Copyright © International Fire Consultants Ltd Sprinklers – An essential tool in fire engineering design Jon Pagan MA(Cantab) CEng MIFireE Director of.

Copyright © International Fire Consultants Ltd

Sprinklers – An essential tool in fire engineering

design

Jon Pagan MA(Cantab) CEng MIFireE

Director of Fire EngineeringInternational Fire Consultants

Ltdwww.ifcgroup.com


Introduction

• Fire engineering more widely used in construction

• Especially in the UK• Fire engineers use all available methods

to help design– Sprinklers, smoke ventilation, water mist,

fire alarm enhancements etc• Sprinklers are one of the most beneficial

tools to assist fire engineering analyses


Restrictions on use of sprinklers

• Why aren’t sprinklers used more?• Question of whether sprinklers are

needed arises on most projects• Developers’ response is usually “Can we

avoid sprinklers?”• WHY?

– Cost– Appearances (visible sprinkler heads)– Space for tanks/pumps– Concerns re water damage


Cost issues

• Need for large tanks, pumps, power supplies, distribution pipework

• Highly expensive• Loss of space for tank/pump room


Appearance

• Architects don’t like to see sprinkler heads

• Concealed sprinkler heads can usually be used– Partially mitigates the concerns– But architects would still rather avoid


Concerns re water damage

• Public perception is of major risk• What public see in films etc is:

– Activated by small amounts of smoke– Sets off all sprinklers in building

• Clearly completely wrong• But public perception is usually negative• Very few people would pay more for a

building that is sprinklered• So developers see very little benefits in

sprinklers


Insurance

• Insurers usually recommend sprinklers• But usually reduced insurance

premiums not enough to justify sprinklers

• Exceptions are high fire risk buildings, e.g. waste recycling


Common reasons for installing sprinklers

1 – Necessary to comply with guide/code• Height• Compartment size• Etc

2 – Needed for insurance• Only really for high fire risk buildings such as

waste recycling, some schools etc

3 – As part of fire engineering justification

4 – Other reasons?


Fire engineering

• Fire safety design guides available for all types of buildings

• Sometimes hard/impossible to comply with certain issues

• Fire engineering approaches can be used to justify variations– Smoke modelling, evacuation analyses,

structural fire engineering, radiation analyses etc

– Justified case-by-case


Harveys Warehouse, Lutterworth

• Existing large warehouse in Magna Park• Harveys planned to use it as main

distribution base • Fitout included:

– large multi-level mezzanine decks in 2 locations

– High bay racking throughout rest of building• Original design included sprinkler

system at roof level fed from site-wide supply system

• IFC appointed to carry out fire safety design




Problems to deal with

• Main issues were:– High fire load present– Long travel distances in main warehouse

areas– Long travel distances in mezzanine areas– Long fire brigade access distances– Need for fire protection to mezzanine

structure?– Smoke ventilation issues– Existing sprinkler system supply adequate?

• Client queried whether we can avoid sprinklers?

NO!


Existing 2-storey office

New 4-storey mezzanine

New high bay racking

Future fit-out area


Mezzanine areas

• Sprinkler system– Sprinklers needed throughout the

mezzanine– Reviewed design and specification of goods

to be stored– Checked flow rates and sprinkler design

criteria needed– Checked that the existing supply was

adequate– Put together technical specification for

tender– Helped client review tenders


Protected (enclosed)

stairs

Unprotected (open) stairs



Results

• Sprinklers were:– Expensive– Introduce risk of water damage– Affected the design

• But allowed:– Travel distance extensions– Large multi-level compartment size– No fire protection to mezzanine structure– No smoke ventilation– Improved insurance premiums– Building control/fire officer approval


Residential sprinklers• Relatively new design

standard BS9251• Installations are

inexpensive• Clients still have concerns

about:– Cost– False alarm water damage– Appearance

• But in the end it usually comes down to either “it’s required” or money


Residential sprinklers• Cost of installation low, so only need

modest savings to justify• QS costing techniques at early stage

very rough– So can be hard to prove the savings

• Open plan flats:– Improved sale value (debatable)– Reduced number of fire doors– Cost of sprinklers roughly = 1 fire door– Sometimes can reduce the floor area

• Sprinklers in more new buildings than ever before


Summary

• Fire engineering will regularly use sprinklers to help design/analysis

• Highly beneficial and significantly improves safety

• But the industry still has to address client reservations/concerns– Cost, appearance, risk of false alarms

Copyright © International Fire Consultants Ltd Sprinklers – An essential tool in fire engineering design Jon Pagan MA(Cantab) CEng MIFireE Director of.

Documents

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