The importance of durability in fire safety products.

The Building Safety Act 2022 (the "Act"), introduced a set of regulations for the marketing and supply of construction products in Great Britain. Construction products regulations impose requirements for a “safe product”, under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use.

How much thought is given to longevity of life safety critical products/materials? How is the industry responding and how are built environment professionals adapting their advice to designers, developers, contractors and end-users?

Where products are selected to meet the performance specification of the fire strategy, it is important that the person responsible for selecting them carefully considers the lifespan of the products. They will need to clearly convey to the building user, when they are likely to expire and need replacing provided that they have been stored, installed and maintained correctly. Consideration should also be given to achieving the most efficient and effective way to access and replace the products at the end of their expected working life.
These considerations are critical design considerations, but equally as important onsite and during construction, for example cavity barriers left exposed to the elements for weeks or months if a project stalls. Another example might be something like fire stopping mastics being left on a pallet in a basement car park during low temperatures for an extended period of time.

Performance specifications

Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 of the European Parliament sets out conditions for the placing or making available on the market of construction products by establishing harmonised rules on how to express the performance of construction products in relation to their essential characteristics and on the use of CE marking on those products, but how are fire consultants approaching this?
Fire professionals often set out the performance specification and allow the architect, or lead designer, to select the appropriate product. Some will consider product life span as a means of defining maintenance criteria. A manufacturers definition of a periodic inspection can vary, I have seen some refer to 2 years, 5 years, and others 10 years, but what is reasonable for life safety critical components and how easy is it to replace in practice?
It should ideally form part of the final O&M information to inform maintenance schedules.
Approved Document 7 Section 1.22 on the subject of short-lived materials states "some materials, in the absence of special care, may be considered unsuitable because of their rapid deterioration in relation to the expected life of the building" which implies that a material/product which does not have the life expectancy as that of the building could be considered a short-lived material.
AD 7 1.23 states short lived materials which are readily accessible for inspection, maintenance and replacement may meet the requirements of the regulations if the consequences of failure are not likely to be serious to the health and safety of people in and around the building.
As fire professionals we are in a changing landscape and questions like this mean that we need to be more proactive and diligent in stating this information within strategies. There is currently a lot of inconsistency at RIBA stages 4/5 when undertaking Technical Design Reviews TDR's and the level of detail being provided at this stage. The new BSI standard proposed for fire strategies may go someway to addressing this if it covers scope, high level terms and definitions to be included at each stage and perhaps more examples as to the level of detail required at each stage.
Where products are selected to meet the performance specification of the fire strategy, it is important that the person responsible for selecting them carefully considers the lifespan of the products, but they will also need to clearly convey to the building user, owner, operator, when they are likely to expire and need replacing provided that they have been stored, maintained and installed correctly. Cavity barriers often come with a 25 year life expectancy but building lifecycle can vary and run into hundreds of years. Consideration should also be given to achieving the most efficient and effective way to access and replace the products at the end of their expected working life.
Material passports
A 'Material passport' - A material passport refers to a document that describes all the materials and components that comprise a product, system or asset in order to give them a value for their original intended purpose, their recycling capacity and their reusability. Fitness for purpose/lifespan must surely be the key component of this concept.
Material stewardship
I am wondering how well 'Material stewardship' is captured in the responsibilities matrix formed at the beginning of a project so there is no ambiguity on roles of duty holders. Material stewardship broadly describes the process by which the societal value of materials lent to projects is preserved. Material stewardship relies upon data exchange, book keeping, and prevention of activities that would trigger downcycling by all those parties involved in the extraction, processing, working or fabricating, shipping, maintaining, disassembling and returning to the supply chain.
The importance of durability and product lifespan cannot be overstated, as it ensures that buildings and structures remain safe and secure for their occupants.
Moreover, it helps to reduce the need for frequent replacements or repairs, which can be costly and time-consuming.