Trident Fire Compliance had the pleasure of attending the London Build Expo at The Olympia, London in November 2023.
The London Build Expo is one of the biggest conferences in the country for businesses and construction companies to showcase their products, skills and processes and demonstrate how they can drive construction into a better future.
This is the first time Trident attended the Expo, and it won’t be the last. Especially considering that there was a dedicated “Fire Safety” sector of the Expo dedicated to all things fire safety and fire protection.
This was thrilling to see from a professional standpoint in that Fire Safety was being given an equal opportunity to be recognised alongside the likes of building materials and building processes that make up the construction industry.
We were excited to meet with the big names in the fire safety industry. As a leading fire safety consultancy, we were already well connected with the majority of the those showcasing in the ‘Fire Safety’ sector of the Expo, but meeting people in person is always better than over the phone and email.
We were able to have long discussions with the likes of Quelfire, Protecta, CLM Fireproofing, the ASFP, Global Fire Safety, OneTrace and more. We were able to talk shop but also talk about how we felt the fire safety industry was performing in the current market, especially with all of the recent changes in legislation and regulation. Overall the feeling was there are improvements being made, but the industry had a long way to go, especially in conjunction with the construction industry.
Not only were there fire safety professionals displaying their businesses, there was also a schedule of fire safety seminars being presented by some of the biggest names in fire safety.
There were seminars dedicated from changes in legislation all the way to the future of fire protection in heritage buildings. Every seminar was fascinating in its own right but we couldn’t attend them all (we would have never left our seats!).
One of the biggest developments we witnessed during these seminars was that there seems to be a shift in attitude towards fire safety design in new build construction. Representatives from Quelfire, Laing O’Rourke and Mace Group discussed how they had a desire to dedicate time in the design stages of construction to ensuring that their fire protection systems were adequately designed and prepared before they got out of the ground.
This was music to our ears as it is something Trident has been campaigning for years to happen. We have all too often carried out compliance inspections of new build construction and come across numerous situations where a fire protection system was specified that wasn’t appropriate for what was built.
When we have brought this to the builder’s attention, there were groans of dismay and the response has usually been “well it’s too late now”. There are other situations where we would find that a situation has occurred on site and it needs fire protecting, but there was no design consideration for how this would be done. T
Trident is often called in to resolve the situation and our first question is, “why was it designed like this?”. After a shrug of the shoulders and kicking of the dirt, we often have to come up with complex and expensive means of ensuring fire compartmentation is achieved, which (again) is met with dismay. It is therefore a revelation to see that main contractors are taking this more seriously and want these situations to be thought of, and designed, earlier.
This is where Trident Fire Compliance can step up the mark. Our Fire Protection Specification service is tailor made to deliver this change in attitude. Our specialist team know passive fire protection inside-out, back-to-front and upside-down. We know what systems are right, and what systems are wrong, for particular situations.
Part of our service can be to review building designs and identify where there may be faults. We want to raise important questions about how the building is designed before it gets out of the ground.
By raising concerns early and engaging the design team in conversation about where and how they intend to carry out fire protection, the build team can then more reliably and confidently complete the works knowing it has been designed right first time around.
There should be no more reacting to an unknown situation on site and trying to fix a problem in a rush. It should be planned and ready. This is where Trident Fire Compliance can make a difference.
Contact us today to discuss your next project.
