Fire Consultancy

The performance of passive fire protection systems, in situ, will only be determined when a fire actually occurs. It is vital that the quality of materials and installations are assured.

A site inspection will provide confidence to the specifier, building control, fire authority, insurer and the client that the passive fire protection installation will perform as anticipated Clients serviced by Warringtonfire certification primarily concern the construction industry and include:

BAA
Harrods, Knightsbridge
Canary Wharf
British Museum
Aldershot Barracks
Royal College of Nursing
London Underground
Kings College London
First Chicago Bank
Direct Line Insurance
Space Centre, Leicester
T5 Heathrow

Exova Warringtonfire certification can undertake a comprehensive range of fire inspection services, including fire safety audits and commissioning. Inspection services have proven to be particularly valuable in the resolution of disputes that may be contractual or with the enforcement authorities. Testing and inspection can be continued after commissioning to provide independent verification that the system is being properly maintained. The most common site inspection involves examination of an existing construction that may have been built many years ago. Warringtonfire certification will work with the client and authorities to provide a solution for maintaining the fire separation requirements. The site inspection may be undertaken at the installation stage, therefore saving the cost of any remedial measures that may follow the rejection of a system at final inspection. Inspection during installation will ensure any problems are identified at an early stage when installation procedures can be modified and work made good. Warringtonfire certification will look at all aspects of the installation including:

Structural steel protection
Penetration Sealing Systems
Cavity Barriers
Fire Resisting Walls & Partitions
Fire Resisting Ceilings and Floors
Timber and Steel Doorsets
Fire Resisiting Ducting
Fire Resisiting Glazed Screens
Multilayer Paint Applications

The experience of the staff at Exova Warringtonfire certification ensures a professional approach in resolving all types of problems where fire is concerned. The services available are supported by the Warringtonfire group which is the largest independent fire testing and assessment organisation, with extensive experience in all areas of fire protection.

Middle East Contact Amal Tamin, M. Sc. FPE, Business Development Manager, NA and Middle East Warringtonfire

PO Box 54388 DAFZA, Dubai,UAE


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Fire safety engineering is a term often encountered within the architectural and construction industries - but what exactly does it mean?

Fire safety engineering is defined by the Institution of Fire Engineers of the United Kingdom as: “The application of scientific and engineering principles, rules (Codes), and expert judgement, based on an understanding of the phenomena and effects of fire and of the reaction and behaviour of people to fire, to protect people, property and the environment from the destructive effects of fire."

Historically, fire safety measures have been specified by reference to prescriptive codes that provide standard solutions for a given set of building parameters. For many buildings of straightforward construction, layout and use, prescriptive codes and standards provide the designer with an acceptable solution. However, fire safety engineering may be the only viable means of achieving a satisfactory standard of fire safety in more complex or innovative developments. In his report on the Piper Alpha disaster, Lord Cullen stated that: “Many regulations are unduly restrictive in that they are of a type that impose “solutions” rather than “objectives” and are out of date in relation to technological advances. There is a danger that compliance takes precedence over wider safety considerations”.

Fire safety engineering addresses these identified weaknesses of the prescriptive codes. This is achieved by taking into account the total fire-people-building safety package and implementing measures that are designed for the actual fire risk in the building. This flexible but formalised approach can often provide a more fundamental and economical solution than traditional approaches to fire safety.


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All buildings must, as a general rule, comply with certain safety-related legislation. The rules associated with this legislation can be difficult to interpret and, if applied uncritically, can have an extremely restrictive impact on the building's design.

Legislation changes from country to country, and even, in some cases, between areas of the same country; some jurisdictions even have local legislation that can impose restrictive requirements on buildings being developed in a certain area, or to certain classes of buildings only. Navigating a clear path through the relevant legislation, without radically changing your building design or incurring additional costs, can seem impossible.

Taking an holistic approach to the fire safety design of a building, with Exova Warringtonfire consulting as your strategic partner, can provide the design team with the confidence to proceed with the design in the knowledge that the chosen solution will win the approval of the authorities having jurisdiction.

A carefully developed fire strategy will demonstrate the ways in which the chosen design meets the requirements of the relevant legislation and, more than this, provides a defined philosophy around which the fire safety and fire protection measures can be further defined.

The fire safety strategy, once fully developed, forms one of the key design documents, and will contain key information on the specification of systems, as well as full details and justification of any alternative, or engineered, solutions. Such is the importance of a fully integrated fire safety strategy that, in many cases, it will form the sole basis of the submission to the relevant approvals authorities. On the back of this document will be developed the various management manuals, operating instructions, cause-and-effect analyses and other documents that, together, form the keystone of modern innovative buildings.

Without an effective fire strategy document, it will not be possible for the design team to have a clear understanding of the fire safety and protection philosophy, nor to fully appreciate what effects the strategy has on the design, and vice versa.

With Exova Warringtonfire consulting on your side, working as part of your design team, you can be sure that your building meets all of the necessary requirements in the most cost-effective manner possible, whilst still meeting your design aspirations. With experience gained from working on some of the world's most outstanding and iconic buildings, Exova Warringtonfire consulting can provide you with strategic advice when you need it.


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Exova Warringtonfire have a great deal of experience in developing performance specifications for active fire safety systems such as automatic fire detection and alarm systems and fixed suppression systems, to the relevant design standard or code of practice. Many of the projects, on which we have worked, have involved the interpretation and implementation of technical standards and various legislative instruments. With our coverage across the UK, we also have extensive experience of interpreting, and providing solutions for developments to which various local Acts apply.


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