Fires are becoming a regular occurrence in both hotels and student accommodation and its time the policy writers took an interest in the construction method of each material used rather than simply taking the easy option and issuing a blanket ban on combustibles.
There is a variety of reasons why FP McCann wanted to do this research. Certainly having the research and evidence illustrating what the company already knows (precast concrete does not burn) is very important, but FP McCann see the issues surrounding fire resilience as being much bigger than this.
Almost all of fire tests are currently being conducted in a lab environment where everything is controlled. However, in many cases these test results can be very misleading to show the material has actually perform better than it actually has. I recognise that some lab tests may be required, but would encourage manufacturers to take the time and invest in a similar strategy to the journey the company has embarked on.
FP McCann wanted to replicate how a real life fire would behave, so we can accurately assess a materials performance. The company believes these tests should be conducted side by side so that the performance of each could be properly assessed and more importantly graded. To simply state a construction material has passed a fire test shouldn’t be enough.
Those involved in the construction decision making process need to know just how well these materials performed so when they decide to use precast, they know that it not only passed the test set out be the standard, but they know this was the best performing material with the best fire resilience.
- Student accommodation and Private Apartments - Parents are now really concerned about the safety of their children when they send them off to university and were they stay. How long will it be before these families are asking the university what materials have been used to construct this student accommodation or apartment complex?
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- Hotels & hostels - The same can be said for hotels and hostels. People need to know that the buildings they stay in is as safe as possible and all potential risks have been minimised. To simply state that the material used passed the 2 hour threshold is not enough. What happens after the 2 hour window?
During FP McCann's initial tests, itdiscovered that even after multiple fire tests of the same compartment, its structural integrity of the structure hadn’t been compromised.
With some very light remedial work, the structure could be restored to full functionality. Not to mention any water used to extinguish a fire wouldn’t affect the structure either due to its high flood resilience.
The fire test video can be found here: https://youtu.be/34wYuWxd2xw
