May 2007 

With news that the insurance industry is set to become stricter in its policy requirements over the next two years, and given that, over the past decade, it has experienced considerable loss as a result of fire damage, construction companies are now facing increasingly stringent guidelines to incorporate efficient and effective fire protection.

Traditionally, the insurance market, with relation to fire damage has been awash with conflicting information and misreporting which has left many in the construction industry confused as to what effective fire protection is. To help contractors negotiate insurance issues WARD has introduced a dedicated specifiers guide, titled, 'The Performance of Sandwich Panels in Fire' and a Continued Professional Development (CPD) approved seminar on the subject.

Both the guide and the seminars aim to provide the construction industry with information to cut through the confusion and highlight the insurer approved WARD roof and external walls products that are insurer approved.

Popular misconceptions include insurance premium hikes for buildings clad with polyurethane cored panels, a fallacy; premium increases relate to buildings containing polystyrene insulation. Other misconceptions include the notion that fire brigades will not enter a building clad with composite panels, again this is totally untrue; the reality is that the fire brigade will perform a dynamic risk assessment on arrival at the fire, the result of which will determine their actions.

Adding to this confusion are new demands from insurers on the use of insurer-approved products in all aspects of construction. External and internal cladding panel systems need to be compliant with LPCB (loss prevention certification board) or FM (factory mutual) approval requirements. In addition, appropriate certification for building, cladding and fire protection systems is now necessary to facilitate letting, re-letting and subsequent sales of property. It seems, despite its importance, fire protection is still a confusing issue for many contractors.

WARD also offer CPD certified seminars on a range of additional topics which involve the building envelope including 'PART L2A 2006' and 'Sustainability'.

For more information contact WARD on 01944 710591.