EU surveys to input to Fire Safety Guidance

pinfa submitted evidence and input to EU surveys to prepare Guidance on Fire Safety in building renovation & electrification.

This Guidance will be developed for the European Commission DG GROW (Fire Information and Exchange Platform, FIEP) and aims to support implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and is expected to cover solar installations, energy storage systems (ESS), heat pumps, insulation and building envelope and other technical building elements.

pinfa underlined the importance of fire performance of materials used in building renewable energy systems, as solar energy in buildings, energy storage and heat pumps increase electrical power demand / transmission, so increasing fire risks. Fire resistance standards for materials used in all such equipment, including wiring and electronics, as well as insulation, are essential to provide a minimum level of fire safety, alongside engineering and design fire risk reduction measures. Installations and systems should be subject to both the fire safety requirements for electrical equipment and also building fire safety regulations.

pinfa considers that ‘Performance Based’ fire safety criteria are preferable where feasible. However, ‘Prescriptive’ fire safety standards should also be set for material fire performance standards, as case-by-case performance assessment may not be realistic for smaller buildings, in particular individual households, and control of competence and validity of such assessments can be difficult at this level (local building permitting officers may not have adequate resources to do such verification). Prescriptive fire performance standards for materials can ensure a base level of fire safety for all buildings, with Performance approaches enabling additional fire safety in larger buildings or specific applications.

Project “Guidance on Fire Safety Linked to the Electrification and Renovation of Buildings” (FS-REBuild)