FIRE SAFETY
B&M WAREHOUSE: HOW PREFABRICATION DELIVERS SPEED AND EFFICIENCY The B&M group is the fastest-growing variety goods value retailer with stores operating in the UK, Germany and France. It has recently injected £100m in investment to create a new distribution centre in Bedford that is expected to create 1000 new jobs. The distribution centre will become B&M’s third in the UK and will support its southern operations. Started in April 2019, the project took just over eight months to complete. VICTAULIC
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very installation project faces its own challenges – but when the project is one of the largest in the UK and involves a warehouse measuring 1 million square feet and 22m up to the apex, the challenges inevitably become amplified. Fire protection systems in warehouses, storage facilities and distribution centres are extremely important: ensuring structures, assets, and most importantly, people are safe and protected should a fire start is a number one priority. To ensure the B&M warehouse is adequately protected, Compco Fire Systems (CFS) – the UK’s largest national fire engineering provider – was trusted to install the fire protection system. CFS understood that quality products and a trustworthy partner were essential to make the project a success. After working with Victaulic for 18 years, CFS knew that the firm possessed all the qualities to be the evident choice.
Preparation is the key Before a project begins, it is essential to create a strong design that allows the installation process to be visualised, with each step of the procedure accurately mapped out. In the 17 weeks prior to the project’s inception, CFS prepared drawings of the fire protection system with Victaulic products in mind, adhering to strict regulatory standards. FC&A – SEPTEMBER – 2020
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In the construction industry, standard practice typically involves the delivery of products at the start of a project to be assembled onsite. This can create significant and unnecessary challenges: time is often wasted, and mistakes are made as contractors search for pieces and try to prepare the correct volume of material for the specified work zone. However, this is not the only option: contractors can instead opt for prefabrication (premodulisation), where pieces are prepared and preassembled in the required quantities off-site. For this project, which had a limited timeline for completion, CFS opted to prefabricate much of the fire-proof system – with special attention to the alarm valve modules – leading to their choice to partner with Victaulic, whose grooved, easy-to-install solutions lend themselves perfectly to pre-modulisation.
