The Grenfell Tower Inquiry has recently looked at whether the M&E sub-contractor carried out any due diligence on the specialist contractor, as well as whether they checked the smoke control system was compliant (for more information see Inside Housing’s story here). In this blog, we look at what specifiers and buyers should do to check the compliance of smoke control systems and the competence of vendors.
It is important that specifiers and buyers check the compliance of smoke control systems and always check the competence of vendors.
Our advice for specifiers and purchasers of smoke control systems is:
- Always ask for a Declaration of Performance for all products supplied
- Always assess the competence of vendors and insist on third party certification as a minimum
The recent Smoke Control Association White Paper ‘Guidance on the Specification of Products and Systems for Smoke Shafts – WP001’ aims to help purchasers ensure compliance with the current standards.
It says: “Specifiers, purchasers and approving authorities should encourage consistency by ensuring that products and systems comply with relevant standards, categories and classifications and that they are properly tested and certified. Further systems should be designed, installed, tested, commissioned and maintained by competent persons.”
It is also important that specifiers and buyers assess the competence of vendors and insist on third-party certification as a minimum.
For example, The Smoke Control Association (SCA) is the voice of the smoke control industry and members have to adhere to a strict code of conduct that includes being third party certificated under the IFC SDI 19 Certification scheme (developed by the SCA in partnership with IFC Certification).
Read more about the individual standards referring to the products in a smoke control system in our article on how to ensure compliance with specifications.
