Sprinkler News - Bafsa

asa 

British Automatic Sprinkler Association Limited 

CONTENTS 

♦ Members news 

♦ People news 

♦ New products/services 

♦ Successful Sprinkler 

stops 

♦ Technical matters/1048 

♦ Fire Legislative issues 

♦ Marketing 

♦ Fire Industry news 

♦ Construction Industry 

news 

♦ Training 

♦ H+S 

♦ Contractual/Commercial 

♦ BASA Archives 

♦ Meetings/Events 

♦ New standards/COP 

♦ “Fax Back “ facility 

Schools 

Code of practice 

available £5 each from BASA. 

For convenience use the “fax 

back “ facility on the back page 

BASA BIF’s 

Available(FOC) 

See Marketing section 

The Newsletter 

continues to be our main 

means of communication, 

please keep those news 

stories coming in to our editor 

david.robinson@quista.net. 

Sprinkler News 

The Official Bulletin for the 

Sprinkler Industry 

Protecting Property, Life and the Environment Newsletter No 17 

BASA 30th Anniversary 

It is important that we celebrate the fact that BASA is now 30 years old. A 

number of activities and events are planned to ensure that we tell everyone 

how much the sprinkler industry owes to the work done by the Association 

since 1974 - taking the opportunity to correct some of the mis-statements 

and negative comments emanating from some quarters about our future. 

June 2004 

One of the keystones of this campaign is a major supplement in the November 

issue of 'Fire Prevention and Fire Engineer's Journal'. We are proposing 

to produce with our friends at the FPA a publication which will pay tribute to our accomplishments, 

contributions and history as well as look forward to the future where it is clear that 

sprinkler protection will play a much more important role in many new areas. 

Stewart Kidd is coordinating our input and he would be delighted to receive any suggestions 

for articles of features. He would particularly like information on any unusual or innovative 

use of sprinklers and any case histories on very large or complex projects 

Now Will You Fit Sprinklers? 

Devastating fires at two West Yorkshire schools have prompted fire chiefs to call again for school buildings 

to be fitted with sprinklers. 

Victoria Park School in Bramley, Leeds was destroyed by fire just hours after a serious blaze struck at 

Whetley Lane Primary School in Girlington, Bradford. 

The county’s head of fire safety, Assistant Chief Fire Officer David Monks said 

“We don’t want to have to wait for a tragedy before people sit up and listen. Sprinklers are by far 

the most effective and efficient way of protecting our schools, their pupils, staff and people 

called upon to fight fire”. 

Victoria Park School was not fitted with a sprinkler system and education services are now struggling to 

re-house its 125 special needs pupils. 

Mr Monks said: “In the 12 months to 31 st March 2004, 

local fire-fighters were called out to almost 100 serious 

school fires, an increasing number occurring during 

school hours when life and limb is at risk”. 

Every year more than 2,000 schools in the UK are damaged 

by fire, 70% of which are started deliberately. In 

2001, school fires cost the nation £100m. 

The Local Government Association recently launched a 

campaign calling for the mandatory installation of sprinklers 

in new schools. It argues the system pays for itself 

within six years through heavily reduced insurance premiums. 

The West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has 

praised the Leeds and Bradford areas for their proactive 

approach to the sprinkler campaign, but believes more 

could be done to protect people and buildings. 

See p.17 For more devastating un–sprinklered fires. 

The DfES school exemplar designs have been circulated, but sadly made no recommendations for 

sprinklers ! 

Open Sprinkler Installers Meeting - 12 July 2004 

BASA invites you an “open” meeting for all listed sprinkler installers (whether BASA members 

or not) at 1000 (coffee available from 0930 ) on 12 July 2004 at the Best Western 

Westley Hotel, Westley Road, Acocks Green, Birmingham B27 7UJ 

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the implementation of the revised LPS1048 

Scheme, the likely impact of EN 12845 and other issues of current interest. We hope that the 

meeting will allow for a full exchange of views on issues relating to the 1048 Scheme and, in 

particular, the experiences installer companies are having of the levels of service provided 

by LPCB/BRE Certification and the alternative FIRAS scheme proposed by Warrington. 

Booking form and further details on page 24.

Protecting Property, Life and the Environment Newsletter No 17 Page 2 

Members News 

New Members 

The following new members were approved at the Council 

meetings on 24th March and 27 May 04 : - 

Active Fire Protection Ltd Installer 

Holbro Support Systems Ltd Supplier 

Cease-Fire Limited Associate Trade 

Firemain Engineering Ltd Associate trade 

Modgal Metals (99) Ltd Manufacturer & Supplier 

Tokio Marine Europe Insurance Ltd Associate Organisations 

West Midlands Fire Service 

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service 

Zurich Risk Services 

Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service 

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service 

Kent Fire and Rescue Service 

Details of all members can be found on the BASA web page 

TA to TR ! 

No Taylor Robinson have not taken over the 

Territorial army ! 

Taylor Robinson are pleased to announce that the sprinkler 

affairs of T. A. Cowap Limited have been taken over 

by Taylor Robinson Limited. 

The move, which will enable Taylor Robinson to continue 

to develop its service and maintenance division, was initially 

the idea of Mrs Cowap. 

A spokesman for Taylor Robinson reports that Mrs 

Cowap, who wished to retire, “wanted to ensure that the 

good name and reputation of Cowaps, built over 50 years, 

was preserved and that their customers continued to get 

the same level of service”. 

Global pump company makes another major UK acquisition 

In its second major deal this year, S.A Armstrong Limited (with five UK operations) has established a new company called 

Armstrong Integrated Systems Limited (AISL), which has just purchased the majority of assets of Plant Energy Systems Limited 

which will operate from the Plant Energy Systems premises in Halesowen in the West Midlands. 

In February 2004 Armstrong Pumps Limited acquired the business assets of Howard Anderson Ltd (and the trading names 

Holden Brooke Pullen, Baric Pumps and RMI), thereby becoming the UK market leader in the provision of fluid handling technology 

for the Building Services market. The new company is called Armstrong Holden Brooke Pullen Limited. 

Armstrong, operating in the UK as Armstrong Holden Brooke Pullen, is the UK market leader in the provision of fluid handling 

technology. The company provides pumps and pumping systems to large, flagship projects such as Kuwait International Airport, 

the City of Manchester Stadium and the Canary Wharf complex. 

PES is a specialist in the off-site construction and pre-assembly of Building Services equipment, including fully packaged Fire 

plant-rooms . 

Armstrong is a third generation family run firm headquartered in Canada. It has been operating in the UK since the 1960’s. 

Patrick Caiger-Smith, Director, Armstrong Holden Brooke Pullen comments: "This strategic acquisition is good news for 

our customers, suppliers and staff and is further evidence of Armstrong’s continued investment in the UK. The company is 

now uniquely placed to offer the widest range of fluid handling equipment and building services solutions in the industry." 

BASA Membership Applications 

Applications for membership are invited from 

any company or individual who has the same 

interests in sprinklers as BASA. 

We already have a considerable number of 

fire brigades / fire authorities as members 

and we welcome enquiries from other groups 

including end-users, insurers, consultants, 

specifier’s and regulators. 

Application forms and subscription rates can 

be found on page 27 

BASA Finances in good shape ! 

In the year ending April 04 BASA finances once again 

showed an improved financial base with cash on deposit 

rising for the 3rd year running allowing BASA to 

continue to expand its marketing activities, from its own 

resources, raised solely from subscription income from 

its members, with no external funding 

BASA was well represented at Walesfire on 27/28th 

May in Tenby . 

Peter Armstrong , John Dillon and Jeanette Baxter manning 

the BASA stand and also attending the social events 

in support of our colleagues in the Welsh Fire Brigades 

BASA Golf Day on 25th June at Worsley,Manchester. 

Over 30 entries and numerous prizes donated already 

. 

Still a few places left if anybody still wants to play


Members News (cont.) 

Sub Committee/External Committee 

Contacts 

If you need to contact BASA representatives, then the contacts 

are as follows:- 

Chairman — Mr P Armstrong –Armstrong Priestley 

Vice Chairman / Editor BASA news —Mr D Robinson 

Hall Fire Protection 

Treasurer —Mr J Carr — Armstrong Pumps 

Sec General— Mr S Kidd 

Marketing (Mr. I Kennedy-Ta ylor Robinson) 

Technical (Mr. B Cain-PFE ) 

Water Policy (Mr. S Kidd/ Mr. M Hartley-Argus) 

Schools (Mr. S Kidd/Mr. P Armstrong) 

FIC Council (Mr. S Kidd/ Mr. P Armstrong) 

Network (Mr. S Kidd/ Mr. P Armstrong) 

Training Mr. J Taylor-AFC (registered) 

Mr. M. Hartley-Argus (certificated ) 

Mrs. J Baxter-Domestic sprinklers 

Expert Group “C” Installers 

Mr. P Armstrong -Armstrong Priestley (certificated ) 

Mr. I Kennedy—Taylor Robinson (registered) 

Mr. B. Cain –PFE (certificated ) 

Mr. D. Warman –RMD (registered ) 

Expert Group “C” products 

Mr. J Carr—Armstrong Pumps 

Mr. M Holmes —Crane Fluid systems 

LPCB Fire and Security Board 

Mr. S Quillish— Hall and Kay 

CoC Working Group 

Mr. B Cain 

1048 competency syllabuses 

J. Woodhead -Hall Fire Protection (certificated ) 

B. Cain-PFE ( certificated ) 

I. Kennedy-Taylor Robinson (registered ) 

I. Grist-DIS (registered ) 

BSI Committees : - 

FSH/18—Fire Ext. Systems (Mr. B Cain / Mr. S Kidd ) 

FSH/18/2—Sprinklers ——–ditto —– 

FSH/9—Fire terminology ( Mr. S Kidd ) 

CSCS Skills Cards 

Mr. M Hartley-Argus 

Please note all members are welcome to all meetings. 

If any committees are not listed please let me know. 

BASA Members Meeting / Local Authority Semi- 

nar-12/13th May-Stamford, Lincs. 

BASA held an excellent two day seminar in the beautiful surroundings 

of Tolethorpe Hall near Stamford on the 12th and 

13th of May. 

The afternoon on the first day was devoted to a members 

meeting expertly chaired by Ian Kennedy, of Taylor Robinson, 

who is chairman of the BASA marketing committee. The topics 

covered, for those that missed a very informative seminar, included 

: - 

♦ Water supplies the new protocol by Stewart Kidd of 

BASA 

♦ Infires project by Jim Glocklin of the FPA 

♦ DD251 update by David Warman of RMD Fire 

♦ LPS 1048 update by none other than comedian Bernard 

Cain (alias Reg Varney of On The Buses fame). Bernard 

likened the new 1048 to driving a bus with the role 

of “Blakey” the inspector played by Eric Michaelis. We 

are not sure who he has got playing the roles of Peggie, 

Authur and Butler 

♦ Implementation of the new LPS 1048 by Eric Michaelis 

of BRE 

♦ The alternative 1048 scheme by Warrington Fire Research 

An excellent attendance of over 40 were at the members sem inar 

and followed it with dinner in the Orangery at Tolethorpe 

hall , where the rapport and spirit were second to none, 

and shows the progress BASA has made. 

The following morning over 80 attended the Local Authority 

seminar which was sold out ( BASA apologises for the 

cramped conditions but that is the price of success). 

The topics covered included : - 

♦ Sprinklers in schools 

♦ Care premises 

♦ Disabilty discrimination 

♦ Water mist 

The photos below confirm the success of the seminar.


Members News (cont.) 

Grundfos take to the Fells 

Grundfos Pumps Ltd ( BASA member )organised a customer day with a difference, 

exclusively for the Sprinkler Industry, when bike mad Fire Pump Business Manager, 

Alan Gaffney and Sales Director, Julian Wright-Williams got together in the Lake District. 

