Fire Risk Assessment in Public Sector Buildings

By: Brenda Peters FICorr. FTSC. FIMF.

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 Fire Risk Assessment in Public Buildings

Analysis is a scientific consultancy and independent laboratory established in 1988

and specialising in paint, corrosion and materials testing

Brenda Peters is an analytical chemist and physicist, and has been a consultant
scientist since 1979.

In March 1991 a letter was issued by the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority
referring to the fire risk in residential blocks of flats, this detailed the potential hazard
due to applied surface coatings. The subject was picked up by Birmingham Fire
Service and circulated to various local authorities in the West Midlands area in 1992.
We were consulted on this matter by several local authorities and using our specialist
expertise in paints, coatings and analytical chemistry, we devised a series of tests to
be used to assess the risk.

Subsequently it transpired during discussions with other interested parties that the
tests which we devised were broadly similar to those being used by other test houses,
and the parameters for assessing risk were the same.

We have assisted the following local authorities with their fire risk assessments:

Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council

Manchester City Council
London Borough of Newham
Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council
Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council
Leeds City Council
Droitwich Borough Council.
East Durham Homes

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 Fire Risk Assessment in Public Sector Blocks of Flats

Building regulations require that high rise blocks of flats are built with Class 0
materials, but until recently no thought was given to the decorative surfaces. The
Kings Cross fire reversed this thinking and the fire authorities issued a requirement
for all residential buildings over 8 storeys (the limit of reach for their ladders) to be
stripped of all existing coatings and redecorated with materials conforming to Class 1.
This coupled with ‘duty of care’ legislation would make specifiers liable in the event
of a tragedy.

This course of action was recognised as particularly onerous and expensive and has
it’s own attendant problems. i.e. Health and safety of operators and general public
from exposure to stripping solvent fume, solvent retention of the substrate causing
failure of the new decoration and last but not least, the process has to be repeated at
every future decorative cycle.

The question then arose; if a compromise was to be reached what were the criteria to
minimise risk and ensure safety?
The following questions were addressed:-

Is adhesion to substrate and the intercoat adhesion adequate?

What is the overall thickness and number of paint coats?
What is the nature of the paint coats?
What is the combustibility of the paint coats?
What is the general condition of the existing coating?
What is the engineering of the block like?

All the paint will burn when it reaches a temperature of 450 C, this will occur quicker
if the paint detaches itself from the wall. Therefore adhesion and intercoat adhesion
are very important. This is especially so when overcoating is being considered as the
cohesive forces of the drying paint could exceed the adhesive forces of existing paint.
Generally, it is accepted that this could occur if the existing paint film thickness
exceeds 500 microns or 10 coats.

This leads on to the question of combustibility, does the paint ignite and continue to
burn after the heat source is removed? Does the paint ignite but self extinguish on
removal of heat source? Does the paint simply char? The type of flame and the
amount of smoke emission are indicative of the types of paint present in the sample
and coupled with combustibility are significant factors in assessing the risk.

Some authorities advocate blister testing as the way of assessing risk. Although the
results can be helpful, inevitably blistering means a loss of adhesion, the results
should be treated with caution as some fire retardant plastic coatings and non-
combustible chlorinated rubber paints will blister at very low temperatures.

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On site we carry out a full survey of the building, assessing the state of decoration
noting any obvious loose or peeling paint and graffiti coatings, whether suspect
decorative coatings form a continuous path up the stairway and the general
engineering of the building. We also note any faulty fire doors or accumulated
rubbish.

We carry out cross cut (St Andrews Cross) adhesion tests to measure adhesion to the
substrate. This will also be indicative of any intercoat delamination.

Blister tests are carried out if requested and the fire risk calculated on the formula
devised by BCL based on the research carried out by London Underground.

Samples of paint are taken for laboratory analysis.

In the laboratory the samples are examined microscopically to determine the number
and thickness of the paint coats and for the presence of anti-graffiti coatings.

Pyrolysis tests are carried out to assess the combustibility of the paint coats and
smoke emissions.

A full report is produced for the client detailing all the information collected, an
assessment of the risk and recommendations for redecoration.

In conclusion: - There is only one way for the decision making to begin and that is

with - NALYSIS

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