Chief Fire Officers’ Association
The professional voice of the UK fire and rescue service
POLICY STATEMENT 2008 - AUTOMATIC WATER SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS
(AWSS)
''The use of AWSS can add significant benefit to the structural
protection of buildings from damage by fire.
AWSS have a proven track record of mitigating fire damage and
minimising fire loss where they are integrated into the holistic
fire protection arrangements in the built environment.
Whilst AWSS should not be necessarily considered as a fire
protection panacea, CFOA would strongly recommend the installation
of AWSS as part of a total fire protection package to:-
Protect Life,
Protect property, heritage, the environment and our climate,
Help promote and sustain business continuity, and;
Permit design freedoms and encourage innovative, inclusive and
sustainable architecture.
"Protect life" must also include the lives of fire-fighters, who
enter buildings to conduct a rescue, extinguish a fire or undertake
activities that may prevent a situation deteriorating to the point
where it may threaten life. This necessarily exceeds the planning
assumptions of the Building Regulations. Fire-fighters will
continue to face the risks associated with fire in order to protect
others on a day-to-day basis, therefore the Government and other
stakeholders have a responsibility to reduce risks to them to as
low as is reasonably practicable.
CFOA recognises though that there is a need for a realistic
evidence base for requiring the installation of AWSS, but question
over what hazard and possible loss constitutes a risk too high, and
who devises the risk model and criteria?
For several years, CFOA has highlighted these issues and has
been a leading advocate for the revision of building codes and
guidance documents to specify that AWSS be installed in high-risk
premises. CFOA acknowledges that progress has been made, in
particular the changes to Approved Document B of the Building
Regulations in 2006 and the recent government guidance that all but
very low risk new schools should be protected by AWSS.
The correct framework for the design of a building’s protection
is crucial in moving towards a more sustainable future. Like any
good design, sustainability involves delivering the best
performance, or results, for the least cost over the long term.
CFOA strongly believes that research is required to explore the
potential benefits between sustainable design and fire safety
engineering. It is time to reconsider AWSS as part of the
sustainability agenda and how it can assist in social and economic
well-being improvements for everyone, locally and globally, both
now and in the future.
In addition, CFOA will be more proactive in tackling
environmental issues, as well as the wider concern about climate
change.
Effective fire fighting, community safety initiatives and AWSS
can all directly contribute to reducing CO2 emissions discharged
into the atmosphere.
CFOA, therefore, will:
Support the Government and other major stakeholders in the
promotion and use of AWSS in high-risk premises to reduce fire
deaths, injuries and damage as a consequence of fire.
Work to achieve a greater acceptance of the benefits of AWSS at
national and local level.
Work in partnership with interested parties in the research and
development of new and innovative AWSS.
Build an evidence base in preparation for further opportunities
to revise the Buildings Regulations.
CFOA’s Medium Term Priorities for AWSS:
Monitor the progress of the installation of AWSS in new school
buildings.
Review CFOA’s ‘Guide to Automatic Water Suppression Systems’
(available on the CFOA website).
Support the development and application of low cost AWSS in
residential properties.
Encourage the provision of cost-effective water supplies for
AWSS.
Campaign to have AWSS installed in high-risk buildings,
highlighting the value of these key community assets such as
hospitals, sheltered housing and residential care establishments.
These buildings house our most vulnerable people and are an
essential part of the fabric of our society.
Collect further evidence and campaign to have AWSS installed in
large single-storey premises.
Encourage further research into the actual emission of CO2 from
fires and the possible reductions AWSS could achieve.
Support the European Parliament resolution of 15 January 2008 on
the Community Strategy 2007–2012 on Health and Safety at Work, in
particular paragraph 53, “Calls on the Commission to undertake
research into the feasibility and benefits both to health and
safety at work and to society as a whole of requiring all new
buildings intended to be workplaces to install fire sprinklers
where it is safe to do so”.''
CFOA Board 29 July 2008