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Risk management
Early consultation between architects, risk managers and insurers enables the protection of businesses by minimising fire and smoke damage and business interruption.
Insurers will help the client to identify the parts of the business that are sensitive to fire and smoke release. This includes business interruption risks and the protection required for the whole business.
Insurer requirements
According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI) the cost of business fires in 2005 for the first time ever topped £2 million every day. During the year insurers paid out £790 million in commercial fire claims – up 60% on 2004. In addition, business interruption claims following fire damage, at £220 million, were the highest since 1997. Insurers expect one in every hundred businesses to make a fire – related claim this year, making fire the main cost –driver for commercial property insurance.
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According to Department for Communities and Local Government, in the year ending 31st December 2005, within the total number of fires (428,000 in the UK), total fires in buildings in the UK was 92,300. The building fires total consists of 57,400 dwelling fires and 34,900 fires in other buildings (i.e. commercial premises, schools etc.)
This figure is partly responsible for the tightening of insurance criteria on commercial property, with actuaries justifying the demand for higher premiums and better fire precautions.
Insurer fire tests and requirements are wholly intended for cost effective fire protection of the building and for minimising any business interruption from fire. The fire resistance requirements are sometimes higher than those demanded by governments.
The Fire Protection Association publish the LPC Design Guide to provide guidance on the principles of passive fire protection in connection with property protection and other aspects of business risk management. These relate mainly to protection of the business by minimising fire and smoke damage and business interruption.
The principles and basic strategy wherever practicable are;
. Restrict the fire to the room of origin
. Prevent premature structural collapse and minimise progressive collapse
. Prevent fire spread into/from adjoining premises
. Identify fire resistance levels appropriate to the occupancy
The new INFIRES organisation, managed by the FPA, have reviewed the Design Guide for wider audiences of those who design, construct, fit out, insure or occupy buildings. As a result, the Guide has been broken down into several different documents to improve its functionality.
The new Essential Principles document is a short document that sets out the main basic fire safety philosophy for loss prevention and underlying insurers requirements. It sets the expectation of how buildings should perform in fire, in regard to the protection of property from fire. It could be regarded as the insurance industry equivalent of the basic fire safety objectives - the functional requirements – of the Building Regulations. Whilst the Essential Principles are not mandatory they are vitally important to secure effective insurance cover in the years ahead.
The scope is applicable to all buildings, including hotels, but excludes residential buildings under 20 metres high. The four main objectives are:
. To minimise the effect of fire on a business
. To limit the effects of fire on business interruption
. To ensure the business can be trading within 24 hours of a fire incident
. To protect the buildings within the business
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Loss Prevention Certification Board (LPCB) LPS 1181 test standard
LPS 1181 Part 1 ‘Requirements and tests for built up cladding and composite sandwich panel systems for use as the external envelope to buildings’ is one of a series of documents within the LPS 1181 series of fire growth tests for LPCB Approval. This standard stipulates ‘the test performance and installation / set up requirements for composite cladding products including sandwich panels and built up systems for compliance with the LPC Design Guide for the Fire Protection of Buildings’. It is appropriate for built up systems or sandwich panels used for the external envelope of industrial buildings.
Performance relates only to the combination of products and systems tested and subsequently listed within the LPCB ‘Red Book’. Changing, adding or omitting any products, components, alternative design details may, invalidate the LPS 1181 accreditation. No component part can be LPS 1181 accredited in its own right. Some manufacturers of component parts, such as roofing boards, have given the impression that the LPCB approval relates to their product, independent of the roofing construction tested. This is misleading.
LPS 1181 Part 1 introduces two main grades of product Grade Ext -A and Grade Ext -B.
Grade EXT-A
To achieve LPS 1181 Grade EXT-A status, a system must satisfy the requirements for both reaction to fire in the wall and ceiling lining test and additionally the requirements of LPS 1208.
This introduces the concept of fire resistance, which is related to the fully developed or post-flashover stage of a fire. This is the phase of the fire where all the contents in the room, or in the vicinity of the fire origin, are fully involved and burning. Depending on the combustible nature of the products used in its construction, this may also include the fabric of the building itself. The basic objective is to maintain the structural integrity of the building and to prevent the spread of fire into other compartments.
LPS 1208 defines the fire resistance performance for elements of construction used to provide compartmentation, which for insurance purposes includes the protected zone, 1000mm either side of the compartment wall or roof. This additional fire resistance requirement is vital for preventing fire spread via combustible products contained within the roof construction across compartment wall divisions.
This is described in Appendix B of LPS 1181:Part 1 as ‘Additional requirements for the protected zone defined in the LPC Design Guide for the fire protection of buildings’ It states that constructions seeking an EXT-A grading are also subjected to the requirements of LPS 1208 and for life safety should achieve a fire resistance of at least 30 minutes with respect to fire integrity and 15 minutes with respect to fire insulation for building regulations. This minimum level is typical for fully sprinklered buildings. There are however, two further levels to consider, depending on the intended use of the building. EXT-A30 (30 minutes fire integrity and insulation) is required for shops, commercial and industrial (groups 1 & 2); EXT-A60 (60 minutes integrity and insulation) for retail warehouses, Industrial (groups 3 & 4) and storage buildings.
Therefore, when identifying systems that offer fire resistance, specifiers must look for LPS 1181 Grade EXT-A15 and above. Systems listed to only LPS 1181 Part 1 Grade EXT-B do not satisfy the requirements for fire resistance (eg. LPS 1208) and should not be used in protected zones adjacent to compartment walls and floors.
Grade EXT -B
The minimum level of approval available is Grade EXT –B, which is applicable to products that only satisfy the Reaction to Fire requirements in the wall and ceiling test, detailed by LPS 1181 Part 1. This test is intended to demonstrate how a system will perform during the early stages of a fire following ignition. It does not take into account how the system will contribute to the growth and spread of the fire after this initial period.
The product is exposed to the flames from a small timber crib weighing 35 kg, placed at one corner of an open ended enclosure measuring 10m x 4.5m x 3m, constructed from the built up or sandwich panel system to be tested. The test begins when the crib is ignited and lasts no longer than 30 minutes. The performance is judged mainly on the ability to limit flame spread on the surface or within the system and the temperature of the hot gas layer below the ceiling, within this 30-minute period.
As the test is designed to evaluate the entire construction system, it is also worth recognising that the fire performance could be enhanced by the omission of essential components for example Vapour Control Layers (VCLs) or adhesive layers, such as those required to attach single ply membranes. Specifiers should ensure that the system they intend to specify is identical to the construction that has passed the LPS 1181 Part 1 test and thereby attained LPCB Approval.
Most importantly, if a system has only achieved an EXT-B grade through LPS 1181 Part 1 testing, then it is NOT suitable for use in ‘protected zones’ as defined by the LPC Design Guide for the Fire Protection of Buildings (clauses 3.4.2 and 3.4.3) and will not comply with the insurance industry standards in these locations.
Rockwool offers best solutions to design with risk management objectives.
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