Ten plucky individuals from several Sprinkler Engineering Companies including Hall & 

Kay, Central Fire, Wormald and Fire Defender, with a passion for motorbikes, took to 

the tracks and trails on specially equipped enduro machines. 

Led by two, professional trail riding guides for the majority of the riders it was a first 

venture away from tarmac roads and new skills had to be acquired in super quick time 

to prevent regular close encounters with the rocks and mud. 

However one or two of our industry colleagues demonstrated they were serious "Offroaders" 

with a highly developed competitive spirit ! 

The overall verdict was Grundfos had arranged an outstanding event 

with a difference, living up to our slogan of "Be>Think> Innovate" and for some it was a 

top ranking lifetime experience. Apart from a few spills no injuries were recorded other 

than aching muscles. We will have to do it again was the cry! 

Our thanks go to Clews Leisure who provided the guides, machines and 

equipment. 

Vacancies 

Estimator/Sales Engineer 

Apply to Sally Siddall, Office Manager, Armstrong Priestley Ltd, 

Flaxton House, Greenmount Terrace, Beeston, Leeds, LS11 6BX 

or e-mail ss@armstrongpriestley.co.uk 

Special risk engineers/ sprinkler fitters/ service engineers 

Apply to :- 

Mike Green/John Woodhead 

Hall Fire Protection Ltd 

Tele; 0161 793 4822 

Some of the work done by Stewart Kidd recently 

♦ Updated web site 

♦ Edited web members’ list 

♦ Posted documents and news items to the web site 

♦ Made submission to FIC document on false alarms 

♦ Submitted paper to Scottish Executive 

♦ Prepared first draft of BASA H&S manual 

♦ Issued copies of Sprinklers in Schools documents 

♦ Wrote article for June issue of ‘Fire Prevention’ 

♦ Letter of complaint on the Lynx advert 

Pictured here is John Judd, Assistant Chief Fire Officer of Greater 

Manchester and International 

President of the Institution of 

Fire Engineers presenting 

Hall Fire’s ISO 9001: 2000. 

Quality Assurance Certifica- 

tion to Managing Director, 

Mike Green 

The photo above shows the intrepid 

riders. 

For those who may be interested the 

view is of the Langdale Pikes in 

Great Langdale where the editor 

lives ! 

First OHSAS 18001 certificate awarded 

Argus Fire Protection Company Limited of Stourbridge are the first company to have received certification to specification 

OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health & Safety Management System) through BRE Certification. This standard gives requirements 

for an occupational health and safety management system. If met, the requirements help to ensure that a company is 

controlling its health and safety risks and enables it to improve its performance. Certification of a company to this standard by 

BRE Certification helps ensure that it is adequately addressing the occupational health and safety risks in relation to the complexity 

of its activities. Other applications are in hand and BRE hope to announce further approvals shortly


People News 

Derek Knowles, National Accounts Manager Crane & Victaulic Products, has retired and Graham Whitaker also retires 

shortly. Derek represented BASA on the LPCB Technical Committee. 

Derek thanks all BASA members for the friendly and co-operative manner and trusts the organisation continues to thrive in the 

manner it deserves. 

Mitchell Holmes, Marketing Manager, is the new contact and can be contacted on 07799 347787 

or at miholmes@crane-ltd.co.uk 

SES A.G.M 2004 

At the Annual General Meeting of the Sprinkler Engineers’ Society held on 

2 nd June 2004, following 21 years as Chairman, Mr Vince Proctor handed 

the role over to Mr Mike Green( HFP) (as pictured). 

Mike was also awarded the John Collier Memorial trophy for his contribution as General 

Secretary to the Society for the previous 9 years from the Society’s President, Mr Ernie 

Leaver. (as pictured). 

In the annual pool competition Mark Foulger (HFP) / Gary Noble (Grifen) took the main 

prize (as pictured ) with Jason Smith (HFP) / Paul Lawson (Fire Defender ) as runners – 

up. 

SES Committee 

President: Ernie Leaver 

Chairman: Mike Green 

Treasurer: Peter Armstrong 

General Secretary Matthew Smith 

Membership Secretary: Chris Kelly 

Committee: Clive Dean, Brian Bartram, 

Frank Weaire, Alan Gaffney 

Stuart Lloyd, Howard Piling, 

Gary Noble 

Glyn Evans retires as secretary of the Network and Les Fielding( Wilts Fire Brigade) takes up the position 

effective from 1st July. We thank Glynn for all that he has done and wish Les every success in the future 

and confirm BASA’s continuing support for the Network and all it does for sprinklers in the UK 

According to Michael Clapham MP 

According to Michael Clapham MP joint chairman of all Party 

Group on Fire Safety: 

• In the 12 months to September 2002 there were 41.000 

fires in buildings other than domestic premises. 

• In the UK every week there are 2,100 arson attacks, including 

20 schools, costing around £40 million. 

• School arson is now estimated to cost around £115 million, 

with a worrying trend of some third of those arsons 

carried out while schools are occupied. 

Mr Clapham and his parliamentary colleagues will play an important 

role in coming years as the final details for the impending 

new Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order are put into 

place and a new Fire Services Bill emerges. 

Insitute of Fire Engineers (IFE) Conference /AGM 

and Exhibition 

Fire Engineering in the Global Village 

Sharing Solutions on an International Basis 

14th– 16th July 2004 

Clontarf Castle Hotel 

Clontarf 

Dublin 

Ireland 

Institution of Fire Engineers (Publications) Ltd, 148 Upper 

New Walk, Leicester LE1 7QB, UK. 

Tel: +44 (0)116 255 3654. Fax: +44 (0)116 247 1231. 

Or e/mail janet.jones@ife.org.uk


New Products and services 

The “Shawston Firesleeve” will save you in labour time due to its unique Snap Lock Design. 

As you will be aware there is increasing responsibility placed on contractors to make good any area where the services penetrate 

a firewall. To assist you in doing this Shawston have put a wide range of the most common fire stopping products into 

stock. 

The “Shawston Firesleeve” is suitable for fire containment in both plasterboard and block work walls for a 2-hour rated seal. It 

has a stainless steel sleeve lined with a high expansion intumescent compound overlaid with a fire resistant acoustic foam 

compression seal. 

Viking Offers ESFR Protection in Freezers 

The Viking Corporation announces a new system for protecting freezer and cold storage environments. This new system, utilizing Vi- 

king’s K25 ESFR Pendent Sprinklers (VK510) and a pre-mix of propylene glycol antifreeze and water, can enhance flexibility by eliminat- 

ing in-rack sprinklers in certain applications. Testing utilizing Viking’s K25 ESFR Sprinkler has been completed, and UL Listing is pend- 

ing. 

Viking’s K25 Antifreeze System protects up to Class II Storage Commodities in buildings up to 40 feet 

(12,2 m) high with racked storage up to 35 feet (10,7 m). The listing is for the 165° F (74° C) Viking 

K25 ESFR Sprinkler (VK510), though intermediate temperature sprinklers rated to 205° F (96° C) may 

be applied as referenced in NFPA 13 for installation in close proximity to heat sources. This special 

application for the K25 ESFR Sprinkler requires a minimum starting pressure of 40 psi (278 kPa) and 

has a maximum volume of antifreeze solution per system of 1100 gallons (4163 liters). 

The Viking K25 Antifreeze System provides a cost effective alternative to in-rack sprinkler systems for 

protecting storage environments as cold as –23° F (-30.6° C). In addition to having a positive impact on 

total installed cost, the system is also far less vulnerable to damage than traditional in-rack sprinklers. 

Viking Introduces New Concealed Dry Sprinklers (see photo) 

This new line includes both standard response and quick response versions for both standard coverage 

and extended coverage applications. 

Standard Coverage Extended Coverage 

Standard Response (1” NPT) 5.6 (8,1) K-factor 5.6 (8,1) K-factor 

8.0 (11,5) K-factor 

Quick Response (1” NPT) 5.6 (8,1) K-factor 5.6 (8,1) K-factor 

The push-on, thread-off cover design allows for easy installation after the system has been tested and the ceiling has been finished. The 

cover provides ½” (12,7mm) vertical adjustment, a critical factor for proper installation of concealed sprinklers. It is only 3-1/8” (80mm) in 

diameter, may be removed without taking the system out of service and is available in chrome, white, ivory, black and custom colors. 

Protect Combustible Concealed Spaces with New Viking COIN Sprinkler 

The new COIN Quick Response Combustible Interstitial Space Sprinkler has been tested and listed for use in specific light hazard com- 

bustible and non-combustible concealed horizontal spaces requiring sprinkler protection per installation standards. In some cases, it can 

allow the use of any listed CPVC piping system within concealed spaces requiring sprinkler protection. 

With extended cov erage listings for spacing up to 12’ x 12’ (3,7m x 3,7m), the COIN Sprinkler can be used with Wet Pipe Systems using 

steel or any listed CPVC pipe, or Dry Pipe Systems using galvanized steel pipe. 

The COIN sprinkler (VK900) is cULus Listed. It has a 4.2 (6,0 metric) K-factor and a starting pressure of 11.8 psi (81,4 kPa) at its maximum 

spacing and .1 gpm/ft 2 (4,1mm/min) density. Minimum starting pressure is 8 psi (55 kPa). 

For more information on any of Viking’s full-line of products, please visit www.vikingcorp.com


Successful Sprinkler Stops 

Sprinkler system saves a Whitworth factory 

Rochdale Observer: Wednesday 5 th May 2004 

Sprinkler system saves a Whitworth factory from serious damage after a fire. Four appliances were called to Anglo 

Felts in Tong Lane, Whitworth, an underlay carpet factory, at about 7am. 

They were at the scene for three hours tackling the blaze. Leading fire fighter John Lind from Bacup fire station 

said “A bale caught fire after self heating. The sprinkler system went off before we got there so while there was 

fire and water damage to 20 bales there was only smoke damage to the factory itself and nobody was injured.” 

Article contributed by Mike green of Hall Fire 

A paranoid schizophrenic torches himself whilst in the Asda Shoeburyness store in Southend 

Apparently he wished to be taken back into care, visited the store armed with a can of petrol. He proceeded to pour this 

over the clothes in the 'George' section of the store and put a match to it. 7 sprinklers operated and successfully put the 

fire out by the time the Brigade arrived (within a few minutes). The sprinklers were positioned above a magna grid ceiling. 

The building was evacuated and eventually ended up smoke-logged to just above the floor. The only injury was to a customer 

who had their ankle hit by a trolley during the evacuation. The stored was protected some 20 years ago by the now 

defunct company, Mercia Sprinklers. The system is Town Main fed. This information was related to R Cox of Compco by 

the Store Engineer during a recent visit. Article contributed by Richard Cox - Compco Fire Systems Limited 

Sprinklers Save Harvey Nicolls store in Manchester 

Mike Green of Hall Fire Protection reports that fire broke out early on Friday, 27 th February in the Harvey Nichols department 

store in Manchester, UK. The sprinkler system operated and alerted the fire brigade. 

On arrival the fire brigade found that a single sprinkler had extinguished a fire which began in the Video Room at the store. 

Hall Fire Protection replaced the sprinkler and put the system back in service, so that the store could open as normal 

Residential Sprinkler Saves Home 

West Wiltshire Housing Society is delighted that the residential sprinkler system that it fitted to 208 new homes as part of the 

redevelopment of the Studley Green estate in Trowbridge saved a house from being gutted by fire at the weekend. 

John Alford, Chair of the Studley Green Tenants and Residents Association said, 

" this has been the first fire we have had since the sprinklers were fitted. When they were suggested some people were sceptical 

following wrong images in T.V. shows of sprinklers going off everywhere and soaking everything. We had our work cut out 

to convince everybody but this fire has shown that they work and are a real life saver" 

The sprinklers were fitted from 1998 and was the first large-scale installation in Europe. TV presenter, Nick Ross gave his 

support to the system and opened the first home to be fitted with sprinklers on the estate. 

