Survey finds fewer than a quarter of professionals have worked on a project with system-led approach in past year

Firefighters douse the burning Littlewoods Building in Liverpool

Firefighters douse the burning Littlewoods Building in Liverpool in September 2018

Nearly two years after the Grenfell Tower tragedy, a new survey of architects has found wide-ranging concerns over the approach to fire protection taken in their projects.

Only 23% of UK architects have worked on a construction project described as having a “systematic approach to fire protection” in the past year, according to research conducted for a fire-retardant ingredient technology business.

Sixty per cent of the architects who responded said such an approach should be adopted across the industry, with 44% saying a system-led approach was better than reviewing materials, products and designs individually.

Fire sprinklers

Sprinklers

However, close on 13% of architects and nearly half of specifiers said current regulations and testing capabilities made a system-led approach to fire protection impossible.

Despite this, 60% of architects said a systematic approach to fire protection should be adopted across the industry.

Ian King, chief operating officer of Zeroignition, the firm that commissioned the survey, said that failing to adopt a systematic approach to fire protection measures could lead to unforeseen results with inevitably complex construction projects.

“While architects know that a methodical way is best, there’s clearly some scepticism as to how achievable this is,” he said.

“There is still more to be done by manufacturers and architectural bodies to ensure that best practice is fully bedded in.”

Zeroigintion said its survey findings were based on the views of 76 UK professionals, who were part of a wider piece of European research.

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