Introduction to Fire Safety Management

9.2.2 Active 
fi re protection
Active fi re protection systems may detect or extinguish a 
fi re, with a water sprinkler or inert gas fl ooding installation 
performing both functions. An automatic fi re detection 
installation will detect heat or combustion products of a 
fi re in its early stages and raise the alarm. Such systems 
should be monitored remotely when the building is not 
occupied to allow the fi re brigade to be summoned with-
out delay, thus reducing the damage. A sprinkler installa-
tion will release water from the heads nearest the fl ames 
with fl ow switches raising the alarm in a similar way to a 
conventional detection system.
Active systems also include those that assist in 
compartmenting the fi 
re such as fi 
re door release 
mechanisms, fi 
re shutters and mechanical damping 
systems. In addition other systems may be actively used 
for smoke extraction.
Neither passive nor active fi re protection measures 
can be installed and then forgotten; they require regular 
inspection and maintenance. Service contracts should 
be established with accredited contractors for installed 
equipment but the fi re safety manager should also 
ensure that regular inspections are made of escape 
routes, fi re doors and housekeeping standards and that 
suitable records of such inspections are kept.
9.3
Legislative requirements
The design and construction of buildings in the United 
Kingdom must achieve reasonable standards of fi re 
safety and resistance from a fi re starting inside the 
building or a fi re spreading from outside the building. 
In addition, all buildings must be designed and con-
structed in a way that protects the occupants from the 
fi re and ensures their safe evacuation. In England and 
Wales the legal requirements are set out in the Building 
Regulations 2000 (as amended 2006) and the Building 
Regulations (Scotland) 2003 for Scotland.
Figure 9.2
Front cover of Approved Document B

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