Hampshire County Council

Buildings, Land and Procurement Panel Item

5 April 2005

Report on Sprinkler Systems - Annual Review

Report by the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services

How the conclusion in this report fits with the Corporate Strategy

This scheme will impact on the delivery of the following Corporate Aims

Aim 2 - Stewardship of the Environment - by protecting core building/heritage assets.

Aim 5 - Improving Services - identifying, through a risk assessed process, those buildings which should include a sprinkler system.

1

Summary

1.1

At the Buildings, Land and Contracts Panel meeting on 27 January 2004, Members endorsed a revised Policy in relation to sprinklers based on a risk management methodology. This was subsequently approved by the County Council on 25 February 2004.

1.2

The Panel also approved a recommendation that an annual review of the Policy and its impact on projects be reported to a future meeting. This report:

- Confirms the risk assessment arrangements implemented by the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services.

- Identifies the projects which have, through risk assessment, had sprinklers approved.

- Illustrates the cost implications to the Council of the new Policy.

- Indicates the implications and technical challenges associated with installing sprinklers in new and refurbishment projects.

2

Risk Based Methodology

2.1

Since the adoption of the new Policy in 2004, risk assessment and management arrangements have been established within Property, Business and Regulatory Services to ensure there is a robust, auditable and appropriate basis to the selection of projects to which sprinklers will be applied.

2.2

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) is involved at both project level, in reviewing the particular risks associated with projects, and again at the internal review stage. Their input into particular risks associated with location, vulnerability of certain building materials and construction, and knowledge of sprinkler installations in other buildings, is valuable in determining a sound basis in making the ultimate judgements.

2.3

Following endorsement to the principle of installing sprinklers following the methodology referred to in 2.1, the project goes through a second stage risk assessment process. This is required to establish the exact technical and performance requirements for the particular installation on each project. Specialist consultants have been commissioned to assist in the preparation of a `Hampshire Model' (previously reported to the Buildings, Land and Procurement Panel in October 2004) to ensure the `technical fix' is appropriate to the risk and the performance specification can be described adequately to ensure the correct outcome.

3

Projects with Sprinkler Systems

3.1

A list of projects where sprinklers have been, are being installed or are potentially planned, is attached at Appendix 1.

3.2

General themes have emerged over the last year as to where the assessment identified sprinkler installations as having a positive benefit in the reduction of risk to the County Council. These include:

a. Nursing Care New Build and Refurbishment

There is a consequent reduction in risk to life of elderly residents because of the decision to install sprinklers.

This has been recorded on a number of occasions and demonstrates that, even though the new buildings are fully compliant with current regulations, a sprinkler installation will give additional time to local managers in fire evacuation and put out a fire at source rather than just contain it within a fire rated compartment. It has been agreed to extend the sprinkler systems into the connected refurbished homes (in Enhance), to also raise safety standards where it is more challenging to achieve compliance with current standards. However, it should be noted that the highest priority works associated with the refurbishment are structural fire precautions and the sprinklers are not a substitute for this but a supplementary measure.

b. Education Projects

A number of Education projects have been selected through the risk assessment process, mostly on the basis of their scale (e.g. John Hunt of Everest Secondary School) and/or location as a potentially high arson risk.

As large new education buildings tend to be designed and constructed as one building rather than a series of buildings over time, there is arguably a higher risk that once a serious fire takes hold, it could spread to the rest of the school. Sprinklers would put the fire out at source. It is worth noting that the new secondary school at John Hanson suffered a number of malicious arson attacks after it was completed, but the modern construction, fully compliant with the latest regulations, contained the fire in the original space and it did not spread beyond one room.

A major fire destroyed a technology and teaching block at Harriet Costello College and, following detailed a risk assessment process, it is proposed to install sprinklers in the replacement building.

c. Residential Projects

Setting aside the residential and Nursing Care accommodation for the elderly referred to above, assessments have identified a number of other residential projects where sprinklers would enhance life safety, e.g. Minstead Study Centre, Calshot Activities Centre and Lakeside Special School. All of these projects contain accommodation for children and pupils in the care of Hampshire County Council. These projects will have modern fire alarm systems, means of escape and fire compartmentation that will make them fully compliant with current best practice regulations.

d. Heritage Projects

This is not a common risk identified over the last year. One particular project, the Cultural Centre in Winchester, has identified a higher risk associated with the heritage and economic loss of the building in the event of a fire. The existing Library is of national significance and once extended and remodelled, it will create a very valuable asset to the County Council and the community. Were it to be threatened by fire and this lead to major parts being destroyed, then the cost, time and implications of replacement would be very significant. It is often the case that one-off projects like this will demand a sensitive and pragmatic approach to the preservation of the building which is, in itself, high value as well as the service it contains.