Article contributed by Wiltshire Fire Brigade -Andrew Hargreaves- 01380 731108, mobile 07860 815045 

Sprinklers save Spanish shopping centre 

According to a press release from the fire service of the port of Cadiz they were called to a fire in the El Paseo shopping centre 

late on 19 February. When they arrived there was smoke and a smell of burning but they could not find a fire. 

After checking each shop they found water leaking under the door of a children’s clothes shop. Inside they found where the 

fire had started and that the sprinkler system had operated to extinguish it. They quickly cleared the area and evacuated the 

smoke. 

The fire is believed to have been caused by a fault in an air conditioning unit. The damage was limited to one clothing rack 

Article contributed by Alan Brinson of the EFSN 

Please keep these successful sprinkler stops coming in that way we can create a data base of them and 

also you can get the credit for your efforts !


Technical Matters 

Clarification of LPC Rules —Help is at hand ! 

Industry stakeholders who need clarification of LPC Sprinkler 

Rules should contact : - 

Dr James Glockling of the FPA 

E-mail: jglockling@thefpa.co.uk 

The Review of DD251 

Extracts from a presentation by David Warman of RMD and 

BASA council member given at the recent Stamford seminar 

Hopefully by later this year we should be at the final draft 

stage DD251 (2004) which at that stage will still not be a British 

Standard. 

The technical differences between domestic and residential 

systems and their incorporation into the standard have caused 

some problems in the review and perhaps we would have 

been better served by 2 separate standards for Domestic & 

Residential, Domestic being single family dwellings. 

BASA/LPCB would like to see DD251 incorporated into the 

LPS1048 installer scheme. 

Concerns have been expressed by many experienced industry 

stakeholders relating to DD251’s design criteria’s possible 

inadequacy for certain residential premises containing large 

rooms or openly communicating areas. Queries have also 

been raised relating to the non protection of loft space or allowing 

only partial protection. 

All these points and others need careful consideration and 

should not be overlooked in the haste to get the standard reviewed 

which would also be highly irresponsible. 

Some people are promoting the stance “Anything is better 

than nothing’. However, this is considered irresponsible where 

lives are concerned. 

Implementation of the new 4 Level LPS1048 (Installer 

scheme) should be up and running in 2005 

The current status of installer’s position/level in the new 

scheme and details of the future programme/implementation 

are available on the BRE web-page. 

Changes to BS EN 12845:2003 

CEN have proposed to amend the text of EN12845 in response 

to a complaint from Germany. 

The text will revert to the original Voting Draft which is already 

on the BASA site. The proposed new text and a full explanation 

can be found at:-http://www.basa.org.uk/snews 

The document is 200 pages in length. 

Stewart Kidd is contacting the FPA to determine how they propose 

to handle this matter by suggesting that they issue free 

amendment sheets to all those who have bought copies. 

EN12845 will run in tandem with BS5306 to August 2006, 

then the BS is discontinued. 

BASA training courses are to be run, not only for LPS1048 competency 

tests, but also for the new EN12845. See page 21. 

Review of LPS1254 (Tank Standard) 

BRE have invited comments on the review of LPS 1254 and 

below, abbreviated, are some of the comments put forward by 

BASA /BASA members. 

Peter Armstrong, David Robinson and John Carr will be attending 

the review meetings and if you have any further comments 

please let any of the above know asap. as the first 

meeting is on 15th June. 

Tank Type 

Why not just have one tank Type A/D and simplify the matter. 

15 year life-- “suitable for sprinkler service without emptying, 

cleaning, maintenance or repair for a period not less than 15 

years”. 

These words need to be deleted in full. 

If these words are not removed then the tank suppliers/BRE 

must take full responsibility and provide some kind of insurance 

backed scheme to kick in, in the event the tank supplier 

is no longer in existence. eg. Malgar 

In any event what do these words mean in practice ie. no 

maintenance or repair? What about the ball valve ? 

♦ Do we need immersion heaters? 

♦ What about external corrosion protection ? 

♦ Low level access panel for maintenance ? 

Galvanising /Equivalent Protection Measures /Bitumen 

Coating --Future tank specification 

By BRE's own admission there was very little evidence/ 

scientific analysis/ tests/calculations carried out by BRE , or 

the like, for the existing specification requirements (ie. 610 g/ 

m) being suitable for 15 years, even though BRE amazingly 

confirmed " fitness for purpose " at this 15 year level . 

It is therefore vital to learn from the previous shortcomings 

and ensure that whatever specification is arrived at, particularly 

for the butyl liners, is adequate. 

Installers and customers have relied exclusively on BRE's endorsement 

of the tanks. 

The installers will leave it to the experts to decide on an adequate 

specification in future but will hold them liable for their 

actions. 

Other Issues 

BRE Assessment/Ongoing Audit Regime 

In view of the acknowledged failings in BRE’s procedures 

(ie.Galglass saga), BRE to fully detail their assessment 

and ongoing audit procedures of tank suppliers, 

so another "Galglass" can never be allowed to 

occur again . 

Tank Inspection Procedures 

These are to be fully detailed ie. frequency, service 

engineers checklist / reports, etc. 

ie what is expected at any inspection and how does 

this fit in with the "maintenance free" statement and 

who is qualified to carry it out. 

Resolution to the on going Galglass saga , 

to the satisfaction of the installers, and as detailed in 

the BASA correspondence on this issue.


Technical (cont) 

Sprinkler Water Supplies: The New Protocol 

This issue arose some time ago when water companies began to ask 

for large sums (up to £5000) for connections for single domestic sprinkler 

systems. 

A committee comprising of the ODPM, BASA, FBU, CACFOA, FPA, 

LPCB and RSA chaired by the Network, negotiated with the water 

companies to agree a protocol for sprinkler water supplies. We now 

have Mark 9 of this protocol document and this covers the terms under 

which water for sprinkler systems will be provided and it will be 

supported by a Technical guidance bulletin. 

This protocol is jointly issued and can therefore be used by industry 

stakeholders if they encounter problems with water companies. It will 

take time for the message to get down to the grass roots following 

publication in June 2004 by the FPA. 

Some important points to note however in the protocol:- 

The onus is on the end user to record / notify any change in 

supply characteristic, not the water companies who refused 

to accept any liability in this respect. 

Sprinkler water will not be required to be metered nor w ill 

- the water be charged for and boosted towns main maybe 

accepted. 

It covers all sprinkler systems connected to a service main (even 

where a tank is installed) which must be notified to the water companies 

on the appropriate form by the end user or contractor. 

On Tuesday 25 th May 2004 in the Houses of Parliament, Jim Knight 

MP, Chairman of the Fire Protection Association Council and others 

launched the long awaited water protocol document. 

The document which is entitled “Guidelines for the Supply of Water to 

Fire Sprinkler Systems” is being placed on BASA’s website 

and published by the Fire Protection Association in hard copy from 

whom copies may be obtained within the UK for the price of postage 

and packaging at; 

Fire Protection Association, Bastille Court, 2 Paris Garden 

London, SE1 8ND 

Telephone 020 7902 5300 

Fax 020 7902 5301 

Email www.thefpa.co.uk 

FIRAS CERTIFICATION SCHEME 

REQUIREMENTS FOR CONTRACTORS INSTALLING COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL SPRINKLER SYSTEMS 

Warrington Certification Ltd (part of the Warrington Fire Research Group), in partnership with BASA, has developed a new 

scheme for the installers of commercial and industrial sprinkler systems. The scheme is operated under the FIRAS banner, an 

operating division of Warrington Certification. 

FIRAS has been operating schemes for the installers of passive fire protection since 1994 and for installers of residential and 

domestic sprinkler systems since 2003. The philosophy of FIRAS is to work in partnership with the relevant trade association 

and to have technical dialogue through a FIRAS Liaison Panel representing trade and certification interests. 

A draft of the scheme has been prepared and is currently with BASA Council for comment. 

The core principles of the scheme are: 

2 categories of contractor 

o approved – entry level under verification for 12 months 

o certificated – working within defined scopes 

o option to add to scope of activity 

on-going surveillance at 6 monthly intervals 

quality systems to ISO 9001:2000 

o small scheme approach (for smaller contractors) – audit interval of 9 months 

o use of any UKAS accredited certification body 

demonstration of competence of personnel 

o formal training and examination, or 

o technical interview and competency assessment (grandfather rights) 

refresher training if appropriate 

all documentation on-line via the FIRAS website 

Listing of contractors will be on the FIRAS website so that information will be bang up to date. No hard publication will be produced. 

The scheme is expected to be launched in mid-summer

Protecting Property, Life and the Environment Newsletter No 17 g Property, Page 10 

Fire Legislative Issues 

Sprinklers in Scotland 

CONSULTATION ON REGULATIONS IN SUPPORT OF THE BUILDING (SCOTLAND)ACT 

The Scottish Executive are inviting written responses to this consultation by 26 July 2004. 

The consultation covers three distinct areas. 

However the third part of the consultation concerns the addition of a requirement for automatic life safety 

fire suppression systems in certain building types and comprises: 

♦ an introductory paper 

♦ proposed guidance for inclusion within the technical handbooks. 

They call for sprinkler protection to new buildings including:- 

♦ Care Homes 

♦ Flats above 18 metres 

♦ Enclosed Shopping Centres 

This consultation can be viewed online at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations. 

The relevant text is on pp 140 - 165 

Please send your response to: 

Heather Brown 

Building Standards Division 

Scottish Executive Development Department 

Area 2-H 

Victoria Quay 

EDINBURGH 

EH6 6QQ 

Tel: 0131 244 7448 

Fax: 0131 244 0404 

Email: Heather.Brown@scotland.gsi.gov.uk. 

BASA have been formally invited to comment and will be doing so. If you wish to comment in your own right feel free 

to do so - if you send Stewart Kidd comments by 16 July he will incorporate these in BASA's submission. 

Fire Protecting the Community – The Local Dimension to IRMP 

An FOBFO-NFSN-FSDG Parliamentary Seminar 

Sponsored by the All-Party Parliamentary Fire Safety Group 

IN THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT ON MONDAY, 21 JUNE 2004 

The fire and rescue service is now charged not just with intervening when fires occur, but also with preventing them from happening 

in the first place. A culture change is underway to meet the challenge. Partnerships between fire authorities and external 

bodies will be a central to reducing death, injury and damage caused by fire. 

Working closely with other areas of local government has been identified as a particular goal. Local education authorities, 

housing departments and social services provide a major route to the groups within society known to be most at risk from fire. 

Liaison with such organisations is fundamental to the success of Integrated Risk Management Planning. 

Equally, in order to ensure fire protection remains robust across our built environment, greater collaboration is required between 

the service, public bodies and building control, again at a local level. Our Parliamentary Seminar aims to foster dialogue 

and partnership. 

Details from Douglas Smith Tel:-- 020 7828 0828 

Review of Approved Document B had now commenced. 

The ODPM and BRE/FRS had / were running three ‘open to anyone’ consultation days in May and June. They had also 

opened a consultation website run by BRE/FRS. There is no lack of opportunities for stakeholders to make their views known 

to the ODPM and BRE/FRS and it is up to them to use those opportunities.

Protecting Property, Life and the Environment Newsletter No 17 g Property, Page 11 

Fire Legislative Issues (cont ) 

ODPM Report recommends Sprinklers in care 

homes but Alan Brinson of EFSN reckons the cal- 

culations are conservative and many more types of 

building are economically viable 

In 2001 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, ODPM, commissioned 

the Fire Research Station, part of the Building Research 

Establishment, to study the “Effectiveness of sprinklers 

in residential premises”. The FRS has now issued its report 

number 204505. A summary of the report and its findings is on 

www.odpm.gov.uk . Select “Building Regulations” to find various 

files that can be downloaded. 

The study applied the same value to a human life as is used 

to design road traffic schemes. The study then used statistical 

data on the probability of a fire occurring in a type of residence, 

the cost of a fire sprinkler system and the proportion of 

deaths and injuries a system would save. It concluded that 

there is an economic case to fit fire sprinkler systems in 

care homes and blocks of flats above 10 storeys high. 

