and maintained. This will be a central theme of the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) conference next month.