April 24, 2007
Who pays for proposed Timber Fire Safety Scheme?
A spate of fires on timber building sites has forced the timber industry to develop a third party timber safety management scheme. Whilst this is welcomed, the additional site costs and bureaucracy may not be.
The move follows two recent ferocious fires in Newcastle and Willenhall, Wolverhampton, which both razed to the ground timber framed multi-storey buildings under construction. These, together with last year’s massive fire of the six-storey apartment block at Colindale, North London, have questioned the suitability of timber for multi-storey developments.
The scheme, which is expected to be rolled out in May, will try to encourage better policing of sites and improve the fire-stopping capabilities of timber frame systems during construction. Included within the scheme would be a fortnightly audit of sites.
“The timber industry hopes that the development of a third party safety scheme will help to reduce the fire risk. But at what cost?” asked Steve Elliott, project director the British Association of Reinforcement. “Who will meet the cost for the extra site policing and regular audits?”
He continued: “It is welcomed that the timber industry has realised it needs to address the issue but at the end of the day nothing can disguise the fact that timber burns”.