This economic case is valid without any trade-ups, so it is 

valid for existing buildings. For new construction where tradeups 

are possible, the case will be even stronger and sprinklers 

will be economically viable in many more types of occupancy. 

These conclusions were reached using very conservative figures 

of 70% reduction in deaths, 30% reduction in injuries and 

50% reduction in property damage. Other benefits such as 

savings in the cost of the fire service or reductions in insurance 

premiums were not considered. An assessment that 

applied the more generally accepted figures of 80-90% 

reduction in deaths, 80% reduction in injuries and property 

damage and consideration of other savings, would 

show that there is an economic case to fit fire sprinklers 

in existing houses of multiple occupation above three 

storeys high and in existing flats above 5 storeys high. 

FRS also carried out some fire tests. They showed that residential 

sprinklers pass the British component standard DD252 

and that when installed following the British residential sprinkler 

system design standard DD251 they control or extinguish 

residential fires. The fire tests showed that residential sprinklers 

maintained tenability in the room of origin. This means 

that anyone who did not escape the fire would be expected to 

survive in a sprinklered building. 

The full 737 page report is available on CD for a small charge 

from FRS at frs@bre.co.uk 

Regulatory Reform - Fire safety Order - An Update 

The Fire Safety Order was placed before the house on 

10th May and has started its passage 

Readers will be aware of the impending new Regulatory Reform 

(Fire Safety) Order and the significant implications it carries. 

The purpose of the Order is to reform general burdens 

on business by applying a single fire safety regime to all 

places to which the public have access. 

The Order will not apply to single domestic dwellings and 

would replace the issuing of the fire certificates by fire authorities 

under the Fire Precautions Act 1971. 

The person responsible for a particular premises will be under 

a duty to assess and reduce risk. Whilst the Order contains 

no specific provisions for property, the purpose of the Order is 

to prevent fires and mitigate their effects. 

A Regulatory Impact Assessment and Explanatory Memorandum 

has been prepared by the Office of the Deputy Prime 

Minister (ODPM). Parliament was expected to vote on the Order 

in the Autumn of 2004 with a view to it coming into force in 

Spring 2005. 

The draft Guidance on Risk Assessment and Management for 

Offices and Shops has been prepared and will provide the 

template for the various other Guides to support the Order. 

The Guides will be published once the Order has received 

Parliamentary approval. 

A joint Task Group comprising representatives of the Practitioners 

Forum and the Business and Community Safety Forum is 

to be established to consider the comments received on the 

draft Guidance for Offices and Shops. 

An Overview of Sprinkler Legislation on the Isle 

of Man 

The Isle of Man is a self governing Island; a law passed in December 

1999 required new premises and extensions to premises 

over 5,000 cubic metres to be sprinklered or fitted with an 

appropriate form of fixed fire fighting equipment. That was 

phase 1. 

As of 1st March 2004 all new buildings which are : - 

Multi occupancy dwellings 

Buildings containing flats 

Buildings used for sheltered housing 

Hospitals 

Nursing / Residential Care Homes 

Schools 

Open-plan dwellings 

Other buildings with compartments over 5,000 cubic metres 

are required to be fitted with such sprinklers as are reasonably 

required, having regard to the use to which the building is to 

be put, to facilitate escape from the building in case of fire. 

Also where an existing building undergoes "Material Change 

of Use" in so much as the building : - 

1. is used as a dwelling, where previously it was not; 

2. contains a flat, where previously it did not; 

3. is used as a hotel, boarding house or a multi-occupancy 

dwelling, where previously it was not; 

4. is used as an institution, where previously it was not; 

5. is used as a public building, where previously it was not; 

6. is used as an industrial premises, where previously it was 

not; 

7. is used as an office premises, where previously it was not; 

8. is used as a shop or commercial premises, where previously 

it was not; 

9. is not exempt where previously it was. 

These buildings have the same requirement, i.e. to be fitted 

with such sprinklers as are reasonably required, having regard 

to the use to which the building is to be put, to facilitate escape 

from the building in case of fire. 

Article contributed by : - 

Steve Heap, 

Senior Fire Safety Officer, Isle of Man Fire & Rescue Service


BASA Marketing 

The marketing committee chairman, Ian Kennedy, is 

pleased to confirm that the call for assistance via the 

open letter of January 2004 ( page 11 0f BASA news no 

16 ) did not go un-noticed. 

“We had a fabulous turn out at our February meeting, 

with 12 people actively getting involved. The numbers 

were almost equalled at the recent meeting in Leeds and 

the work load is now being shared around.” 

With regard to current projects the calendar is getting quite full 

and current topics include:- 

Media relations – watch out for our regular features in the 

Fire Prevention Magazine/Fire Engineers Journal 

Upgraded web site —designed to be m ore user friendly. 

Training – new industry focused training courses. See later 

sections of this newsletter for details 

30 th Anniversary AGM, Conference and Dinner Dance 

Plans for the November event are progressing with the main 

features being a dinner dance (John Craig is guest speaker) 

and annual conference on November 10 th / 11 th. . 

The Sue Parish Jazz / Swing band has been booked for the 

dinner dance. (further details to follow) 

30th anniversary 

A 24 page supplement in the November issue of the Fire 

Prevention Journal will feature BASA’s 30 year history. 

The journal will reflect the industry past, present and future 

and will be crammed with interesting and informative articles. 

As well as useful facts, figures and guidelines for specifies, 

installers, end users and professional bodies. 

BASA Council calls on all members to support the Journal by 

taking advertising space themselves and also by encouraging 

their suppliers to do so. (See below for details on advertising) 

30th Anniversary Stickers are available from Stewart Kidd 

BASA Gifts: - Pens, scale rules and tape measures are 

available for seminars handouts etc. 

Membership List/Handbook is to be produced. All members 

will have a free page to promote their activities. 

CD Rom to be updated 2005 

BASA exhibited at Walesfire—Tenby on 27 – 29 May 

Industry seminars have been held to introduce the new LPS 

1048 Third party certification scheme and future ones are 

planned to cover the 12845 European Standard 

External Presentations : - 

—Sprinklers in Schools event arranged by S.Yorks. Fire Bri 

gade in Sheffield on 18 June ( S Kidd ) 

—Sprinklers in schools at Avon Fire Brigade seminar on 14th 

September (S. Kidd ) 

—Heritage fire event at Castle Howard on 12 November organized 

by the Colvin Trust. (S Kidd ) 

—BCO seminar in Devon,date to be confirmed ( J Baxter ) 

Social events 

BASA annual golf day (Still a few places available !) 

25th June 2004 in Swinton , Manchester. 

Details tele. 0161 793 4822 (Grace Quinn ) 

BIF’s available( FOC ) 

♦ BIF 1 Schools (amend to reflect BASA/Insurers Code) 

♦ BIF 2 Dwellings ( revise following DD251 review ) 

♦ BIF 3 Heritage 

♦ BIF 4 Retail 

♦ BIF 5 Warehouses 

♦ BIF 6 Hotels In preparation 

♦ BIF 7 Water supplies In Preparation 

To order any of these then use the” fax back” facility on the back 

page. 

The BASA marketing committee meets 6 times a year and its brief is 

to raise the profile of Sprinklers as a credible solution to the problem 

of fires within the UK. 

As it continues to spread the word to Specifies, End users, Local 

Authorities, Building Control etc, it also aspires to sell itself to the 

both the direct and indirect Industry, and is therefore responsible for 

a number of initiatives that focus on recruitment. 

Remember that it’s your organisation, if you want to get involved then 

you will be more than welcome 

BASA’s 30 th Anniversary special supplement— November issue of Fire Prevention & Fire Engineers Journal 

The Supplement will be distributed to the 10000+ subscribers to the journal in the UK – all of whom have an important role to play in protecting 

life and property from fire - encompassing building control officers, consultants, designers, insurance specialists, licensing authorities, fire 

safety officers and relevant individuals in central and local government. 

With several thousand copies being distributed by BASA as well, the Supplement will be an invaluable marketing tool for the British Automatic 

Sprinkler Association and all interested parties. 

Both BASA members and non members, are invited to advertise your organisation’s range of products and services in this important Supplement 

at the following special rates ( BASA members also get a further discount on these rates ) 

FULL PAGE 

4-colour £1195 Spot colour £900 Mono £850 

HALF PAGE 


QUARTER PAGE 


EIGHTH PAGE 


Please call Wendy Otway on 01622 850555, or email wendy.otway@pexs.net to book your space.


Fire Industry News 

LPCB (Fire and Security) Board 

Simon Quillish of Hall and Kay Fire Engineering is now BASA’s representative on this board 

Fire Industry Council 

BASA had turned down the Vice Chairmanship of FIC due to time constraints 

Steel Price Hike causes concern 

The other big story is that of steel prices. Metal prices have been rising steeply for more than a year, partly as a result of sup- 

ply problems but also because the booming Chinese economy is swallowing every raw material in sight. At least 30% of the 

world’s steel production is now reckoned to be heading to China. This is also largely to blame for a huge surge in the shipping 

costs of iron ore and coal – the main raw materials for steel – which have risen fourfold over the past 18 months. 

In the UK BS1387 s teel tube has increased approximately 8% in February 2004 followed by 10% in April followed by 10% in 

May. 

It is expected that further rises of the above order (or more) could rise monthly for the foreseeable future. Which may result in 

a doubling of prices in a year . 

Lack of Action by the Government in recognising the benefits of sprinklers and a word of caution on 

the review of DD251— a view expressed by David Warman a member of BASA council and RMD Fire 

It is difficult enough in England and Wales to get the wholehearted support of Government to legislate for sprinkler systems in 

premises such as Domestic Dwellings, Houses in Multiple Occupation, Residential Care Homes for the elderly and children, 

Hostels and Schools. 

BASA is constantly pressing, through it’s various allied contacts and lobbyists to establish some form of meaningful support or 

enactment that will provide adequate safeguards to people at risk of fire. 

The Scottish Deputy’s Communities Minister Mary Mulligan early this year announced outlined plans for certain types of new 

buildings and buildings to be converted, to be fitted with sprinkler systems. Her formal announcement has afforded the Building 

Regulators the opportunity to provide the much-needed protection to people and premises that are at high risk. 

The English opposite numbers in our own Government departments still appear to under estimate the benefits to the Nation 

and the financial savings to be made by providing an enactment of a similar standing. 

A Government Minister in a recent reply to the House on sprinkler protection in schools revealed a degree of ignorance. It 

would seem that the English counterparts appear to need further enlightenment on the fundamental operation and the benefits 

of sprinkler systems. Still the government is reluctant to act despite the serious and recent catastrophes reported in the press 

and how sprinkler protection could actually reduce the extraordinary high fire losses. Figures available for 2002, fires in dwellings 

accounted for 30% of all fires and domestic fires caused 77% of all fire deaths. 

The Housing Bill announced last year in the Queen’s Speech referred to changes in the way local authorities could administer, 

through licensing, private sector homes in multiple occupation. Although licensing is unlikely to make sprinklers mandatory the 

Local Authorities might as a tool elect to withhold a licence unless sprinklers are installed in the highest risk properties, but in 

reality they will have no obligation to do so. 

However the Trade cannot be complacent and although we believe fully in the product we must be wholly conscious about the 

implementation of future sprinkler design and development. Despite the excellent track record of sprinkler systems, we cannot 

afford to eventually achieve government endorsement and then find, as a result of a failure in a fire condition, that the sprinkler 

system was deficient in its design and lives were lost as a result of an uncontrolled fire. 

The wealth of evidence available, demonstrated by loss of life and the huge cost to the Country resulting from buildings lost to 

fire, illustrates that individual developers should not be given the choice nor the option to install or to do without an effective 

system that detects and controls fire automatically. 

