Are you involved in fire protection in London or elsewhere in the UK? If so, learn about BS476.

Whether you manage a residential building, commercial office, or public leisure space, fire safety is of the utmost importance. There are various components and measures you’ll need to implement in your building to make it as fire-safe as possible — from fire doors and penetration sealing to fire safety assessments and expert fire protection installations

If you’re the Responsible Person for a property, you should already be well aware of your fire safety obligations as set out in the Fire Safety Order. However, it always pays to know more about fire prevention and protection, particularly if you could be involved in overseeing any building work on your property in the future. 

The BS476 set of standards is crucial to testing that buildings are sufficiently fire resistant and safe to use or inhabit. Read on to learn more about these important UK fire safety standards.

 

Breaking down BS476

The British Standards Institution (BSI) is the UK National Standards Body (NSB), which lays out certain standards across a wide range of industry sectors. Their role is to improve the quality and safety of services, products, and systems.

Learn more about the BSI as the UK’s national standards body.

BS476 is referred to as such because the ‘BS’ refers to these British Standards. The number ‘476’ refers to the specific suite of standards. The BS476 suite focuses on standards for fire protection. It specifies appropriate fire tests for materials and elements of structure, as well as grading the level of fire resistance.

 

The importance of BS476

A building may look great and be structurally sound, but if it doesn’t hold up in the event of a fire, it will be a huge threat to people inside. With an awareness of this, the UK has strict standards for how a building should be designed so it’s as fire-safe as possible.

By selecting certain building materials and incorporating specific structural elements, it’s possible to control how a building will behave in a fire. Making just one design decision over another could mean the difference between the quick collapse of a building in a fire or the ability to stand steady.

As you can expect, there are building regulations that demand building components to have a certain level of fire resistance. BS476 is important because it specifies the required fire tests for these components and grades the level of fire resistance. It’s a crucial part of ensuring that buildings are sufficiently fire resistant for safe use.

 

What does BS476 cover?

Within the BS476 is a long list of other more specific fire standards. You can take a look at an extensive list of the individual standards within BS476.

BS476 is concerned with two broad areas: fire resistance and elements of structure and materials.

 

Fire resistance

Fire resistance measures aspects such as a building’s resistance to collapse, fire penetration, and the transfer of excessive heat. 

 

Elements of structure and materials

BS476 dictates the fire tests for structures and materials. Specified tests cover everything from the fire propagation of products and heat emission from building materials to the ignitability of products and the fire resistance of elements of construction.

 

Questions about BS476

If you’re not a fire protection expert, BS476 can be a lot of technical information to digest. If you have any questions or concerns about fire safety standards, don’t hesitate to ask a professional. 

Feel free to contact us at JNR Fire Protection if you have questions about BS476 and what it means for you or your building.

 

JNR Fire Protection | London, Manchester, Birmingham

Looking for high-quality fire safety products and services that meet all the required UK standards? 

As fire protection specialists working to improve fire safety around the UK, we can help you meet your fire protection requirements. From fire boarding to installing fire barriers and doors, we provide a range of fire safety services.

With an exemplary record here at JNR, we are proud to say that we are the fire protection supplier of choice for numerous leading UK companies. We are Firas Accredited, Chas Accredited, and Constructionline & Builders Profile certified.

Are you looking for fire doors as part of your commercial building’s fire protection in Manchester? Perhaps you’re searching for fire barriers in London? Or hoping to improve fire protection in your Birmingham office? Whatever you need to improve your site’s fire safety, see how the JNR team can help. We are also located in Coventry, Leicester and Nottingham, so ask us about our closest location to you.

Contact us today to discuss our fire protection services.