Cost-effective, Compliant Passive Fire Protection for MHRA Buildings
AT A GLANCE
- Complex, multi-floor buildings on multi-building site required renewal of passive fire protection (PFP) compliance.
- A research and development site with multiple buildings. From boiler rooms and plant rooms to washrooms, laboratories and welfare facilities. Each building, from basement to roof voids was surveyed. Renewal and replacement of passive fire protection was required to bring up to compliance.
- PFP means protection against fire and smoke that is built into the fabric of the building (compartmentation, firewalls, fire doors, etc.) to safeguard assests as a safe means of escape.
- The buildings had been extensively upgraded since the 1990s, creating additional PFP challenges.
- CFP’s comprehensive fire protection survey established exactly where work was needed.
- CFP’s thorough update of fire doors delivered renewed compliance, with door sets repaired wherever possible to reduce disruption and cost.
THE CLIENT
With responsibility for a wide range of health strategies and initiatives, as well as health research programmes, MHRA has advised and supported both the UK Government and local health authorities on many key areas of health care and health improvement, based on extensive, critical data housed in its buildings and facilities.
THE CHALLENGE
For MHRA, as for many organisations, maintaining and upgrading complex, multi-floor buildings on a multi-building site over many years had inevitably resulted in considerable modification of the buildings’ layout and fabric. This, in turn, had the potential to significantly impact the buildings’ passive fire protection (PFP) capability.
Since the 1990s, the buildings on the site had benefited from upgrades to data infrastructure, security systems, active fire protection systems, building management systems, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) services, amongst others.
And as with any commercial or public sector site, there was a clear legal obligation on the part of those responsible for managing the buildings to ensure that PFP compliance continued to be maintained in the wake of these upgrades.
A comprehensive passive fire protection (PFP) assessment was necessary, with any remedial work needing to be carried out, completed, and certified before compliance could be renewed.
Fire protection dynamics are complex and vary enormously from building to building, so the building managers turned to CFP to both conduct the survey and deliver the work needed.
THE SOLUTION
Upon completion and submission of our survey for each building, face to face meetings were held to ensure the client that we could offer a practical and economical solution for each breech of compliance.
This process revealed, in particular, that the buildings’ 30- and 60-minute fire door sets had, in the course of daily use, become non-compliant due to damage, wear and tear. In addition, hardware had been fitted that no longer met compliance requirements.
We agreed a plan of action that would deliver renewed compliance within time scales and budget, that would suit the practical requirements and aesthetic character of the buildings’ various rooms and zones.
Working closely with our trusted fire door set manufacturer and the incumbent access control contractor, we installed specific door sets for each location – steel for the plant rooms, Formica for the laboratories and corridors, and wood veneer for the offices and meeting rooms. Each of these door sets was certified to or beyond the minimum fire protection standards required for compliance, including 30 mins, 60 mins, and 120 mins.
Where at all possible, we repaired door sets and recertified them as compliant, rather than replacing them, saving the client considerable disruption and cost.
OUTCOMES & RESULTS
The survey and installation work that we carried out on the site ensured that all the buildings achieved PFP compliance in accordance with the 2005 Reulatory Reform (Fire Safety Order) throughout, helping to safeguard each building’s occupants, contents, and data against fire, as well as limiting potential fire and smoke damage to the building itself.
MHRA commented: “Whilst passive fire protection is critical in all commercial and public sector buildings, including new builds, the real challenges come when you attempt to certify buildings that are several years old and have undergone many modifications and upgrades that have each potentially influenced the building’s fire safety posture in some way.”
CFP demonstrated to us that they were totally in control of this complex process from the start, and whilst they were always open to our questions and input, they saw their role as shouldering the burden of the work and getting us to compliance as quickly and unintrusively as possible, and firmly within budget – which they fully achieved.
MHRA
For more information on how CFP can help you protect the buildings and occupants you are responsible for from fire and smoke, and achieve the passive fire protection compliance the law requires, get in touch.
T: 0800 059 0113 E: hello@commercialfireprotection.co.uk