What is amazing is Government failure to recognise the huge benefits that sprinkler systems can offer. They remain reluctant 

to legislate in favour of mandatory requirements despite other products being mandatory and they continue to fail to support 

and fund sprinkler systems in schools, which suffer an average of 20 arson attacks a day. 

Only last week a local newspaper reported on a devastating fire at a school in West Yorkshire where more than 75 fire fighters 

and 20 vehicles were in attendance. Add the cost of the Fire Services attendance to the relocating of children to other premises 

and the rebuilding of the school and we have an astronomical cost to the Nation.


Fire Industry News (cont.) 

Erdington Children’s Home Sprinklered 

Work is near completion at a new Children’s Home being built in Erdington for Birmingham City Council Social Services. 

The site comprises of two premises, one a two storey reception building and the other a single storey ‘bungalow’ for children 

with specific disabilities. 

At a meeting on 17 th December 2003, between representatives of Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Fire Service the 

prospect of including sprinklers was debated, with many of the myths being dispelled. 

It is pleasing to report that it was decided by the Local Authority to include full sprinkler provision in the ‘bungalow’, all 400 m² of 

it. 

As such, this is believed to be the first Local Authority children’s home in the West Midlands to be provided with sprinklers. Although 

there are no promises of including sprinklers in future new homes it is hoped that this breakthrough will herald a new era 

of fire protection in children’s homes in the West Midlands. 

Article contributed by Steve Mills-West Midlands Fire Service 

News from Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service - Sprinkler update—HiMO Protocol 

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service (SF & RS) have been working for some time with their Local Authorities (LA) to raise awareness of the benefits 

of residential sprinklers particularly to reduce fire casualties in high fire risk premises and in particular HiMOs and been operating a consultation 

protocol which formalises their commitment to promoting residential sprinkler systems for life safety within the Housing Act Consultation 

process. 

The protocol outlines generic standards for passive and active fire safety systems in HiMOs of all different categories up to 3 floors in size. It 

also details design freedoms which are considered to be acceptable where residential sprinkler systems are installed to DD251. The design 

freedoms are broadly the same as the ‘trade-offs’ recently detailed in the LGA ‘Automatic Fire Sprinkler toolkit for domestic properties’. 

♦ Compensation for Fire Brigade Access limitations 

♦ Fire engineered solutions to means of escape issues in residential care and licensed premises 

♦ Taking a flexible approach to loft conversions in townhouses with single staircases 

However they have found it very difficult to get Anglian Water to make connections to town mains where the system design requires it. 

Despite lengthy discussion with Anglian Water managers, both local and regional, this issue is still causing many frustrations to Fire officers, 

LA officers and commercial stakeholders. It has reached the point now that one particular company have declared their intent to design all 

new systems in Anglian Water areas with Tank and Pump supply to get around the connection delays. 

First Domestic Sprinkler System for Newcastle Home 

A Newcastle council house has been fitted with the first domestic sprinkler system in a pilot scheme to improve fire safety. 

Newcastle City Council has joined forces with Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service and Homesafe to supply the system into a home 

which has suffered a number of fires putting the family at risk. The success of the project – which follows on from a successful joint initiative 

that has seen 13300 smoke alarms fitted into council properties over the last two years – will now be monitored. 

Station Officer Grahame Dodd, from Tyne and Wear’s Community Safety Team assessed the potential safety benefits to the family following 

a serious house fire last year. Although smoke alarms were already installed, because of the size of the property, it was decided that a domestic 

sprinkler system would provide an enhanced safety package. 

“This was a situation that needed the intervention and co-operation of the local authority, Tyne and Wear Fire and rescue Service 

and the sprinkler company to improve the safety of a vulnerable family,” said Station Officer Dodd. 

“The investment which the authority has made will protect this family and anybody living there for years to come and I congratulate 

them for having the foresight and concern to protect their residents. It is our aim in Tyne and Wear to reduce death and injury in the 

home and by working in partnership like this we can and will achieve that aim.” 

The project has been jointly funded by the Council and the Fire Authority to the total of £4,000 

For more information contact: Jeanette Hedley on 0191- 211 5059, or e-mail jeanette.hedley@newcastle.gov.uk 

The FRS report on CD re residential sprink lers has been requested so often they are on the second reprint - contact frs@bre.co.uk 

Schools Take Out Extra Fire Insurance 

Sprinklers are to be installed in Salford schools with the release of new statistics showing 

that there were 22 fires in Salford’s schools between April 2002 and March last year. 

Trafford and Stockport had three and six such cases respectively over the same period. 

Ian Bailey said: “The fact is that there have undoubtedly been fires at schools within Salford 

that were allowed to spread far more than they needed to because there was no sprinkler 

system fitted. It’s been proven these sprinklers can often prevent damage by extinguishing 

the fires or restricting their spread until the fire service arrive.” 

It is believed insurance discounts may pay for the sprinklers within seven years. 

Great Manchester’s County Fire Officer Barry Dixon said: “When fires do occur in schools 

without sprinkler systems, the disruption resulting from fire damage is enormously unsettling 

for children and the community. 

Arsonist Gets Life Sentence 

A former hotel porter has been sentenced 

to serve at least 15 years in 

prison after killing an elderly couple in a 

hotel arson attack by setting fire to a 

mattress in the Moat House Hotel in 

Bolton, Greater Manchester in April 

2001. 

Only the car park below the hotel was 

sprinklered (by Hall Fire ) as that was all 

the regulations called for . The bedrooms 

were not protected



News from the European Fire Sprinkler Network 

The Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers Association (CACFOA ) of the UK has joined the Network. This is a 

welcome addition to their fire service membership, led by Chairman, Hans Jochen Blätte, who is the Fire Chief of 

Wuppertal. Alan Brinson goes on to say “support and advice from CACFOA will be of great help in our mission to 

encourage the widespread use of properly designed and maintained fire sprinkler systems in Europe.” 

New 52 km Tunnel under the Alps 

France and Italy have announced that they will co-fund a 52km tunnel under the Alps, linking Lyons with Turin and extending the French high 

speed rail network into Italy. Work on the is due to start in 2006 and to take 10 years for completion. . 

This is a key infrastructure project and will need the very best fire safety systems. Fire suppression systems are being evaluated for new tunnel 

projects in France, including rail tunnels. 

MEP’s Approve Tunnell Directive 

The European Parliament web site confirms the Transport Committee endorsed proposals to improve the safety of tunnels on 

the trans-European road network. Clear minimum safety standards for infrastructure, tunnel operation and traffic rules lie at 

the heart of this new directive. 512 tunnels are affected, of which 246 are in Italy. The next step is for the full Parliament to 

vote on the directive . Assuming a positive vote the directive will be published soon afterwards. 50% of the tunnels must comply 

with the directive by 2010 and the remainder by 2014. 

As yet it is not clear how the directive will be applied in practice to those tunnels which do not comply. 

Although this directive only applies to major European cross-border roads, it will increase pressure on governments to raise 

safety standards in other tunnels, such as busy urban tunnels. 

The Swedish Experience 

According to Alan Brinson of the EFSN Sweden is the only country in Europe to have a purely performance-based building code. The Swedish 

experience has shown that where there are competent fire engineers this can lead to more fire sprinkler systems being fitted. Today Sweden 

installs more fire sprinklers per head of population than any other country in Europe except Norway. 

Rosepark Care Home Study Commissioned 

The Building Research Establishment has been commissioned to recreate and study under laboratory conditions the fire that 

occurred at Rosepark Care Home in Strathclyde on 31 January 2004 in which 14 elderly residents lost their lives. 

The work commissioned by the Scottish Executive will focus on potential improvements that can be made to building fire 

safety. The project is expected to be completed by the end of the summer and a report of the findings will be published. 

Meanwhile, Communities Minister Mary Mulligan announced in March that all new and converted care homes and sheltered 

housing complexes and tower blocks will be required to have fire sprinkler fitted from 1 st May 2005. 

CE Marking of sprinkler valves - extension to deadline 

I have now had email confirmation from the European Commission that the deadline for CE marking of sprinkler wet and dry 

alarm valves to EN12259-2 and EN12259-3 has now been extended to 1 September 2005. This will be issued formally in the 

next edition of the Official Journal. 

Chris Gill-Technical Manager-LPCB



The Network (a brief overview ) 

Replacement for Network Secretary 

Glyn Evans has decided to retire as secretary and we all thank him for his efforts. 

Les Fielding has agreed to take up the position. 

LGA Campaign – Sprinklers In Schools 

These series of documents are now available on the LGA web site www.lga.gov.uk and include : - 

♦ A toolkit for schools 

♦ A toolkit for domestic properties 

♦ Counting the cost of fire and a supportive of the role sprinklers play . 

♦ 

Unfortunately the DfES school exemplar designs had been circulated, but they made no recommendations for sprinklers. 

The next meeting of the Network would be held on the 21 st June 2004 and will consist of a seminar in the Houses of Parliament 

including a lunch and a drinks reception with MP’s on the terrace in the evening. 

BASA Welcomes 2 new forum appointments 

BASA welcomes Pamela Castle and Jeff Ord to the positions of Chairman of the Business and Community Safety Forum 

(BCSF) and Chairman of the Practitioners Forum respectively. 

The BCSF is a new body that will ensure the fire and rescue service works closely alongside a wider body of stakeholders – 

such as business, industry and community representatives – who can express their views on strategic issues facing the service. 

This new stakeholder body will represent a wider body of ‘consumers’ of the service than the previous advisory machinery. 

The practitioners’ Forums main responsibility will be to advise Ministers on matters of moderation in the Fire and Rescue Service. 

Companies warned of invalid insurances as Halon deadline passes. 

December 31, 2003 was the deadline for the decommissioning of Halon based fire suppression systems and the Association 

of British Insurers (ABI) has warned companies who have failed to meet their obligations that they have invalidated their insurance 

policies. 

DEFRA, the government department responsible for enforcing the deadline, issued a letter of warning of the insurance consequences 

of non-compliance, quoting the ABI- “insurers require policyholders to comply fully with their legal obligations. 

Reliance on a Halon system after 31 December 2003 would void any insurance policy in place, meaning that claims resulting 

from an insured event would not be met”. 

Sock it to them Stewart ! — The Lynx advert 

We reproduce below Stewart Kidd’s letter to OFCOM in respect of the misleading advert 

Dear Sirs. 

Complaint over Misleading Advertisement: Faberge Lynx 

I am writing to you to express concern at the mis -portrayal of automatic fire sprinkler systems in the captioned tv commercial. 

In this film, a sprinkler system is shown being correctly actuated by a fire in a hotel bedroom, but then for no clear reason (and 

totally technically implausibly) the sprinkler system is shown operating throughout the building. 

One of the major obstacles to wider acceptance of sprinkler systems is the misconception that if one sprinkler head senses 

fire, then all the heads in the building will operate causing flooding. I have, when Director of the Fire Protection Association, 

previously brought this fact to the attention of C4 (Twin Peaks), the BBC (One Foot in the Grave and Casualty) and the former 

ITA/ASA (advertisements for Martini and cinema trailers for Die Hard) as these depictions of sprinklers counter the extensive 

work being done by the fire service, local authorities and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in educating the public in the 

value of sprinkler systems. 

Sprinklers have a worldwide reputation as the most effective way of preventing fire deaths, reducing damage to property and 

minimising the impact of fire on the environment and thoughtless parodies like this risk serious harm to the broader acceptance 

of the technology by the groups most at risk from fire deaths. 

I understand that a number of chief fire officers have written directly to Faberge with similar comments. 

While my association appreciates there is little that can be done now the advertisement has been aired I do believe that you 

have a duty to caution the advertiser, his agency and the IT companies not to repeat the advertisement and make it clear the 

harm they are causing. May I also, on a more positive note offer the services of this association to anyone who is thinking of 

using sprinklers in a tv programme so we can ensure that these are properly depicted ? 

