Everything is in a constant state of flux, so it should be no surprise that the construction industry has seen considerable changes in its technical standards in the last 25 years. One of the monumental shifts we have witnessed is the evolution of fire certification, writes SIG Interiors technical manager Greg Fletcher.
In the past, fire certification has almost taken a back seat, occurring low on the priority list and late in the process. These days it is a vital and primary aspect of all construction projects, and rightly so.
As technical standards improve, so does British construction. No savvy business wants to get through the majority of a project only to find their system isn’t up to scratch and falls at the last hurdle, which happened frequently in living memory. These days, with top loaded fire certification, construction businesses are able to navigate their way through projects in a logical fashion, avoiding any unnecessary expenditure and embarrassment.
Sometimes adding rules to a process can serve to confuse and debilitate, but with technical standards this is not the case. On the contrary, the fire certification standards of today have separated the black and the white from what was previously an utterly grey area. With clearly defined and fundamental criteria in place, there is no longer uncertainty in this aspect of the industry.
In the future, fire certification is likely to become more stringent; policed on an industry standard. This may seem like a restrictive and claustrophobic attempt to control the industry, but in truth these changes are made to simplify construction projects.
The modern world calls for robust health and safety policy and the construction industry must adapt. It’s now up to individual businesses to make sure their fire certification and, by extension, all of their technical standards are of an acceptable quality. It comes down to the age old adage: those who adapt will survive; those that stagnate will not.
Greg Fletcher
technical manager,
SIG Interiors