4

Cost Implications

4.1

Since adopting the new Policy, the cost to the County Council of installing sprinkler systems to the projects in Appendix 1 is approximately £4.02m, including fees. The cost to Policy and Resources is £2.58m. No new funding has been identified for sprinklers and all of these costs have been accommodated from within existing budgets. The net effect is that funds have to be diverted from other priorities and less work or projects are implemented elsewhere in the County Council's programmes. It will be necessary during this year and beyond for departments to make adequate allowance for sprinkler systems, recognising that the funding from P&R will not be sustained.

5

Implications and Technical Challenges

5.1

There have been significant implications and technical challenges associated with adopting the new risk based approach to fire assessments and the design and co-ordination of adding sprinkler systems to buildings. These include:

- The introduction of a new risk assessment system of each project ranging from a few tens of thousands to £20m.

- Application of considerable management resources to assess, monitor and debate options associated with outcomes from the risk assessment methodology.

- In many circumstances, the particular technical solution has been generated locally from a risk based approach. Albeit that there are industry standards and guidelines which can be used, it has been necessary to work through unique solutions for which there is no obvious precedent.

- Designing and accommodating a sprinkler system into a building adds a level of complexity to the services design; specification of plant; capacity and nature of incoming statutory services; co-ordination of other elements of the building and the provision of builders' work (tanks, plant rooms, pipework routes) that is new and to a higher level than before.

- Maintaining sprinkler systems post-completion is an onerous task with weekly inspections, required to meet British Standard requirements, by a competent trained operative. This puts additional pressure on existing maintenance budgets.

6

Conclusions

6.1

The County Council's risk assessed approach to fire safety and the consequent selection of sprinkler systems to enhance life, property and heritage protection is now well established. Looking back over the past year, a great deal of professional time has gone into selecting the high priorities to benefit from the investment of such systems.

6.2

A positive partnership has developed with the HFRS enabling both parties to benefit from knowledge and experience to achieve common goals of reducing risk from fire across the Council's services and property. Policy and Resources have so far found the bulk of the financial resources to implement the policy.

Recommendation(s)

The Panel advises the Executive Member Policy and Resources that the following is approved:

1

the methodologies and list of projects with sprinkler systems proposed or installed;

2

that the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services reports again in a year's time, reviewing developments and outcomes of the Policy introduced in early 2004;

3

that the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services reports to the next meeting on the pressures on the available maintenance budgets from existing policies including sprinkler installation.

Programme

Project

Approx s

Nursing Care

New Build

Andover Hospital

}

Bickerley Green, Ringwood

}

Coldeast Hospital, Park Gate

}

Emsworth House

}

Fleming House, Eastleigh

} £1.9m

Marlfield, Alton

}

Oakridge House, Basingstoke

}

Tatchbury Mount Hospital, Totton

}

Ticehurst, Aldershot

}

Westholme, Winchester

}

Nursing Care Refurbishment

Bickerley Green, Ringwood

}

Emsworth House

}

Marlfield, Alton

} Inc

Oakridge House, Basinstoke

}

Ticehurst, Aldershot

}

Westholme, Winchester

}

Older Persons Homes

Structural Fire Precautions Programme

Malmesbury Lawn, Havant

£250k

Education Projects

John Hunt of Everest Secondary School, Basingstoke

£361k

Havant EBD School

£161k

Minstead Study Centre, New Forest

£86k

East Hampshire Special School

£144k

Lakeside Special School

Dormitory Accommodation

£90k

Costello Technology College,

Fire Replacement Block

£272k

Recreation and Heritage

Projects

Winchester Cultural Centre

£155k

Calshot Activities Centre

New Dormitory Block

£40k