THE HIDDEN DANGERS OF THE NEW BRITISH STANDARD 9999

The new incoming British Standard 9999 is a leap forward in fire safety - but it still contains hidden dangers for both firefighters and the public - according to Manchester-based smoke control specialists Fire Engineering Associates.

For, although Section 28 recommends properly designed and installed pressure differential systems for firefighting shafts in buildings more than 30 metres high, and basements more than 10 metres deep, it allows natural ventilation as an alternative method in smaller commercial and residential buildings.

“And that’s where the danger comes in,” says chartered engineer and FEA associate Jim Wild - a fan engineering consultant who specialises in fire smoke control systems.

“Natural ventilation systems have been around since 1971 and they have been criticised from the beginning. The idea is to allow smoke to get into the escape or entry route and then be ventilated … which is not a good start.

“This method is also very susceptible to external wind conditions and early research showed that, even with the very best alignment of vent outlet with prevailing wind, smoke remained in the escape routes on almost 50% of occasions.

“The recommendation that natural vent outlets only be located where they are always subject to negative wind pressures is very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve in built up areas - and historically such recommendations have often been ignored.

“For all these reasons firefighters could, even now, still find themselves having to enter smoke-filled buildings - which is very dangerous. It would have been safer if the new standard had excluded this natural ventilation option altogether.”

Occupants of a building could be endangered, too - because BS 9999 does not clearly recognise that EN12101 Part 6 also applies to escape shafts. So it does little, as yet, for escaping occupants. Hopefully, this will be dealt with in future revisions.”

Overall, BS 9999 - which comes into force in April - is “wonderful news for the industry and we welcome it almost unreservedly,” says Fire Engineering Associates Technical Director, Dave Ogden whose experience in pressurisation systems puts him in a narrow band of smoke control engineers whose contemporaries, more typically, have natural ventilation backgrounds.

“A pressure differential system is the only method where the object of the design is to keep smoke out of the escape routes,” he says. “Unfortunately, design failure in early systems gave pressurisation a bad name but Fire Engineering Associates has always supported it because, correctly designed and installed, it is easily the best form of protection.”

Dave has been behind more than 100 pressurisation systems from Fire Engineering Associates over the last decade - often involving several integrated stairwells. These have included Ontario Tower, in London’s Dockland, which has two pressurised systems - a fire fighting shaft covering 30 floors and a escape stair of 21 stories.

NATASHA’S WEDDING DRESS GETS AN OUTING AT CAPESTHORNE HALL … TWO YEARS LATE

Natasha Dodds is finally wearing her wedding dress at Capesthorne Hall … two years after getting married somewhere else.

For Natasha - a director of the new 580-square metre Capesthorne Pavilion - will be the first model down the catwalk, there, at the annual Bridal Fair on 11 January.

Her ivory satin gown was due to be worn at Capesthorne on 1 December 2006 but Natasha’s first choice of wedding venue was already booked on that date. So she married, instead, in North Yorkshire.

“I loved the dress but only wore it for seven hours - which is always a great waste,” says Natasha, “so I jumped at the chance to bring it out again for our first public event in the new Capesthorne Pavilion.”

Natasha returns to her home county as a director of the Capesthorne Pavilion - the first permanent structure of its kind in the country to get planning permission as a wedding, corporate event and family celebration venue.

The pavilion, at the northern corner of Capesthorne Hall, Siddington, will be commercially available for conferences, exhibitions, private parties, gala balls, award ceremonies and dinners as well as wedding banquets.

“And the income from the estate’s newest 21^st century feature will be used to modernise one of the oldest parts of the 18^th century hall,” says manager Christine Mountney.

A three-year restoration programme will convert the cobbled mews yard - which has garaged horse drawn carriages and Rolls Royce cars over the past 250 years - into a 1,600 square foot hi-tech office suite. There will also be repairs to the theatre wing stonework, roofing and chimneys as well as comprehensive landscaping and planting.

Work will be funded by income from the versatile pavilion which is specifically designed to accommodate every type of corporate event. It provides event space for up to 500 people, is large enough to drive cars in for indoor motor shows, has its own kitchen and luxury toilet areas.

But weddings are expected to be the main use - adding a large single space to Capesthorne’s more traditional suite of smaller rooms overlooking the lakes and gardens

“Capesthorne is already one of Cheshire’s most romantic wedding venues,” says Kris Beaumont, general manager of Archant’s “Cheshire and Lancashire Bride” magazine - organiser of this month’s wedding fair on 11 January (12pm - 4pm).

“But the hall has always been short of a single large room for more than 100 people and the pavilion will fill that gap magnificently.  And, as a major wedding industry exhibition, we are making the most of the additional space to feature two catwalk fashion shows which will introduce the very latest outfits for both brides and grooms.”

And that’s where Natasha comes in.

“I really wanted to get married here, in my home county,” she says, “but Capesthorne just wasn’t available at the time. Coincidentally, though, we laid the foundations for the Capesthorne Pavilion on the day of my second wedding anniversary - which gave me the idea to get personally involved with the Bridal Fair.”