Fire on construction sites

This brief document aims to provide a best practice guide for contractors and home renovators in preventing fire on both commercial and domestic projects, whether that be a new build or a refurbishment. Our guide is designed to raise awareness of some of the key practical arrangements and working methods that should be in place to mitigate the risk of fire.

For more detailed guidance, reference should be made to the document entitled ‘Fire Prevention on Construction Sites - the Joint Code of Practice on the Protection from Fire of Construction Sites and Buildings Undergoing Renovation’ (JCoP), obtainable from the Fire Protection Association‘s website: www.thefpa.co.uk. Compliance with the document may well be a condition of your insurance policy and you can ask your construction team/project manager to demonstrate how they are meeting its requirements and recommendations. This guide applies equally if you intend to project manage the works yourself.

A note on timber-framed buildings

If your project involves a timber frame, then significant additional control measures will be required. The timber frame should be constructed by a contractor registered with the Structural Timber Association (STA, previously known as the UK Timber Frame Association; UKTFA) and built in accordance with STA/UKTFA guidelines or jurisdictional equivalent. These guidelines will include fire safety and fire prevention arrangements, as well as the need to risk-assess the possibility of fire spreading to neighbouring properties. These guidelines can be obtained from the Structural Timber Association‘s website: www.structuraltimber.co.uk.

Typical sources of heat on construction sites include (but not limited to) soldering or brazing of pipes, welding, grinding, hot tar boilers, lead work, smoking, combustion engines, temporary heaters, lights, arson activity, and temporary electrical supplies.

Typical sources of combustible material include timber joists, floorboards, roof trusses, joinery, waste (cardboard, polythene, timber pallets etc.), gas bottles, petrol, diesel, sawdust, vehicles, fuel-driven plant, temporary buildings, temporary protective coverings, etc.

Oxygen is ever present but is also enhanced through oxidising agents and oxygen bottles.

A major cause of fire on construction projects is hot work. This consists of operations involving the use of open flames, grinding, welding and the local application of heat or the generation of sparks. Hot work should be designed out of a project and replaced with cold work applications wherever possible. Where hot work cannot be avoided, then typical control measures should include; clearing the immediate area of combustible materials prior to undertaking any hot work, provision of two appropriate, dedicated fire extinguishers and a designated person appointed to monitor the area for at least one hour following completion of the hot work.

All hot work should be strictly controlled by a hot work permit. Further detailed guidance is available in our separate guide to loss prevention entitled ‘Fire caused by hot works’.

• a solid, timber hoarding around the property with lockable gates and doors
• securing all openings in external walls, basements, doors and windows, with temporary boarding, metal sheeting or bars, at all stages of the project, when the site is unoccupied
  
• a temporary, internal, motion-sensor intruder alarm system linked to a remote monitoring centre

• scaffold alarm
• lockable steel containers for materials, equipment and tools
  
• motion-sensor site lighting
  

Many fires start in temporary buildings and accommodation where there are often heaters (for drying clothes), electrical items, office furniture, documents, etc.

Temporary buildings should be separated from the building under construction/refurbishment and other permanent buildings in order to provide as wide a firebreak as reasonably practicable. Where the firebreak is less than 6m, temporary buildings should be fire rated to provide at least 30 minutes’ fire resistance.

Temporary accommodation (i.e. constructed on-site) must be constructed with materials which do not significantly contribute to the growth of fire or the propagation of smoke and/or corrosive fumes. Where unavoidable, and where temporary accommodation is constructed within a building under construction, the arrangements must be separated from the rest of the building by walls and ceilings which achieve 30 minutes’ fire resistance. They must also be fitted with smoke detection equipment. Establishing temporary accommodation in existing structures should be avoided where possible. Establishing temporary accommodation within timber-framed structures should be prohibited.

If temporary heaters are used within temporary buildings or accommodation, they should be thermostatically controlled with enclosed elements. Coat stands and drying racks must be positioned a safe distance from heaters. Microwaves should be used in preference to gas cookers.

• Fire instructions - written emergency procedures, displayed on-site and communicated to all personnel within the building
• Fire alarm – an adequate means of raising the alarm must be in place; typically air horns, push- button ‘howlers’ or, on larger projects, a linked wired or wireless fire alarm system
  
• Fire escape signs and lighting - provision of prominent fire escape signs and temporary lighting, where permanent provisions have been impaired
  

• Escape routes - two escape routes must be available at all times from all areas of the building. Dead-end situations should be avoided or kept to the absolute minimum for the shortest possible time
• Fire drills - the emergency procedures should be checked every three months by carrying out fire drills to evacuate the building to an assembly point. Any shortcomings in the procedures should be addressed
  
• Fire detection - smoke detection systems should be provided where temporary accommodation (eg; offices, stores, canteens, drying rooms etc) has been established within the building
  

• Hazard: something with the potential to cause harm or damage.
• Risk: a measure of the impact and likelihood that a hazard will cause harm or damage (severity x probability).
• Control measure: something which manages the hazard and reduces the risk.
• Loss: a claim made under an insurance policy as a result of theft or damage.
• Design team: the professional team comprised of construction specialists including an architect and possibly a structural engineer, project manager, quantity surveyor, interior designer and building services engineer, etc.
• Fire risk assessment: an assessment of the fire safety hazards to people and property.
• Fire safety management plan: a stand-alone document detailing how fire safety will be managed on a construction site.

• Hot work: an activity involving the application of heat, naked flames or sparks.
• Hot work permit: a form issued to allow hot works to proceed subject to certain conditions and control measures.
• Temporary buildings: includes prefabricated cabins, site huts, cargo containers, caravans and portable buildings brought onto site for use as offices, stores, workshops or welfare facilities, during the course of the works.
  
• Temporary accommodation: a segregated part of the building under construction or undergoing refurbishment and occupied as offices, stores, workshops or welfare facilities during the course of the works.
• Firebreak: an obstacle to the spread of fire, such as a strip of open space.