SPONSORED FEATURE wrexhammineralcables.com BUILDING BETTER FOR A SAFER FUTURE The continuing focus on building safety should be welcomed, but all hazards need to be identied and put under the spotlight, says Wrexham Mineral Cables Commercial Manager Steve Williams. or the past four years, building safety has rarely been out of the headlines. In the aftermath of the 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy, Dame Judith Hackitts independent review set out more than 50 recommendations regarding the delivery of a more robust building regulatory system. In response, the government has sought to introduce legislation to address these concerns such as the draft Building Safety Bill seen by many as the most sweeping changes to building safety in the past 40 years. Building a safer future While such reform will make everybody in the supply chain more accountable throughout the various stages of the buildings existence, we can only truly make buildings safe by putting the unidentied hazards, such as the installation of inferior re-resistant cables, under the spotlight. It has also become clear that steps need to be taken to ensure the tests to which construction products are subjected are relevant and can be relied upon, especially in tall buildings or anywhere that requires extended evacuation times. Sadly, the recent re at New Providence Wharf in London highlighted how much work still needs to be done. Indeed, London Fire Brigade Deputy Commissioner Richard Mills commented: The New Providence Wharf re needs to be an urgent wake-up call to all building owners and managers. Look at the re-safety solutions inside your building and take action if they are not performing correctly. It is too late to wait for a re to see if they work. Higher classication needed As a leading manufacturer of re-resistant cables, we have been calling for more stringent testing standards for years, and we believe all enhanced re-resistant cables should undergo true re scenario tests. They play a fundamental role in ensuring that the emergency and building critical systems are supported including emergency lighting, sprinkler systems, extraction systems, smoke dampers and shutters, emergency generators, pressurisation fans, emergency voice comms and re alarms in the event of a re, providing vital time for the safe passage of occupants out of the building, and allowing for shutdown procedures to take place. Due to its unique construction, no polymers or plastics are used to aid re protection on MICC cables. This means more than 85% of the entire MICC range fall in the under 20mm category. Currently, only re-resistant cables that are greater in diameter than 20mm must undergo testing for direct impacts to reect falling debris and effects of water on a single test sample. For re-resistant cables under 20mm, no direct impact takes place and different stages of each test are carried out on different samples of cable. As the call for mandatory sprinkler systems in taller buildings gathers momentum, it becomes even more concerning that smaller re-resistant cables [under 20mm] may not survive re, water and direct impact a true re scenario. We strongly believe tests should represent real-world conditions and that there should be a higher classication of cables introduced to help speciers and designers identify those that can survive, rather than simply resist re. In an era of greater accountability, there should be no compromise, and, as an industry, we can no longer aim for minimum compliance to get the job done. For more information, contact technical@wrexhammineralcables.com Wrexham JE_CPL.indd 48 24/06/2021 09:29