2024 will be a year of significant change and events in the UK Fire Industry. As well as several new pieces of legislation and regulation, there is the strategic need from Dame Hackitt’s work to digitise all fire safety related data. The ‘Golden Thread’ as it has come to be known, is a challenging task and I suspect the iterative process to find a common approach will be expensive and divisive as commercial entities seek to take the lead and control the agenda. I believe that this must take place within a broader debate about BIM and AI and their role in fire safety going forward.

Later in 2024 we will have the publication of the Grenfell Tower Fire Public enquiry report. Depending on timing, this event may become lost in the UK General Election. I predict that this will be a damning indictment of the UK Fire Safety regime prior to Grenfell Tower, and many of the key actors in the tragedy will be named and where appropriate sanctioned. We are, and will, build many more high rise buildings.

These ‘Higher Risk Buildings’ will be made from novel materials, with modern methods of construction featuring timber, PV panels, electric car charging facilities, etc. By the end of 2024 the UK Fire Safety Industry will be swimming or drowning in hundreds of retrospective recommendations from Grenfell. It is imperative that we do not become fixated in a reactive response, but keep ‘horizon-scanning’ for new fire safety hazards and risks.

The Tall Building Fire Safety Network has three goals for 2024:

1. Deliver CPD conferences that bring together experts from around the World to discuss and debate relevant topics. The first of these will be in April (15 – 17th) 2024, alongside FDIC in Indianapolis in the US. The three day programme has a great line up of presenters on a diverse range of subjects. The conference will be opened by US Fire Administrator, Dr. Lore Moore-Merrell

2. Launch  the ‘FIREMARK’ initiative to provide easy consumer access to building fire safety performance. Based on the highly successful food safety rating system in the UK, the FIREMARK scheme will provide a 1 – 5 rating system that will provide a basis for consumer choice.

3. Publish a new guidance document: Tall Building High Rise Fire Safety Management. This new guide will provide information, checklists, tools and techniques gleaned from talking and teaching building managers over the last 15 years. The new guide will become the standard reference text for the Tall Building Fire Safety Management Course. Note: this course is generic and not limited to the UK.

Anyone in the UK Fire Industry must be ready for a huge up turn in work, problem solving, collaboration and meeting client needs in 2024. This will require leadership, competency and ethics.

As the Chinses proverb states: ‘Fire is a good servant, but a bad master’.

About the IFSJ Influencer

Russ Timpson is a chartered Fire Engineer and fellow of the IFE. Challenging the status quo well before Grenfell, Timpson is focused on making buildings safer by improving fire safety management. In 2024, Timpson will deliver the 8th International Tall Building Fire Safety Conference and the ‘FIRE MARK’ initiative.

This article was originally published in the December 2023 issue of International Fire & Safety Journal. To read your FREE digital copy, click here.