Events

Upcoming Events

Previous Events

Timber Series | Seminar III: Designing to ‘court’ insurance for mass timber buildings

Speaker:

James Glockling (Glockling Consulting)

Date: Wednesday, 14 May 2025

Location: Bristol

The replacement of steel and concrete in construction with timber is a key part of the government’s strategy for carbon reduction. This move away from fire and water insensitive materials to more susceptible timber has far reaching implications for the insurance community who have inadvertently become a de-facto regulator on the premise that a building that cannot be insured, cannot be built. In this talk, Jim Glockling, co-author of the Mass Timber Insurance Playbook, discussed design details that could be considered to improve the resilience of timber structure to the perils of fire and water against the backdrop of some recent high value losses. Measures to illicit the necessary intervention from fire services were also covered.

Timber Series | Seminar II: Introduction to mass timber & fire safety design

Speaker:

Eoin O’Loughlin (ARUP)
Luke Shaw (ARUP)

Date: Wednesday, 14 May 2025

Location: Bristol

This talk provided an overview on the fundamental fire safety concepts for the design of mass timber buildings and the context for which designers must develop safe solutions. Arup’s risk-based approach to designing with mass timber was stepped through, as well as their experience with timber design through a number of case studies.

Timber Series | Seminar I: Innovations and Challenges in Cross Laminated Timber (CLT)

Speaker:

Eleni Toumpanaki (Univeristy of Bristol)

Date: Wednesday, 7 May 2025

Location: Bristol

Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) has revolutionized timber construction since its introduction in the early 1990s. CLT offers high strength and rigidity, making it suitable for medium-rise buildings, along with inherent thermal insulation capacity. The use of CLT and timber platform construction has increased over the last 15 years in the UK, with notable examples including Murray Grove (2009) and Dalston Works (2017) in London. Although most modular CLT timber buildings are in the UK, broader construction is hindered by high insurance costs. This talk provided an overview of the manufacturing of CLT (including homegrown CLT and the use of secondary timber in CLT), design principles for CLT, moisture management strategies on-site, and design challenges when building taller with timber.

Assessing Evacuation from Very Tall Structures

Speaker:

Steve Gwynne (University of Greenwich)

Date: Thursday, 24 April 2025

Location: Manchester

There are currently multiple buildings over 50 storeys in the UK, with a number planned and in development. Internationally, there are currently multiple buildings over 100 storeys – with buildings planned to go considerably beyond this height.

Buildings of this height place significant demands upon fire safety planning – especially related to human behaviour.

This seminar discussed the challenges posed by such massive structures on the assessment of evacuation and protective actions – relating to our conceptual understanding of human behaviour in fire, the supporting data available, the models available to test performance and the guidance in place to develop emergency plans.

An introduction to Smoke Ventilation Systems and review of approach in BS9991:2024

Speaker:

Steven Attrill (Novenco)

Date: Thursday, 24 April 2025

Location: London

This presentation outlined the three main types of smoke control systems—Natural, Mechanical Smoke Ventilation Systems (MSVS), and Pressure Differential Systems (PDS). It compared the intent of each system and highlighted common perception and design issues with a focus on commercial and residential buildings. Additionally, the presentation examined recent updates in BS9991:2024 and discussed how these changes could affect the design and implementation of smoke control systems.

Burning recollection: Improving memorability to support decision-making during fire evacuations

Speaker:

Michael Kinsey (Ashton Fire)

Date: Thursday, 3 April 2025

Location: Birmingham

Building fires pose potentially life-threatening scenarios requiring prompt decision-making and action. Recent years have seen considerable progress in understanding evacuation decision-making, though research into peoples past experience and their memory remains limited. Memory crucially influences how individuals perceive, interpret and respond to information – which during fire evacuations could have vital implications.

This talk provided an overview of memory theory, examining the core processes of encoding, storing and retrieving memories within the context of different information types and granularity used by people. Memory errors, including forgetting and false memories, was also discussed. The talk then outlined the decision-making process during fire evacuations, identifying key areas where memory impacts each stage. Based on the literature reviewed, a series of measures designed to enhance information memorability was presented to support decision-making during fire evacuations. The insights provided recommendations for further research to identify the efficacy of the proposed measures for informing the development of more effective training programs and building design layouts to enhance safety and improve the likelihood that people will respond appropriately during fire evacuations.

