Stuart Winter, Arup fire safety engineering consultancy, outlined the UK’s regulatory framework, which sets out the broad requirements for fire safety, without specific reference to fire toxicity.
He described the challenges in obtaining fire toxicity data suitable for use in fire safety engineering, stating that the lack of robust test data on fire toxicity was a major obstacle to ensuring a life safety of building occupants in a fire. He considered that if the Construction Products Regulations were to adopt a measure of fire toxicity for building products, this would be a major step forward. He cited the use of timber framed construction, and structures where smoke and toxic gases could penetrate barriers within a building, as potential examples of fire hazards in buildings.