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Welsh government to consider compulsory third-party checks for sprinklers

The Welsh government is to consider making third-party certification compulsory for the installation and commissioning of fire sprinklers.

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Picture: Getty
Picture: Getty
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In a letter dated 5 December and published by the Welsh Assembly’s petitions committee this week, senior minister Lesley Griffiths said the Welsh government will investigate whether third-party approval should be “the only method of meeting compliance” with building regulations regarding sprinklers.

The Welsh government is currently reviewing the fire safety requirements of its building regulations – which are devolved from Westminster – following the Hackitt Review.

Dame Judith Hackitt was commissioned to carry out a review of building regulations and fire safety by the UK Government following the devastating Grenfell Tower disaster, publishing her final report in May.

The report recommended that the testing of products “that are critical to the safety” of high-rise buildings “should be subject to independent third-party certification”.


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Ms Griffiths, who is currently environment, energy and rural affairs minister, was writing to David Rowlands, chair of the Welsh Assembly’s petitions committee, which will today examine a petition calling for building regulations in Wales to be amended to make sprinklers subject to mandatory third-party schemes.

She wrote: “Fire suppression systems form a crucial part in the fire safety provisions within buildings, particularly in high-rise buildings.

“We will therefore investigate, as part of this work, whether there is sufficient evidence to justify that those registered with third-party certification schemes should be considered as the only method of meeting compliance with the requirements of the building regulations for the installation and commissioning of fire suppression systems.”

Current Welsh government guidance states that third-party certification schemes for fire safety measures “are an effective means of providing the fullest possible assurances”, but does not require them.

However, Approved Document B for Wales – which outlines building regulations on fire safety – demands sprinklers in all homes built from the start of 2016, while in England they are only compulsory in buildings taller than 30m constructed since 2007.

Since the Grenfell disaster, trade body the British Woodworking Federation called for the UK government to make third-party checks for fire doors mandatory after issues were uncovered with a number of commonly used doors on the market.

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