Early fire engineering design saves thousands of pounds
The word ’consultant’ for some people means ’expensive’. Certainly in the world of fire protection, contractors and project managers will shy away from adding another fee to the bottom line and will rely instead on equipment suppliers to give technical advice.
The problem is, those suppliers have a vested interest in supplying product. Also, their expertise may be solely in their relevant area and important opportunities to increase efficiency are being missed because of an incomplete understanding of the fire protection requirements. Employing an independent consultant to advise on the whole fire protection strategy for the building could save money û in our experience a substantial amount û both in the short and long term.
Chiltern International Fire, TRADA Technology's sister company, has recently completed a fire protection project for a major department store with a sales area totalling 12,000 m2 over four floors. It was vital to review fire protection measures from the outset, given the thousands of people every week who will enter the store to browse or buy û and to take the opportunity to increase efficiencies through early project guidance.
By considering the basics at the outset and setting up a simple but efficient fire protection strategy, Chiltern Fire’s involvement from the beginning enabled the contractors to avoid expensive design changes later, something which often happens when fire protection is designed in further down the build programme.
Fire resistant ductwork had been estimated at £400K but Chiltern Fire identified that this could be virtually eliminated by changing the nature of the ventilation system. This change also meant that it was no longer required to pressurise fire-fighting stairwells, enabling significant savings in equipment and installation costs, as well as reducing long-term maintenance requirements.
By engineering the fire risk associated with the ceiling void Chiltern Fire was able to halve the quantity of suppression system required in the sales area. This is a good example to illustrate that justified deviation from prescriptive guidance can result in significant savings without compromising life safety or property and business protection.
Designing the fire strategy to match the requirements of the ’big picture’ also enabled Chiltern Fire to provide a considerable reduction in the amount of fire shutters and fire/smoke curtains required.
The quantifiable cost savings Chiltern Fire was able to achieve in design amounted to some £850,000. They were based on sound fire engineering knowledge, at a design cost to the developer of only £55,000 û less than 7% of the net saving secured for the client.
An additional benefit of the design is that design and installation cost savings were realised through reducing co-ordination of services in congested ceiling voids.
Depending on the nature of the load-bearing structure, further savings can also be made by optimising the amount of structural fire protection to achieve the fire safety objectives.
Department store project - savings effected by Chiltern Fire
Recommendation
Saving
Reduce the amount of ductwork required
£400,000
Suppression system û remove requirement to protect ceiling voids
£250,000
Remove requirement to pressurise stairwells
£100,000
Reduce the number of fire shutters and fire/smoke curtains
£100,000
Total saving
£850,000
Consultancy fee charged by Chiltern Fire to the client
-£55,000
Net saving to client
£795,000
With 30 years’ experience of testing suppression systems and passive fire protection products, Chiltern Fire is well placed to give a balanced view of fire protection requirements on all types of project. We do not sell or install materials or equipment but are an independent consultancy, research and testing organisation and will review the best options for specific projects.
For more information, please visit www.chilternfire.co.uk. Alternatively, please contact Adam Taylor on 01494 569816 or email .