Stewart Kidd 

Many members and Fire chiefs also wrote to OFCOM in a similar manner


Unsprinklered Fires (Fires that could have been avoided if sprinklers were fitted) 

Two elderly people died following a fire in care home near St. Neots in Cambridgeshire. 

30 residents and 10 staff were led from the building. The fire caused severe smoke damage despite being confined to one room. 

This was the third fatal fire in a care home in the U.K. this year and it came a week after the government published a report on the ODPM web 

site which shows that there is a strong economic case to fit fire sprinkler systems in care homes. 

Prison fires 

A fire recently at a German prison near Frankfurt once again brings home the potential risks of prison fires. At the time of the fire the prisoners 

were in their cells so there was no risk of a breakout. Over 250 fire fighters fought the fire. The town water supply was inadequate. 

The actions of the fire brigades limited the fire to one fire compartment. Nevertheless the damage ran to millions of euros. 

Deliberate fires in prisons are a recognised hazard that can cause huge damage and create security risks. A few years ago the new Yarl’s 

Wood Asylum Centre in the UK was burned to the ground with tens of millions of pounds of damage. Special fire sprinklers have been developed 

for prisons and other high security detention centres. They are known as institutional sprinklers and are designed to break if someone 

tries to hang themselves from the sprinkler. Many prisons in North America are protected by these sprinklers. 

Fire Destroys Part of Saatchi Art Collection 

Fire broke out on 24 June in an east London warehouse storing art belonging to Charles Saatchi. The fire started in an adjoining building, 

which was totally destroyed, and spread through 38 units. London Fire Brigade spokesman Gary Bevan said, “This was a very intense fire, 

black smoke and a red glow could be seen from miles away.” Over 100 works by artists including Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst and Jake and 

Dinos Chapman, were lost. The Chapman brothers work Hell, commissioned by Saatchi for a reported £500,000 was among the £millions of 

losses. 

Fire in Telecoms Tunnel 

On 29 March a fire in a telecommunications tunnel in Manchester left 130,000 customers without a telephone line or internet service. It took 

days to restore full service. Businesses were unable to operate as the local economy was brought to a standstill. Although most emergency 

services have radio connections, the public were not able to make calls to them. In Manchester the ambulance service radio connection was 

also disrupted. 

Fire-fighters had to climb down 30 metres and then crawl 150 metres to reach the fire. Although the f ire was not fierce, the fire-fighters needed 

breathing apparatus and were using a lot of air before they reached the fire, so there was a high turnover of fire-fighters. 

All the recent attention on tunnel fires has focussed on road tunnels. However we depend on many types of tunnels, as this incident shows. 

The tunnel operator, BT, has recently fitted a fire suppression system in another tunnel. It is likely following this fire that other infrastructure 

providers who use tunnels will reassess the impact that a tunnel fire could have on their service 

Huge fire at a cardboard packaging factory in Eerbeek, The Netherlands. 

36 fire trucks attended and the smoke could be seen 15 kilometres away . Two thirds of the factory was destroyed. The cause of the fire has 

not yet been confirmed. 

The fire was at the Austrian cardboard packaging company Mayr-Melnhof on Coldenhovenseweg. The company employs 250 people at this 

site. It confirmed that three cutting machines and a packing line were destroyed, as well as many raw materials and a part of the coating department. 

Fortunately none of the employees were hurt. 

The factory was not protected by a sprinkler system, except for a recent extension which is the only section that was saved. 

Two die in Swedish bar fire 

Fire broke out in the bar of the Borgholm Hotel on the holiday island of Öland in southeast Sweden and a Norwegian man and a Swedish 

woman died. Four more guests suffered minor injuries and an employee and three fire-fighters suffered from smoke inhalation. 

Over 50 fire-fighters battled the blaze which destroyed a large part of the hotel. Witnesses said that the smoke detectors operated. . 

Belfast Shopping Arcade destroyed by fire 

A Belfast shopping arcade listed as architecturally significant may have to be pulled down following a fire . Shops throughout the North Street 

Arcade were destroyed. Nobody was hurt but sadly all the pets in a pet shop were killed. Dozens of people had to be evacuated from nearby 

pubs and flats and North Street itself was closed to traffic for a week. 

Fire crews fought the fire from both ends of the arcade in what Chief Fire Officer Colin Lammey described as a major operation. Assistant Divisional 

Fire Officer Isaac King said he thought the fire had been burning for some time before the alarm was raised. The North Street Arcade 

was built in the 1930s but may now have to be pulled down because it is structurally unsafe. 

Goodyear suffers loss 

On Wednesday 10 March fire broke out in a storage area of the Goodyear tyre factory in Philippsburg, near Karlsruhe in the south of Germany. 

Over 400 fire-fighters attended and with massive use of foam and water had extinguished the fire by the afternoon. 

The 1,000 m2 warehouse and its stock of 20,000 tyres were lost. The warehouse carried intermediate storage for the production unit. The fire 

services were able to save the production unit and the main warehouse, which contains over 2 million tyres. A Goodyear company s pokesperson 

estimated the damage at well over €10 million. 

The German fire service association, vfdb, reports that this storage unit was fitted with a fire sprinkler system but that it had been designed 

to protect the area when it was used for production. With the change in use to storage of tyres the sprinkler system was not upgraded 

to cope with the increased fire load. It is essential that sprinkler systems are regularly inspected and maintained to make 

sure that they remain adequate for the risk and ready to operate to protect it. 

The importance of carrying out risk assessments/ hazard reviews is once again highlighted ! 

Huge Fire in fruit warehouse 

The Spanish newspaper El Mundo reports that 120 people were evacuated when fire took hold in fruit warehouses in Mercabana, Barcelona. 

The fire broke out in Frutas Félix, apparently caused by welding operations. Five fruit and vegetable distribution company premises with a 

combined area of 4000 m2 were destroyed or damaged. The losses are estimated to be in the millions of euros. Fortunately nobody was hurt. 

Fruit boxes are often made of wood and present a high fire load which can rapidly develop into a large fire. Alternatively the boxes are made 

of plastic, which can melt and create a liquid pool fire. Without a fire sprinkler system this risk is very vulnerable to fire. 

3 Die in Spanish apartment fire 

On the same day that terrorists killed over 200 people in Madrid, fire continued its annual claim of 250 Spanish lives. Three young children 

died in an apartment in Lleida in the northeast of the country. The children were left unattended at the time. 

The fire started on the ground floor of and quickly rose through the first and second floors of the three storey building.


Construction Industry News 

Higher Wages Transform Workers’ Fortunes 

Wages in the construction industry have risen sharply in 

2003/04 following an 18 month lull, according to a survey by 

the RICS. 

The institution’s economic brief also notes that the total number 

of workers in the construction sector rose to more than 2 

million in the fourth quarter of 2003 for the first time in 12 

years. This means that construction employees about 7% of 

the UK’s workforce, the highest since 1994. 

According to the RICS, the increase in wages has been driven 

by a skills shortage in a market where demand has remained 

strong. 

“The effect of the skills shortages has been marked, with earnings 

in construction consistently running ahead of that of the 

economy for much of the past five years”. 

Rising wages have helped to overcome the ‘dirty hands’ image 

but immigrant labour has slowed the growth in wages by 

‘helping to plug gaps in employment’. 

Although labour numbers are historically high, there is still a 

danger of a serious skills shortage. Kate Baker’s report on 

housing for the government indicated that 70,000 additional 

skilled workers were required to meet the governments hous ebuilding 

targets. 

According to the Construction Industry Training Board employment 

model, the overall labour requirements between now 

and 2007 is just over (an additional) 83,000 a year. 

Forthcoming Changes to the Law on Preventing Illegal 

Working 

The Government intends to change Section 8 of the Asylum 

and Immigration Act 1996, the law for all United Kingdom employers 

on preventing the employment of illegal workers. 

These changes came into effect on 1 st May 2004. 

New Home Office guidance explains the new checks employers 

will be required to make from 1 st May 2004 onwards on 

new employees before you give them a job. By making these 

new checks, you will ensure that you are only employing those 

who are able to work legally here and that you do not place 

yourself at risk of committing a criminal offence. 

Ten new countries will be joining the European Union on 1 st 

May 2004. Nationals form all of these countries will be free to 

come to the United Kingdom from this date. Nationals from 

eight of theses Member States who find a job in the United 

Kingdom will be required to apply to register with the Home 

Office under the new Worker’s Registration Scheme. 

New Private Commercial Construction Orders Surge 

Ahead 

A number of large orders in February helped new construction 

orders in the private commercial sector surge ahead by 36% 

compared with the previous three months, according to the 

latest figures from the Department of Trade & Industry. 

The surge in activity also put new construction orders in this 

sector 17% higher than the same period a year earlier. 

Private industrial orders for the year were 5% higher than the 

previous year 

RICS Predicts Office Market Upturn 

London’s stalled commercial construction market is likely to 

get back into gear this year, according to the RICS. 

The prediction was made after the institution released its commercial 

market survey for the first quarter of 2004. This found 

that enquiries by businesses to take up office space rose at 

the fastest rate for four years. 

This would maintain construction growth should the government 

fail to deliver on its spending plans. Public spending has 

kept the construction sector afloat for the past few years. 

Prefabrication Surges Ahead 

The market for offsite fabrication is rising at nearly 10% a year 

according to a major study by BSRIA. 

Off-site fabrication has become increasingly popular over the 

last 10 years. Among the benefits it delivers, are time and 

cost savings, improved quality control and site management. 

What the sprinkler industry have been doing for 25 years, the 

rest of the construction industry is latching onto !


Construction Industry News (cont.) 

ACE Challenges Government over Fairer 

Professional-Indemnity Insurance 

The Association of Consulting Engineers is calling on the 

Government to promote a bill to change the law on joint-andseveral 

liability in the construction industry to address the 

problem of spiralling costs of professional indemnity insurance. 

The association cited recent increases in premiums for PI 

insurance of up to 300% for some engineering consultancies. 

The current situation is unsustainable. UK engineering consultancy 

firms are facing intolerable business pressures, 

brought on by PI insurance premiums, rocketing claims excesses 

and an increasing number of limitations to their 

cover. 

The current system of joint-and-several liability discriminates 

against firms, irrespective of blame, making them responsible 

for the failings of other parties over which they have no 

control. 

ACE believes that there is a growing practice in the construction 

industry for consulting firms to be included in a 

claim purely because they are likely to carry insurance, even 

where they have little, if any, potential liability. 

The association is pressing for Government to promote a bill 

to change the law on joint-and-several liability for the construction 

industry, including full consideration of a rational 

and fair statutory capping regime to alleviate the problems of 

disproportionate liability. 

New Orders Grew Last Year to £33.9bn for 

Construction 

According to the latest data from the Department of Trade & 

Industry, new orders increased just 1% in 2003 to £33.9bn 

compared with £33.4bn in 2002. 

Housing was the best sector to be in last year: public housing 

orders increased by 18% to £1.3bn, while private housing 

was up 17% to £9.4bn. 

New Orders 2003 (2002 in brackets) 

• Public Housing £1,337m (£1,129m) 

• Private Housing £9,451m (£8,088m) 

• Infrastructure £4,865m (£5,555m) 

• Other Public £6,157m (£5,910m) 

• Private Industrial £2,370m (£2,247m) 

• Private Commercial £9,728m (£10,482m) 

Total —–£33,907m (£33,411m) 

CIBSE Opens Up Membership to More People 

CIBSE has enlarged the scope for membership by being 

able to accept competent building-services engineers as 

corporate members without demanding that they meet the 

narrower requirements of the Engineering Council at the 

same time. The changes that the Privy Council has approved 

are in line with developments in other engineering 

institutions. Candidates for corporate membership will still 

be required to meet CIBSE’s own competence standards. 

Graham Manly, CIBSE’s new president, says “CIBSE can 

now go forward to expand its membership. Competent people 

working in diverse roles within building-services engineering 

will be welcome to apply for membership”. 

