Our expertise: fire safety research

Overview How we work on fire safety research and the impacts of our work. Leading facilities and expertise The fire safety team conducts research in BRE’s outstanding UKAS-accredited laboratories, as well as at client facilities when appropriate. The team has access to BRE’s world-leading built environment expertise in areas that include fire safety engineering, building technology and social science. Collaborative partnerships With the necessary financial and in-kind contributions agreed at the outset, the team collaborates with stakeholder groups on projects – that often attract funding support from the BRE Trust – proposed by the industry or initiated by BRE. The combination of our independent, technical expertise and industry involvement, gives this work the added credibility that promotes wider acceptance and support. Presenting findings to a wide audience The findings from the work are regularly presented to stakeholder group members for input and agreement throughout the programme, at the end of which they receive a comprehensive technical report on the findings and proposed next steps. As a key aim of this research work is to make new knowledge widely accessible, in addition to the technical reports, freely available briefing papers are produced to summarise the main findings and recommendations for industry professionals. Short videos are also produced when the topic is of interest to non-technical people, summarising the findings and explaining the project. These have been very effective in delivering research findings to a much wider audience and are often played at conferences and exhibitions, and promoted on social media. Impacts and achievements of our research The impacts of the research completed by the fire safety team and industry partners so far include: Being used to revise existing codes of practice e.g. BS 5839-1 or develop new ones, e.g. LPCB COP0001 Supporting the development of product test standards Being adopted and integrated into processes used by fire and rescue services Leading to more research that has generated further knowledge Supporting the development of new product testing and certification services at BRE Providing guidance to building owners, managers and responsible persons Informing product manufacturers on how to improve their products. How collaborative partnerships work Collaborating with partners is vital when conducting research and developing and implementing practical solutions to fire safety issues. For more on collaborative research at BRE, see the infographic below or download it as a PDF . Further information on impacts of collaboration An article was published in International Fire Protection magazine summarising the process of collaborations and explored the impacts of those for a number of research projects.

Current projects

The effectiveness of visual alarm devices

Building on previous work, this project is researching the warning effectiveness of visual alarm devices (VADs). We’re looking at how factors such as the VAD colours, pulse durations of LED devices and whether the VAD is viewed directly (face-on) or indirectly, influence their attention drawing effectiveness. Additionally, this project is investigating how the colours of walls in the ambient environment and background light levels contribute to the perception of flashing lights used for warning. This work will result in a public briefing paper that will inform of how VADs can be used most effectively in buildings and the findings will support revisions to relevant codes of practice including LPCB CoP 0001.

Loss Prevention Standard for video flame detectors

Following on from previous work , five detector manufacturers together with the Fire Industry Association have commissioned BRE Global to develop a loss prevention standard to test and assess the performance of video flame detectors. As well as writing a comprehensive robust standard, the group have funded the necessary research to develop required performance tests. This will ensure that when video flame detectors are certified to the standard, they will be fit for purpose in the service environment responding in the event of a fire

Contamination of heat alarms

Most fires start in domestic kitchens and heat alarms are vital to provide an early warning to occupants. Heat alarms in the kitchen are subjected to environmental factors that may influence their alarm response during a fire. A number of used heat alarms obtained from kitchens of different ages, types and with varying levels of contamination are being measured and the resulting data is being analysed. The findings from this work may be used to support replacement periods of heat alarms in the future or may result in an update to the heat alarm standard BS 5446-2. If you are in a position to provide used heat alarms, please contact BRE as these could be included in the study.

Developing unwanted alarm tests

Nine detector manufacturers, one fire detection consultant and the Fire Industry Association have commissioned BRE Global to develop five tests that will support a Loss Prevention Standard to assess the resistance of smoke and multi-sensor detectors/alarms to common unwanted (false) alarms. The five tests were initially developed during the collaborative research work investigating multi-sensor resistance to false alarms and the tests are now being developed to demonstrate greater repeatability for standardisation purposes.  The group have already developed cooking and toast tests and are now working on dust, steam and aerosol tests.

Contamination of heat detectors

Five detector manufacturers, one fire detection consultant and the Fire Industry Association have commissioned BRE Global to investigate if the response of heat detectors in commercial premises may be affected by contamination. A number of used heat detectors alarms obtained from kitchens of different ages, types and with varying levels of contamination will be measured and the resulting data analysed. The findings from this work may be used to support replacement periods of heat detectors in the future or may result in an update to the heat detectors in the future or may result in an update to the heat detector standard EN 54-5. If you are in a position to provide used heat detectors, please contact BRE as these could be included in the study.