CROSS-UK has issued a critical safety alert warning of the risks associated with preventing the operation of smoke vents during building work
Specifically relating to Automatic Opening Vents (AOVs), the alert highlights the safety risks associated when AOVs are either inadvertently obstructed or made inoperable by construction work on existing buildings.
Used as part of a fire safety smoke control system, AOVs are usually triggered by smoke detection in the common parts of a building, such as a lobby or corridor. Designed to look like normal windows for visual reasons, they may be overlooked by contractors carrying out work on existing buildings. When made inoperable, they can pose a significant hazard in the event of a fire.
As CROSS-UK explains: “If smoke cannot be released from the building, it could hamper the escape of occupants and the ability of the fire and rescue service to fight a fire.”
Notably, such vents can stop operating if façade materials are being replaced, temporary masking, the storage of materials, or adjustments to cladding.
The safety reporting scheme has received several confidential reports in the UK in which AOVs have been made inoperable by building work, with CROSS-UK issuing a red safety alert – its highest possible rating. CROSS-UK adds that the alert is “particularly relevant for buildings undergoing removal work of combustible cladding”.
The serious nature of AOV obstruction means that the vents must be tested regularly by the responsible person, with any changes to risk created by building work requiring a review of the fire risk assessment and a potential change of the escape strategy.
“Firefighters also rely on effective smoke and heat control in corridors and lobbies to open the front door of the fire-affected flat without facing extreme conditions or compromising their own exit routes,” CROSS-UK adds.
The safety alert is aimed at those responsible for the management of the building, Principal Accountable Persons (PAPs) and Accountable Persons (APs) as defined in England, designers, principal designers, contractors, principal contractors, fire risk assessors, and those working in or on occupied buildings with AOVs, including those and designing and erecting scaffolding.
You can access the full CROSS-UK Safety Alert here.
(Photograph by CROSS-UK)