Geoff Arnold admits he paled as he watched BBC Breakfast TV on November 26. What shocked the chairman of the UK Timber Frame Association and chief executive of Pinewood Structures was the report of a major construction site fire in Peckham.
In itself, the news was bad enough. No-one was hurt, but the four-storey frame for a 39-apartment block – which had just been finished by Target Timber Frame and handed over to contractor Greenacre Homes for completion – was destroyed.
What heightened the impact of the fire for the UKTFA was that it followed several others in part-finished multi-storey timber frame buildings in recent years. Sections of the masonry construction lobby had already capitalised on these incidents (which, like Peckham, were mainly suspected arson), even calling for ‘high rise’ timber frame to be banned in built-up areas.
So the UKTFA’s conclusion after Peckham was that it had to take decisive action on building site fire safety – and, it claims, that’s what it’s done.
“Timber frame has it all to lose,” said Arnold. “As our Fabric First promotion in 2010 will highlight, timber frame is seen as the most cost-effective build method currently capable of delivering volume housing that meets levels three and four of the Code for Sustainable Homes without bolt-on renewables. Completed timber frame buildings, with the internal and external lining and cladding in place, are proven to be as fire safe as any other, but there are construction site safety issues and we have to confront them – we cannot let this damage our industry.”
He stressed that the UKTFA had already taken important steps on fire safety prior to Peckham. These included technical research but, most significantly, the drafting of its 16-point Site Safe Scheme – a construction site risk assessment and fire safety code of practice for timber frame companies and sub-contractors.
Site Safe lays down the ground rules while the frame is at its most vulnerable exposed stage, taking into account building type, scale and location. It covers a range of topics, including fire safety planning and workforce education, potential sources of ignition, detection and extinguishing equipment. It also includes anti-arson site protection, from motion sensors to security guards (it is reported that the Peckham site had no night watchman).
Drafting the new scheme was a major step forward, said Arnold. “But after Peckham we had to ask if it was being adopted sufficiently robustly. My concern was also whether we were communicating the scheme effectively to the wider industry.”
Both issues, he added, are now being addressed. Site Safe has become a mandatory requirement of UKTFA membership and ensures that all those working on large projects (four storeys or more and/or with an aggregate floor area over 2,500m2) give clear information and assistance to the principal contractor regarding fire safety. To be Site Safe accredited, these sites will also have to be registered with the UKTFA and audited. Critically, the timber frame provider must present and explain the Site Safe document to the sub-contractor.
The scheme will be implemented over three stages – pre-construction planning; erection of the timber frame; and handover. The UKTFA is clear that, once the timber frame provider has signed off the frame, fire risk responsibility passes to the contractor, but it also sees its role as ensuring that they in turn follow Site Safe. “We’re now looking at how to achieve this,” said Arnold. “It could form part of standard auditing by NHBC, or NEBOSH-accredited in-house safety assessors. And there also has to be a reporting route where contractors fail to comply, possibly to the Health & Safety Executive.”
It will also be compulsory under Site Safe for timber frame companies to register larger sites with the local fire authority, a move welcomed by the Chief Fire Officers Association. “A timber frame construction site that has adopted and applied Site Safe is doing as much as it can to minimise the risk of fire,” said vice-president Peter Holland. “Site Safe is non-invasive yet adds a robust layer of actions throughout construction. [But it] will only be successful if contractors recognise that managing fire is no one organisation’s responsibility. By addressing this and keeping the local fire service informed throughout construction, we can develop a response that previously we would not have been able to do."
The UKTFA is also now looking at means of cutting arson and fire risk through new technologies and work practice, such as pre-installed window systems, new developments in fire retardants, compartmentalisation in construction and temporary construction site sprinklers.
Despite the best efforts of the masonry sector, the UKTFA has not detected a backlash against timber frame due to the recent fires. But, said Arnold, it cannot be complacent. “We must continue to address problems and engage with stakeholders. What we must not have is another Peckham.”
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Geoff Arnold: 'We must not have another Peckham' |