The institution is embarking on a period of significant growth 

and development. The services CIBSE can offer its members 

will expand and develop rapidly as a much broader 

spectrum of construction practitioners is involved. Influence 

on built-environment policy decisions in general and on sustainability 

issues in particular will be strengthened. 

Brumwell defends immigrants / CSCS 

Retiring UCATT general secretary George Brumwell who 

was elected Chairman of the Construction Skills Certification 

Scheme , has become increasingly concerned by claims that 

immigrants are being exploited on government projects. 

E.g in the building of the Home Office’s new headquarters. 

Now that Brumwell is CSCS chairman, he is particularly 

keen to ensure that the foreign workers are properly accredited 

and being treated fairly on government projects. 

Brumwell said that his next step was to galvanise the support 

of all government offices that procure construction. He 

said:” I will be making my first priority to meet with these departments 

to encourage them to promote CSCS among their 

contractors.” 

CSCS is already an identifiable standard for the industry as 

a single competency-based scheme with its membership to 

almost 600,000. 

More evidence emerges of constructions suicide risk 

Research by academics at the University of Leeds has produced 

further evidence of the extraordinary high suicide rate 

among construction workers. 

The analysis of data from Leeds coroners’ court reveals that 

out of 240 cases of suicide in Leeds between 1998 and 

2001, 38 involved in construction workers. 

Construction has a higher rate of suicide than any other professional 

sector and a construction worker commits suicide 

every two days. 

Drug use down at T5 

Apparently twelve per cent of workers on the Heathrow Terminal 

5 project tested positive for recreational drugs. The 

figure has dropped from 20% of workers who tested positive 

in 2002.


Training/H+S 

BASA Sprinkler Training Courses. 

Over recent months, the BASA Training Committee has been developing plans to provide appropriate training for the sprinkler 

industry in order to improve the status of the industry and those working in it. 

We already offer training in the installation and commissioning of residential and domestic sprinkler installations which is approved 

by FIRAS and bookings are welcome for this course (details can be obtained from the committee members below or 

from Jeannette Baxter on 01296 630902). 

We have had discussions with BRE / LPC regarding developing courses to prepare candidates for both the BRE ‘Basic Design 

Competency Examinations’ and ‘FHC Competency Review Examination’ which will be specifically tailored to suit the 

competency levels required for designers under the new LPS 1048 Issue 4 scheme. These courses 

will be shortly available. 

We recognise that it is not always practical for companies to release their designers for one or two week blocks to attend 

training courses so we propose to structure them in the form of one / two day modules which will be held regionally to minimise 

travelling andaccommodation costs. 

BASA is planning to invite the BRE / LPCB to run examinations at these regional locations at the end of the courses so that 

candidates can sit the examinations immediately following the course rather than wait for scheduled examination dates. 

To assist the BASA Training Committee to finalise arrangements and tailor these courses to suit the needs of the 

industry, we would ask you to complete the questionnaire (BASA/Training/Form) (which can be found on the next 

page ) indicating the number of delegates your company would want to send on these courses and the course format 

and locations that would best suit your needs. 

Please return this questionnaire to the BASA for the attention of Julian Taylor. 

The courses will be open to non-members on a space available basis. 

If you have any questions on these proposals, please contact one of the following 

members of the BASA Training Committee;- 

Julian Taylor (Chairman) – Tel No: 01793 496624. 

Martin Hartley - Tel No: 01384 376256. 

BASA Training Courses (Syllabuses now in preparation) 

LPS 1048 Issue 4—Basic 4 Basic design competency review 

– Intermediate Design Competency Review 

-- FHC design competency review 

– FHC Inspection Competency Review 

DD251 Residential & Domestic Design Standards 

EN 12845 Design Standards 

Special Risk Sys tems Design Standards 

System Maintenance & Inspections 

Building Control Officer is the latest occupation to join the Construction Skills Certification Scheme. 

182 occupations are now covered by CSCS and 600,000 industry workers have now been awarded cards. 

CSCS Plans Expansion of Skills Card 

The CSCS review comes as it has emerged that the hotline to get a card has been jammed with calls. The Construction Industry 

Training Board, which administers the scheme, is pleading with workers to apply for cards through its website. 

Recruitment Difficulties Predicted at National Training Awards 

‘The Government’s policy on higher education is simply wrong. We need more skilled craftsmen and women, more technicians 

and associate professionals – not more graduates’. That was the sharp message of Chris Humphries, director general of City & 

Guilds, at the presentation of the National Training Awards for the HVACR sector. 

He warned that the number of people aged 16 to 19 entering the labour market in three years time will fall sharply in reaction to 

the dramatic fall in the birth rate over the last 10 years. ‘If you thought it was hard to recruit young people into the buildingservices 

industry now, just wait till their overall numbers are dropping by 40-50,000 a year from 2007 onwards’ 

Construction Falls Short of H&S Targets 

The publication recently of the National Audit Office’s report into health and safety on building sites is a reminder of just how 

far construction still has to go to make the improvements it committed itself to at the 2001 safety summit. 

In 2000/1 sites deaths had reached a 10 year high and the previous December, five people had died in nine days. Prescott 

waded in to demand that firms improve – or else. The industry responded with a pledge to reduce injuries 40% by 2005 

and 66% by 2010. 

With the first target a year away, there is a downward trend but is it just 5%. The most recent yearly statistics for 2002/03 

registered a death toll of 71 – a fatality rate six times greater than any other industry 

Falls from height still cause by far the greatest number of accidents rising from 33 in 2002/03 to 38 in the past year. 

The provisional construction fatality figures will be verified by officials and published in July, before which the HSE is planning 

another ‘blitz’ on building sites. The HSE plans to target falls from height, workplace transport and safe lifting


Training (cont ) 

Course details and proposed costs:- 

BASA Sprinkler Training Courses. 

For 2004. 

1. ‘Basic Design Competency Course & Examination ( LPS 1048 Issue 4). 

Course Duration - 5 days. 

Course Cost Per Delegate - £450 +VAT ( BASA Members). 

- £650 +VAT ( Non-BASA Members). 

(costs are approx. based on a minimum total of 5 delegates per course) 

Exam’ Duration - 1 day. 

Exam’ Cost Per Delegate - £300 by BRE/LPCB. 

2. ‘FHC Competency Course & Examination ( LPS 1048 Issue 4). 

Course Duration - 10 days. 

Course Cost Per Delegate - £850 +VAT ( BASA Members). 

- £1050 +VAT ( Non-BASA Members). 

(costs are approx. based on a minimum total of 5 delegates per course) 

Exam’ Duration - 2 day. 

Exam’ Cost Per Delegate - £500 by BRE/LPCB. 

Please indicate your preferred format a nd location of the course. 

5 day / 10 day block.. 1 day/wk module.. 2 day/wk module.. 

North East.. North West.. West. . Midlands.. South East.. South West.. 

Please indicate the number of delegates per year you may consider enrolling for these courses 

Basic Design Competency Course 2004.. 

FHC Competency Course 2004.. 

2005.. 

2005.. 

2006.. 

2006.. 

Please indicate if you have your own training roo m that could be used………………………………………………………… 

Below is a list of further courses planned for the near future. 

Please indicate whi ch courses would be of interest to your company. 

i) LPS 1048 Issue 4 – Intermediate Design Competency Review.…. 

ii) LPS 1048 1048 

Issue 4 – FHC Inspection Competency Review…….… 

iii) DD251 Residential & Domestic Design Standards……………..... 

iv) EN 12845 Design Standards…………………………………….… 

v) Special Risk Systems Design Standards………………………….. 

vi) System Maintenance & Inspections …………………………….… 

Please complete your company name, address and contact details bellow:- bellow: 

Company: 

Address: 

..………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………………….. 

. 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 

Contact Name: ……………………………………………… 

Telephone No: ……………………………………………… 

……………………………………………… 

Fax No: ……………………………………………… 

E-Mail Mail Address: ………………….…………………………… 

Please return your your 

completed questionnaire to: 

For the attention of Julian Taylor 

Chairman of BASA BASA 

Training Committee. 

British Automatic Sprinkler Asociation 

Richmond House, 

Broad Street, 

Ely. 

CB7 4AH. 

Fax No: 01353 666 666 

619.


Contractual/Commercial Issues 

No 10 Supports Creation of Taskforce to Tackle Retention 

The Government has given the go-ahead for the creation of a taskforce to stamp out the use of retention payments in the public 

sector. It will : - 

Monitor progress in removing retentions on government projects and overcome obstacles. 

Support the Office of Government Commerce in its attempt to reach a target of defect-free construction on 70% of 

projects by next year. 

Promote alternative mechanisms for government projects that reinforce team working arrangements while enhancing 

payment security and avoiding the need for retentions (for instance through project bank accounts). 

Put in place measures to provide small and m edium -sized firms with greater protection. 

The lack of security of payment for smaller firms in construction is noted as a major obstacle to improving their productivity and 

profitability, a key government aim. 

Latham Group to Focus on Late Payment 

Sir Michael Latham has unveiled plans to review provisions of the Construction Act over late payment and non-payment. 

Latham is Chair of the review group set up last month to deal with industry concerns over late payment. 

Construction minister Nigel Griffiths said he would give his full support to Latham. 

The Review of the Construction Act 

The 1996 Construction Act arose from Sir Michael Latham’s report Constructing the Team which was published 10 years ago. 

Legislation to deal with payment and dispute resolution issues was a significant recommendation of the report. 

There is now a case for looking at it again. The detail work for this review which was set up by the Government will be done 

by two working groups. They will report to the main committee. The mechanism for any changes in the act will need to come 

through a regulatory order, and such orders require widespread consultation and consensus. 

The review will be very much on an open basis. The working groups are widely representative of clients and the supply side. 

They will see all evidence submitted to the review. They can draw upon practical experience and expert legal advice. They 

are required to report by the end of July with the whole operation completed by March 2005. 

SEC Highlights Retentions Abuse Among Local Authorities 

Most local authorise use retention monies to boost cash flow and finance capital investment, according to a survey by the Specialist 

Engineering Contractors (SEC) Group. 

Most local authorities however remain committed to the use of retention clauses in construction contracts. 

SEC Group has condemned such misuse of retentions as downright abuse. 

‘It is intolerable that local authorities should use retention monies to boost their reserves or to finance other activities. They 

should be holding them in a separate trust account for the protection of sub-contractors who often lose their retention monies 

as a result of main-contractor insolvency. 

Racial abuse — A recent ruling will affect all employers in racial abuse cases 

Laing recently lost a landmark ruling over a rac ial discrimination case that dates back to the Millennium Stadium project. 

Judges at the Appeal Court in London agreed that the black construction worker at the centre of the case was entitled to seek compensation 

for psychological injury in addition to the damages he had received from an employment tribunal for racial discrimination and for “injury to his 

feelings”. 

Laing had challenged this claim saying that it was not reasonable to expect a one-off comment to have such a profound effect. 

The case hinged on an incident in 1999 when Yassin Essa was called a “balck c***” by his foreman. 

Essa, who was born in Cardiff and completed as an amateur boxer for Wales, said this had led him to become depressed because his foreman 

had called into question Welshness by labelling him in this way. 

Essa had told an earlier tribunal hearing: ”The only thing I’d done was to be black and go to work. I am Welsh and nobody can take that away 

from me.” 

He told the appeal court that he believed he was entitled to seek compensation for the psychiatric injury he suffered. 

The court was told that in March 2000 an employment tribunal had found Essa had been a victim of racial discrimination and awarded him 

£5519 damages. 

Essa took the case to the employment appeal tribunal in February last year when it ruled that he was also entitled to pursue a compensation 

claim for his psychiatric injury. A decision that Laing had challenged. 

The firm had apologised to Essa and had said the foreman, who “deeply regretted” the remark, was given a final warning. 

Lord Justice Pill, one of the three appeal court judges said the remark in question was “grotesquely offensive” and, although the foreman said 

it was a “throwaway comment made without malice”, the consequences for Essa had been devastating. 

