Compliance in modern facade fire protection under spotlight at London Build

FSi Promat to focus on facade fire safety at London Build

FSi Promat will highlight the importance of fire safety compliance in modern facade design during a panel session at this year’s London Build event at London Olympia.

The company confirmed that National Commercial Manager – Facades at FSi Promat, Liam Blears, will join the Building Safety & Security Stage panel at 11am on Wednesday 19 November.

He will speak alongside Head of Façade Engineering at WSP, Rimmy Vij, Technical Officer at the Association for Specialist Fire Protection (ASFP), Dr Andrew Taylor, Greta Invernizzi from Aecom, Neesha Gopal from Foster and Partners and Zara Edwards from Buro Happold.

The panel is set to take an in-depth look at the role of fire protection and facade design in meeting current building safety requirements.

According to FSi Promat, the discussion will centre on how facade design choices interact with regulations and technical expectations for passive fire protection.

Panel to examine facade fire safety compliance and regulation

The company said the session will address how increasing use of lightweight facades and curtain walling affects the way fire safety is built into projects from early-stage specification.

Panellists will discuss the regulatory demands that must be met when designing facades so that fire safety requirements are embedded before construction begins.

The session will also consider the level of collaboration needed between designers, manufacturers and contractors to deliver compliant passive fire protection solutions.

FSi Promat noted that the panel will look at the role of third-party testing in helping to protect buildings with curtain walling or mixed facades from rapid fire spread.

Liam Blears, National Commercial Manager – Facades at FSi Promat, said: “There continues to be an industry-wide emphasis on the role of compliance and competency around the Building Safety Act to ensure robust building safety.

“The panel discussion at London Build provides a perfect platform to explore the challenges around ensuring the correct, compliant passive fire protection is specified, that products perform as expected in the event of a fire, and that products serve the customers design requirements.

Passive fire protection in modern building envelopes

Blears explained that the panel will look closely at how passive fire protection is used within the building envelope to control the spread of fire.

“Passive fire protection, such as firestops and cavity barriers, are vital in preventing the spread of fire within the building envelope.

“As life critical safety products, ensuring passive fire protection is fully compliant with current regulations and correctly specified at the design stage is essential to protecting occupants from the spread of fire and ensuring the integrity of buildings to allow firefighters time to respond safely.

“Our panel discussion will look at what best practice in fire safety and compliance looks like for modern facades, and will emphasise that the full lifetime of the building should be considered.”

The company indicated that the discussion will address how specification decisions influence performance over the entire service life of a facade system.

FSi Promat added that the session is intended to support clearer understanding of what robust, compliant passive fire protection looks like in practice for facade applications.

Etex group brands represented at London Build

FSi Promat confirmed that sister companies Promat and Siniat will also be represented at London Build.

All three brands are part of the Etex group.

According to the group, Promat specialises in passive fire solutions used across building applications.

Siniat is described as a leading dry walling specialist providing systems for a range of construction projects.

The companies said their presence at London Build is intended to show how their respective products can be combined to support fire safety and facade performance.

Facade design, passive protection and regulatory drivers

Architects, fire engineering consultants and building services engineers involved in facade design can use the London Build panel themes to align specification practice more closely with current regulatory expectations on passive fire protection.

System installers, fire-protection contractors and cavity barrier specialists may find the focus on third-party testing relevant when selecting and installing products for curtain walling or mixed facades.

For facility managers responsible for buildings with lightweight facades, the emphasis on the full lifetime of the building highlights how early specification decisions influence future maintenance and fire safety strategies.

Those working within the framework of the Building Safety Act and related guidance can draw on the discussion’s attention to compliance and competency to review how data collection, product selection and design coordination are handled on their projects.

By centring on passive fire protection within the building envelope, the panel content provides a reference point for teams seeking to check whether their facade designs, product choices and installation practices match the performance expectations described by FSi Promat and its partners.