Life safety
provision within buildings has rightfully been under severe scrutiny in recent
months, as it is vital to ensure a building provides a safe environment for its
residents.
Smoke control
systems are a vital and integral part of a building’s life safety system and
regulations already exist that place a legal responsibility upon a building’s
owners to ensure the systems are regularly maintained to a specified standard.
Every smoke
control system contains products that are subject to mandated quality standards
to ensure that in the case of an emergency, they operate correctly and enable
common escape routes to be kept free of smoke, aiding safe escape. In addition
they also allow safe entry for fire services to tackle the fire.
In July 2013,
the Construction Products Regulations (CPR) mandated the CE marking of all
products used within the construction industry that are covered by a harmonised
European standard (hEN). For smoke ventilation systems, the suite of product
standards used in the UK and Europe is the EN12101 family.
There are a
number of applicable standards within this family including EN12101-2, which
covers ‘smoke and heat exhaust ventilators (SHEVs), prEN12101-9 for ’control
systems’ and EN1201-10 that covers ’power supplies’. This simply means that for
these products to be CE marked, they must comply with the relevant EN12101
standard.
Looking
specifically at EN12101-2 2003, SHEV’s, both vertical and inclined vents,
utilised for life safety smoke ventilation systems, automatically fall within
scope of the CPR. This adds stricter testing criteria to ensure product
performance meets the required standards and are compliant.
A key element
of this standard dictates that the vent and actuator must be tested together,
as a system, to all specifications within the annexes of the standard.
Additionally, the tests must be conducted at an accredited facility.
The results
of all tests are then declared via the certification process proving compliance
to the CPR. The certification process also covers the fabrication quality of
the vent, as a SHEV carries a higher level of manufacture classification,
‘System 1’, compared to a ‘standard’ window, which is ‘System 3’. If the
actuator is fitted on site it must also be delivered under an audited process
to ensure the solution is identical to how it was tested.
Products from
most leading façade system providers are now tested with SE Controls actuators
to this standard, utilising the company’s extensive range of uniquely UK
manufactured products.
Merely
fitting an actuator to a vent or window, unless they have been tested together,
does not provide a compliant solution and compromises the effectiveness of the
life safety system.
Non-compliance
is policed in the main by Approved Inspectors and Building Control Officers who
now look for proof of certification under the directions of BS7346-8 – 2013
‘Components for smoke control systems Code of Practice for planning, design,
installation, commissioning and maintenance’ throughout the construction
process.
Complacency and lack of understanding is the issue at
hand
It is a
common misunderstanding that the Approved Inspector takes responsibility for
certification via inspection, however this is not the case, as the
responsibility lies with the person placing the product onto the market. Yes,
inspectors and clients should and will pick up non-compliance, but they are not
fully accountable.
Unfortunately,
if proof of compliance cannot be provided, it is too late to sign-off the
building, resulting in delays and compensation claims under damage clauses.
However, should a non-compliant smoke vent fail during a fire incident, the
consequences are far more severe not only to the occupants, but also to the
company whose products failed to meet the standard.
Alongside a
range of actuators, SE Controls also offers the OSLoop, OS2 and PSU Smoke Control Systems, all of which are compliant to EN12101-10.
From a
building design perspective, many SE Controls actuators and control systems are
now available as BIM objects, which include extensive product information and
COBie data. Whilst this is a complex set of regulations, compliance and a
certified solution is verified by a Declaration of Performance (DoP), combined
with their delivery qualifications, both on and off-site.
The DoP
contains reference to the Notified Approved Body that underwrites the process
and the test references. It also contains the performance criteria against the
test annexes in the form of declared essential characteristics and is signed by
a Director of the company placing the SHEV onto the market.
Whether
installation is carried out by SE Controls or an approved SE Controls
Installation Partner, a Notified Approved Body will have already underwritten
the process.
The entire
industry is responsible for ensuring the highest possible standards are met and
maintained for life safety systems, however for building owners and product
manufacturers, when it comes to smoke ventilations systems, if a DoP cannot be
produced, the system is not compliant.
