A number of recent fire incidents in high-rise residential buildings has brought questions of how such incidents happen, and how similar incidents can be avoided in the future, to the forefront of everyone’s minds in the construction industry. In the years since the tragic Grenfell Tower fire, there has rightly been growing scrutiny of the fire safety aspects of higher-risk buildings (HRBs).
In response, a raft of new regulations have been introduced, fundamentally changing the approval process for construction and remediation work. This has particular implications for HRBs, affecting every stage of construction and remediation projects, from planning, to building, completion and occupation. In addition, regulators have been given new powers of enforcement and a new ‘Gateway Process’ has been outlined to ensure compliance.
Understanding these new regulations, and the effect they will have on upcoming projects, is a key priority for anyone working in the construction industry. The regulatory framework is evolving rapidly, with further significant changes expected soon in the light of the Phase 2 report into the Grenfell tragedy inquiry. It is more important than ever, therefore, that stakeholders have experts on-hand to guide them through this rapidly evolving regulatory landscape, keep them up to date on the latest industry developments, and give them confidence that they are compliant with the latest industry standards and norms.
Navigating the new Gateway Process
As part of the new regulations, any new building or remediation work which falls under the ‘higher-risk’ criteria will have to go through a new ‘Gateway Process’ for seeking approval from the Building Safety Regulator (BSR). The process comprises three separate ‘gateway’ stages, each of which requires approval for the design or construction to progress to the next stage.
At Joule Group, our expert team have accumulated extensive experience and expertise in assessing and verifying both active and passive fire safety systems. Most importantly, our track record has been developed through practical, hands-on experience. Our work includes assessment of fire stopping and external wall construction, which play a key role in securing a positive evaluation from the Building Safety Regulator. Joule Group is able to help our clients negotiate the complexities of the Gateway Process and keep delays to a minimum, by guidance through regulatory compliance.
New regulations also state that the Gateway Process should be underpinned by a ‘golden thread’ running through a project lifecycle. In practice, this means that all the documents required to pass through each of the gateways must be kept accurate, up to date, and easily accessible to all stakeholders. This principle is unique to the UK and represents a positive step in the never ending journey towards strengthening fire safety protection and prevention. It is a principle that Joule Group has extensive experience of implementing in relation to projects across a variety of sectors.
Our Experience
At Joule Group, we provide a wide range of services focused on and in relation to the construction of higher-risk buildings. Joule Group has significant experience of working on projects across the built environment and is proud to have recently completed work on a number of new, high-rise residential developments around the UK; across all stages of the process from the design phase through to completion. Our intimate familiarity with the current regulatory environment enables us to advise effectively on current requirements and best practice. We also have several in-house Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) specialists that enable us to provide cutting-edge fire and smoke spread analysis to our clients – support which is essential in the HRBs sector.
We have extensive experience working on existing buildings remediation, upgrade works and are therefore well placed to assist with building safety case assessments. Our work in this sector takes a methodical and informed approach, working closely with other industry partners, such as architects and structural engineers, to develop safe solutions that maintain the character and structure of the original building. This expertise was particularly insightful in a recent project where Joule Group consulted on a complex heritage site in central London, helping to clarify its position relative to the new regulations and advising on the fire safety risks.
Above all else, the key focus of our work is ensuring regulatory compliance, a task which has become more important due to the rapidly developing regulatory environment, and Joule Group works to ensure that the process is made easy for our clients to understand and implement.
Our Expertise
Since our inception seven years ago, Joule Group has developed a wealth of experience of fire safety design in projects around the world and built strong and trusted relationships with clients in over 30 different countries.
Key to our success is our team. Our world-leading engineers have over 330 years of fire safety engineering experience between them, with strong technical backgrounds and a track record of success in delivering complex, large-scale projects. This repository of engineering skill and experience enables Joule Group to deliver the high-quality fire safety work that its clients have rightly come to expect from it. This is work that is underwritten by our continuous commitment to making safety the cornerstone of everything we do.
We have established an internal special working group to keep us up to date with evolving requirements and expectations in the HRBs sector. Joule Group has thus delivered a unique and sophisticated understanding of the many fire safety challenges that HRBs face, both from a technical and regulatory standpoint.
Through our practical experience in the sector and the work of our engineers to stay up to date with the latest industry developments, Joule Group is exceptionally well positioned to help clients with construction and remediation projects in the HRBs sector.
To learn more about how Joule Group’s fire safety expertise and solutions can help you with higher-risk building projects, please get in touch with us at info@joule-group.com for an informal discussion.