The judges rejected the appeal and ordered the case to be sent back to the employment tribunal for consideration of Essa’s claim for damages 

for psychiatric injury. 

The ruling will affect all employers in future cases of racial discrimination.


BASA Archives 

Again we have been searching the archives for interesting old material and we thank Peter Armstrong of 

Armstrong Priestley for providing this from his own library of artefacts ! 

Please note it prints better in colour than black and white.


Meeting/ Event Details 

BASA Meetings 

Future council meetings in 2004 

July 14 – Armstrong Priestley-Leeds (NB Change of date ) 

September 21 – Argus-Stourbridge 

November 11 – Marriott, Worsley Park ( in conjunction with AGM/ Dinner/ Conference ) 

Sub Committee meetings (please contact sub committee representatives on page 3 for further details ) 

Marketing - 14 July –Leeds starting at 14.00 (combined with council meeting which will start at 10.30) 

Technical ? 

LPS 1048 meeting for installers -12th July –Birmingham ( see below for details /booking form ) 

External Representation meetings( If no dates are shown then contact the BASA reps as detailed on page 3) 

DD251 review meeting ? 

LPCB Expert Group( Tech panel “C” )—Installers 15th July 04 

—Products 29th September 04 

— C o C ? 

—Competency syllabuses ? 

LPS 1254 (Tank standard ) first review meeting at BRE on 15th June 

BASA Annual Conference / AGM and Dinner Dance (10/11th November 2004) 

Marriott Worsley Park Hotel and Country Club 

10th November—Council meeting at 1000 , AGM at about 1400 and the Dinner at 1930 

11th November—Conference (further details to follow ) 

BASA External seminars 

-Sprinklers in Schools event arranged by S.Yorks. Fire Brigade in Sheffield on 18 June ( S Kidd ) 

-Sprinklers in schools at Avon Fire Brigade seminar on 14th September (S. Kidd ) 

-Heritage fire event at Castle Howard on 12 November organized by the Colvin Trust. (S Kidd ) 

-BCO seminar in Devon, date to be confirmed ( J Baxter ) 

Open Sprinkler Installers Meeting - 12 July 2004 

We would like to invite you to an open meeting of all listed sprinkler installers (whether BASA members or not) which we are 

arranging for 1000hrs (coffee available from 0930 hrs) on 12 July 2004 at the Best Western Westley Hotel, Westley 

Road, Acocks Green, Birmingham B27 7UJ 

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the implementation of the revised LPS1048 Scheme, the likely impact of EN 

12845 and other issues of current interest. We hope that the meeting will allow for a full exchange of views on issues relating 

to the 1048 Scheme and, in particular, the experiences installer companies are having of the levels 

of service provided by LPCB/BRE Certification Ltd. 

Time has also been allowed in the programme to discuss a current initiative between BASA and Warrington Certification Ltd 

which is looking at the possibility of setting up an alternative certification scheme for sprinkler installers under the existing 

Certifire brand. 

The meeting is scheduled to finish at 1300 and will be followed by a complimentary buffet lunch. 

If you would like to attend please fax back the attached form or email the same information to: info@basa.org.uk 

Stewart Kidd-Secretary General 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 

Open Sprinkler Installers Meeting - 12 July 2004—–Please return this form to confirm your attendance 

Name:…………………………………………………………………. Number of Persons to attend:………………………………. 

Company: ……………………………………………………………………………. 

Phone:………………………………………………………………………………... 

E mail:………………………………………………………………………………… 

Fax to: 01353-666619 or email information to: info@basa.org.uk 

The hotel is 8 miles from the NEC and can be found just off the M42. Leave at Junction 5 (A41) 

signed Birmingham City Centre and Westley Road is on the left just as the Solihull Bypass rejoins 

Warwick Road. (Hotel phone 0121-70643120)


Meeting/ Event Details (cont.) 

General events 

ABE Seminars—ABE are running a series of seminars in the future including : - 

-Fire Suppression systems on 20-22 Oct in Northampton 

-Certificate in fire risk assessment 

Further details from ABE tele: 01604 404121 or e/m ail building.engineers@abe.org.uk 

Fire Protecting the Community – The Local Dimension to IRMP 

A FOBFO-NFSN-FSDG Parliamentary Seminar sponsored by the All-Party Parliamentary Fire Safety Group 

In the Houses of Parliament on Monday, 21 June 2004 

FIC Export Council have an "International Colloquium" planned for 15th July "come and meet the Commercial Officers responsible 

for Fire & Security from the British Embassy from up to 12 different countries." 

This is open to all UK companies in this s ector and takes place at the Fire Service college 

For further details contact Michelle Malone ( 020 7215 8166 

michelle.malone@uktradeinvest.gov.uk www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk 

National Fire Sprinkler Network 

The next meeting of the Network would be held on the 21 st June 2004 and would consist of a seminar in the Houses of Parliament 

including a lunch and a drinks reception with MP’s on the terrace in the evening 

Fire 2004 will be held September 7-9th at the Manchester Convention Centre. This year's event will include an awards ceremony 

for outstanding individuals in the fire and resue service. 

Lesley Stevenson (dmg) T-01737 855451and Anna Hayes (FPA) t- 020 7902 5308 are organising the marketing of the event. 

The Society of Fire Protection Engineers will be holding its Annual Meeting and Professional 

Development Conference, September 20-24, 2004 at the Palmer House Hilton 

Hotel in Chicago, IL. They will be holding the Sprinkler Design for Engineers Seminar 

along with 8 other seminars, a symposium on Flammable and Combustible Liquids and 

an Engineering Technology Showcase. 

Pleas e visit website for more details at www.sfpe.org. 

Julie A. Gordon—SFPE Education Program Manager 

5th International conference on Performance Based Codes and Fire Safety Design Methods 

6-8th November 2004, EC Facilities –Luxembourg. Sponsored by IFE/ SFPE www.sfpe.org. 

Interflam 2004 Edinburgh--July 5-7, 2004 www.intercom.dial.pipex.com 

Public Fire Safety -Belfast—3 rd International Symposium -September 1-3, 2004 www.intercom.dial.pipex.com 

Computational Simulation Models in Fire Engineering and Research (Spain)-October 20, 2004 

Information from grupos.unican.es/gidai 

Avon Fire Brigade are proposing to hold a major fire safety seminar on the 14 th September 2004. 

Explosion Prediction and Mitigation Course -University of Leeds, UK, 

Further details of the programme can be obtained by visiting http://www.leeds.ac.uk/business/cpd.htm 

or contact Alison Whiteley on +44 (0) 113 343 2494 

NFSA in the classroom and On-line. 

The best way to keep you informed as to the latest seminars offered please visit the seminar section of their website at http:// 

www.nfsa.org/ for a complete description of their seminars. 

CIBSE Changes Venue for National Conference 

CIBSE has confirmed that its 2004 national conference will go 

ahead. . 

The new venue is the International Hotel, Marsh Wall, next to 

Canary Wharf in London. The dates are unchanged – 29 th & 

30 th September 2004. 

Last year’s event in Edinburgh attracted over 700 delegates. 

This year’s conference will focus on delivering sustainable construction 

with three parallel streams of technical presentations and technical tours for delegates. www.cibse.org


Membership application forms 

BASA Membership 

BASA welcomes applications not only from companies designing, installing and maintaining systems but also from any organisation 

with an interest in the use of sprinklers for the protection of life and property. 

We already have a considerable number of fire brigades / fire authorities as members and we welcome enquiries from other 

groups including end-users, insurers, consultants, specifiers and regulators. 

BASA is the only UK sprinkler industry association which is represented at official and industry forums and which has the influence 

derived from having at the core of its membership a majority of third party certified installers. 

Membership information, including details of benefits and an application form is available on www.basa.org.uk 

An application form is provided below( along with subscription levels) and this may be used to apply. 

BASA Annual Subscription Rates 

Type of Membership Subscription Amount 

(+VAT) 

Certificated Companies £ 3000.00 

Registered Level 3 £ 2000.00 

Registered Level 2 £ 1500.00 

Registered Level 1 / Domestic £ 1000.00 

Suppliers and Manufacturers 

(of approved BRE/FM listed equipment) £ 1000.00 

Associate Members Trade 

(Suppliers and contractors 

of miscellaneous goods/services) £ 500.00 

Associate Members Organisations 

(Fire Brigades/Insurers/Consultants, etc) £ 200.00 

Associate Members Individuals £ 100.00 

BASA MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION 

The Association will consider applications from companies whose activities and intentions are 

commensurate with the aims and constitution of the Association. All applications are considered 

by the Council whose decision in such matters is final 

Please indicate in to which category you wish to apply for Membership 

Certificated Installer Suppliers & Manufacturers 

Registered Installer Level 3 Associate Trade members 

Registered Installer Level 2 Associate Organisation 

Registered Installer Level 1 Associate Individual 

COMPANY NAME: 

COMPANY REGISTRATION No 

ADDRESS: 

Payment Options 

By cheque payable to British Automatic Sprinkler Association 

By BACS credit in favour of:- 

Bank: Royal Bank of Scotland, Hills Road, Cambridge 

Account No: 10117643 

Sort Code: 16-15-19 

Account Name: British Automatic Sprinkler Association 

In the case of Certificated, Registered or Suppliers and Manufacturers, 

by: 

—Monthly Standing Order payments (Standing order mandate form 

to be forwarded on membership acceptance) 

—Two equal instalments. Your remittance for the first payment must 

be received by 25 th February and your second within 28 days of the 

date of the reminder notice which will be sent out before the end of 

June. 

(NB - This instalment option is not available for Associate members 

due to the extra costs incurred.) 

CONTACT: POSITION: 

TELEPHONE: FACSIMILE: 

EMAIL: 

(Note: Email is important as we prefer to mail information electronically for expediency and cost) 

WEBSITE: (If available) 

This allows links via the BASA Website 

TYPE OF BUSINESS ACTIVITY 

SIGNATURE: 

DATE: 

Return to BASA by fax , letter , or e/mail

Protecting Property, Life and the Environment Newsletter No 17 Back page 

New Standards and Publications 

New / revised Technical Bulletins have been issued to all copy holders of the LPC rules, BS EN 

12845. 

TB’s 201, 202, 203, 206, 207, 208, 209, 211, and 217 have been revised, and should be replaced in the 

rule book. 

Please note that TB’s 204, 205, 210, 212, 213, 214, 215, and 216 have not been replaced, and therefore 

existing copies are to remain. 

Fire Sprinklers save Life and Property and Protect the Environment 

British Automatic 

Sprinkler Association 

Richmond House 

Broad Street 

Ely 

CB7 4AH 

Phone: 01353 659 187 

Fax: 01353 666 619 

Email: info@basa.org.uk 

basa 

British Automatic Sprinkler Association Limited 

FAX BACK:— 01353 666619 

Simply “fax back” BASA with this form and tick the relevant item. 

Request for newsworthy articles 

Members are invited to submit articles for inclusion 

in the next Newsletter 

I.e. sprinkler success stories, unusual projects, peo- 

ple news etc. It is free publicity. If you don’t send it 

we cannot include it 

Please forward to David Robinson at Hall Fire 

(Fax 0161 794 4950) or preferably by e-mail to 

david.robinson@quista.net along with any 

other comments on the Newsletter. 

We’re on the web 

www.basa.org.uk 

— For more information on any article in this newsletter, fill in as follows 

Title of article……………………………………………………………...Page no………… 

— To receive a membership pack then simply “fax back” or download from the web site 

— If you wish to be removed from the BASA mail list 

—- To order a copy of the Schools COP at £5 each 

—- To receive copies of the BIF’s (FOC ) 

—- ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………( other ) 

……………… 

Company………………………………………………………………...Contact…………………………………………... 

Address……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 

Tele………………………Fax…………………………………...E/mail…………………………………………..

Sprinkler News - Bafsa

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