The Ongoing Contribution of SFPE to Implementing Performance-Based Design

Speaker:

Greg Baker (Halliwell Fire Research)

Date: Wednesday, 26 March 2025

Location: London

There is an increasing global awareness of, and need for, performance-based design (PBD) in the built environment, and no more so than in the international field of fire engineering. Much of this is driven by the introduction of novel, sustainable building materials and systems such as mass timber, which fall well outside the current prescriptive building regimes. One of the keys to the successful implementation of PBD is a framework that can be consistently and universally applied. At the previous two SFPE PBD Conference, Dr Greg Baker has given presentations on the ongoing work of SFPE International to support and contribute to the successful implementation of PBD in the global fire engineering community. Underpinning these efforts by the Society, is an SFPE Standards-Making Committee which is developing a new SFPE Standard on PBD. In this presentation, Dr Baker will provide an overview of the background to the Standard, a summary of the committee’s work to date in developing the new Standard, as well as illustrations of how the new Standard may be able to be applied in practice.

A Permeation of Toxic Substances through Layers of Firefighters Clothing

Speaker:

Svetlana Tretsiakova

Date: Wednesday, 19 March 2025

Location: Belfast

Firefighting is the most challenging and dangerous profession, associated with a regular and repeated exposure of workers to a toxic cocktail containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), monomers, particulate matter, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds (VOCs), metals, diesel exhaust fumes, water soluble compounds, etc. In 2022, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified firefighters’ occupational exposures as carcinogenic to humans. The nature, concentration levels and mechanisms of toxic chemicals ingress and movement through the firefighters’ gear are not fully understood.

This presentation enhanced attendee knowledge of the chemical makeup of a fire effluent generated by burning solid fuels found in a typical home. Moreover, it evaluated whether the elements of firefighters’ turnout gear allow the transport of the toxic chemicals from hot fire effluent towards the skin of firefighters protected with fire suits, thus negatively impacting their health. This study is a part of the 3-year InToxFIRE project (https://www.intoxfire.net) funded by the ULRI, USA.

Understanding Grenfell: Perspectives from Fire Safety and the Law

Speaker:

Jose Torrero (UCL)
Kate Grange (39 Essex Chambers)

Date: Tuesday, 25 February 2025

Location: London

This event addressed the interaction between fire safety and the legal profession in the context of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. Jose Torero provided his insights from a fire safety perspective, and Kate Grange KC, one of the two lead barristers on the Inquiry,spoke of the legal challenges involved.

An introduction to Smoke Ventilation Systems and review of approach in BS9991:2024

Speaker:

Steven Attrill (Novenco)

Date: Thursday, 13 February 2025

Location: Bristol

BS9991:2024 – What Has Changed?

Speakers:

Gary Daniels (Jacobs)
Richard Clarck (National Fire Chiefs Council)

Date: Thursday, 30 January 2025

Location: Manchester

Two of the BSI panel members who contributed to the update of BS9991, joined us in Manchester to discuss the changes in the latest edition of BS 9991: 2024 Fire safety in the design, management and use of residential buildings.

Batteries, Timber, and Wildfires: current research challenges in sustainability and safety

Speakers:

Prof. Guillermo Rein
Dr. Harry Mitchell
Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos

Date: Tuesday, 21 January 2025

Location: London

The seminar explored critical challenges to safety and sustainability worldwide, including mass timber buildings, wildfires, and Lithium-ion batteries. Through innovative research and expert insights, Imperial Hazelab discussed these issues, providing solutions that aim to enhance global community resilience.

Building repurposing and sustainability: perspectives from architects, structural and fire engineers, and insurers

Speakers:

Andrew Lawrence (Arup)
Jose Torero (University College London)
Yasmin Al-Ani Spence (WilkinsonEyre)
Dominic Lion (Gallagher)

Date: Wednesday, 18 September 2024

Location: London

This event provided an overview of the technical challenges posed by architectural, structural integrity, fire safety, and insurance considerations for building repurposing and sustainability. Each speaker will offered their insights from their respective fields, highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in achieving sustainable outcomes.

Appointments and warranties: What you need to know and how to conclude them faster

Speaker:

Cathrine Ripley, Partner, Field Seymour Parkes (FSP Law)

Date: Tuesday, 30 July 2024

Location: London

This event was able to cover topics like importance of scope of services, duty of care, fees & payment, copyrights, insurance, limitations of liability, third party rights etc and highlighted key items to be considered by fire safety consultants.
Our Speaker was also able to give us useful tips how fire safety consultants can be pro-actively engaged and involved in the process of agreeing and finalising appointments.