Advanced offers fire-safety guidance at UK Construction Week

Advanced, a world leader in intelligent fire, evacuation and emergency lighting systems, will be offering guidance on how these systems fit into the recent amendments to Part B (Fire Safety) of the Building Regulations on Stand B99 at UK Construction Week (4–6 October 2022 at the NEC, Birmingham). In addition, to sharing its knowledge with visitors, the company will also be showcasing its latest evacuation alert and fire safety solutions.

Advanced welcomed the amended Approved Document B of the Building Regulations, published in June 2022, since it offers new improvements to fire-safety guidance to ensure tall buildings are made safer in England. A ‘significant’ addition to the document is the mandatory requirement from December 2022 for new residential developments over 18m to incorporate a BS 8629 evacuation alert system, offering clarity for those involved in the design or construction of residential developments.

An evacuation alert system is vital to help fire and rescue services inform residents of a change in evacuation strategy during an incident. This gives fire and rescue services an additional tool to use on the ground, alongside existing methods of evacuation, improving safety for residents. To comply with the amended Part B, an evacuation alert system should be provided in accordance with BS 8629 Code of Practice for the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of evacuation alert systems for use by fire and rescue services in England.

Ken Bullock, Business Development Manager for Evacuation Alert Systems at Advanced, said: ‘We are delighted to be exhibiting at UK Construction Week and happy to be able to discuss with visitors how the amendments to Part B of the Building Regulations will affect them. We welcomed the amended Part B of the Building Regulations and the clarity it gives to fire safety. An evacuation alert system gives fire and rescue services a valuable tool which allows them to evacuate residents at risk in a safer, managed way. At Advanced our EvacGo Evacuation Alert System is designed as an easy way to meet BS 8629 and so can it offer peace of mind to those responsible for a building that by choosing this system, they are complying with Building Regulations.

‘We appreciate that new regulation can be confusing, we have therefore carefully designed the EvacGo to take away the hard work for building owners, end-users and importantly front-line fire and rescue services. As well as offering fire-safety guidance to visitors to our stand at UK Construction Week, for visitors requiring further information after the event, we can offer a CPD presentation on evacuation planning and BS 8629 Code of Practice. The CPD is suitable for consultants, fire-risk assessors and anyone else who needs a better understanding of the requirements of the British Standards Institution code of practice BS 8629.’

Advanced’s EvacGo evacuation alert system will showcase on Advanced’s stand at UK Construction Week. The panel, developed alongside fire industry leaders, combines EN54-2 and 4 approved MxPro 5 technology with clear, easy-to-use manual controls to ensure firefighters can quickly and effectively identify and operate alert sounders to support the safe evacuation of tall residential buildings.

EvacGo provides a simple, at-a-glance overview of a building’s evacuation alert zones, along with LED indication and manual toggle-switch controls for operating evacuation alert devices in each zone. The panels are available in 8, 16, 24 or 32 ‘fire fighter evacuation alert area’ variants and are expandable from 1 to 4 loops – or even further, when using Advanced’s highly robust, fault-tolerant network.

Advanced is currently one of a handful of manufacturers to offer an evacuation alert system housed within a box specially designed by Gerda Security to meet stringent antitamper standards. The EvacGo panel is housed inside a robust, security-rated enclosure meeting the STS 205 class BR2 security rating with patented BS EN 1303-compliant lock. This minimises tampering and restricts access to fire and rescue service personnel only, who are able to access the controls using a patented key, as stipulated in the BS 8629 code of practice.

As a world leader in the development and manufacture of intelligent fire systems, Advanced is committed to creating a safer future. A reputation for performance, quality and ease of use see Advanced products specified in locations around the world, from single-panel installations to large multi-site networks. The Advanced product portfolio includes complete fire-detection systems, multiprotocol fire panels, extinguishing control, fire paging, false alarm management and reduction solutions as well as emergency lighting.

Advanced is owned by FTSE 100 company Halma PLC – a global group of life-saving technology companies with a clear purpose to grow a safer, cleaner, healthier future for everyone, every day.

For further information on the EvacGo Evacuation Alert System or to reserve a place on Advanced’s CPD ‘A guide to meeting BS 8629’ go to https://uk.advancedco.com/