Protect Your Investments

Image courtesy OHRA

Warehouses and storage facilities house valuable stock and machinery, so a wellprotected property against fire is crucial. Iain Cox, chair of the Business Sprinkler Alliance, explains how his organisation can help.

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he past 25 years have seen the construction of a huge number of new buildings. Yet, questions remain regarding fire safety features and strategies within many of these properties. One has to question why fire safety has not been held in the same regard as a buildings design, aesthetics or ‘green’ credentials. The optimistic belief that a fire “will not happen to me” could explain why businesses are not always considering the real impact of fire and its consequences. They underestimate the direct financial impact on both the property and the business, and the time it takes to recover from a fire. This all can have an impact on business value over time. A business property that is well-protected in terms of fire protection and safety will have a far greater intrinsic value, yet the ‘market’ does not seem to value this.

When you look at the value of a property, it’s important to think about performance over time. We use metrics, data and evaluations to do this. However how does this include considering risk and events that may happen, like fire. Compare this to an EPC rating, which is seen as a key indicator of energy efficiency of a building and energy costs. This information has to be provided when a property is sold. The lack of a rating would be questioned, and the value of the property is impacted if the information isn’t provided. The same is not always true for fire safety, there are no fire safety ratings of buildings. If fire safety information is not available it does not always lead to questions. It should do and this is perhaps a more prominent item for certain buildings today. Fundamentally we need to be asking how the building delivers fire safety and is protected against such events, and where is the information to support this? This should become a valuable piece of information for any owner and similarly have a negative impact on the value if not provided across all buildings. For example, if a building has sprinklers, fire alarms, documented maintenance, plans etc and another does not have sprinklers then the sprinkler-protected building is clearly worth more. If nothing else it has more equipment. The value of that equipment can be seen functionally but it is also an investment in terms of fire safety and protection of the property over time. A sprinkler investment means that if anything goes wrong, then you’re likely to have more of that asset left afterwards. A well-protected property therefore has an intrinsic value. Automatic fire sprinklers are not widely used in the UK partly because the regulatory guidance rarely prescribes their use and partly because even when prescribed they are often ‘value engineered’ out. Yet automatic fire sprinklers prevent large fires because they activate automatically over a fire, controlling or even extinguishing the blaze before the Fire and Rescue Service arrives. They therefore protect the lives of those in the building and the firefighters who attend an incident – but they also prevent significant damage or destruction of a building by fire.

The misconception surrounding the cost of sprinkler systems can be dispelled by looking at the true costs of a building over its lifespan. Some would say that if a fire does not happen the cost of the sprinkler system has been wasted. Why, for example, deliver a warehouse, factory or school as cheaply as possible but leave out fire safety measures – only to find five years later it is lost completely due to a fire event, resulting in greater costs? This goes back to a fundamental issue, that owners are perhaps not fully considering the potential for a fire during the life of a building. It is often manifested in not valuing what they own in terms of the potential to replace property and thinking that they are going to recover from a fire a lot quicker than they do. We need to place risk into context and understand the impact, so that what is at stake is understood and planned for appropriately. Clear outcomes in the face of fire can then be defined. An inescapable item is that the inclusion of a sprinkler system can prevent major financial and equipment losses, containing what could be a potential major disaster and ensuring it is only a minor inconvenience.

Fire is indiscriminate and inexplicable, but that doesn’t mean actions can’t be taken to prevent and control it when it occurs. As warehouses and similar industrial buildings are likely to proliferate in the coming years, now is the time to think of how, and why, we should protect these valuable assets which may not be glamorous, but nonetheless are vital as part of the UK’s business infrastructure. Protecting the value of such properties and those who work within them.

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PROUDMEMBER

Sustainable Style Wins at Chelsea

The MEDITE SMARTPLY Building the Future Garden recently stole the show at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022, winning Gold for Show Garden and Best Construction.

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esigned around the theme of sustainability, the gold medal winning Show Garden, MEDITE SMARTPLY Building the Future, was the company’s first ever show garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in partnership with multi-award-winning landscape architect and innovative garden designer Sarah Eberle.

The garden, constructed by Landform Consultants, highlights the possibilities of engineered wood panels and the brand’s commitment to sustainable building at the home of the world’s best garden design. It has encouraged show visitors to think outside the box in how innovative engineered wood panel products can contribute to the future of sustainable landscapes and buildings.

Alongside this year’s ‘wild’ theme, sustainability and climate change were the big talking points at the show. Engineered wood panel manufacturer MEDITE SMARTPLY aimed to showcase the brand’s commitment to longevity and wellness and most importantly, sustainability. The MEDITE SMARTPLY Building the Future Garden featured some of the company’s most innovative products.

Chris King, managing director – Commercial at MEDITE SMARTPLY, said: “The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the perfect opportunity to not only showcase to the world the incredible possibilities of engineered wood panels, but to demonstrate how versatile and environmentally conscious MEDITE SMARTPLY products are.”

The centrepiece of the garden was constructed using MEDITE TRICOYA EXTREME (MTX) which provides manufacturers, fabricators, and designers unlimited creative freedom. This lightweight, engineered wood panel is guaranteed up to 50 years above ground and 25 years in ground and is especially beneficial in environments where humidity and varying weather are usually concerns. MTX is an acetylated MDF and can be used in applications where normal MDF panels cannot. However, it still retains all the design, fixing, and machining flexibility of regular MDF panels.

The structure is inspired by natural vertical rock strata, such as those seen in the cliffs of Devon and Cornwall, which show a cross section of millions of years of plate movements and development. The structure aims to demonstrate MTX throughout its life cycle and show the versatility of engineered wood panels.

In addition, two SMARTPLY products will make an appearance at the garden. SMARTPLY STRONGDECK and SMARTPLY SITEPROTECT PLUS. SMARTPLY STRONGDECK is an extremely high-performance 30mm thick tongue and groove OSB/4 panel designed for the most demanding structural applications. Manufactured using state of the art ContiRoll® technology, it is suitable for heavy duty, load bearing environments, durable mezzanine flooring and industrial warehousing and storage unit floor space additions.

The garden was protected with SMARTPLY SITEPROTECT PLUS, a pre-coated on both sides, structural OSB/3 site hoarding panel that allows users to protect their sites or display brand messages to the wider public.

The result is an astounding achievement for Sarah, who is celebrating her 20th Gold Medal win at Chelsea – the most decorated designer in the show’s history. “It’s incredible! When I look back and I remember that first gold, it’s still as exciting getting a gold medal today,” Sarah said. “Creating this garden was a huge challenge and I wasn’t really sure that we as a team could pull it off, but we did! The response from the public has been phenomenal.”

Chris King, managing director of MEDITE SMARTPLY – Commercial, added: “The creativity and effort put in by everyone involved with our Chelsea display never ceased to amaze me. Winning both Gold Medal and Best Construction is a brilliant achievement and confirms the limitless use of our products. It’s giving visitors to the show some great ideas about how they can contribute positively to the environment in which they live or work.”

Following the event, the garden and building were donated to Andover Trees United, with the main structure being relocated to a local school in Andover.

More at  https://mdfosb.com/en/cfs  www.meditemakesitreal.com

The UK’s largest event for wood and timber in construction

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Do you have the right business management software in your tool kit?

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transactions have 2 major benefits: 1) they are minimising the amount of resources consumed – paper, ink, energy 2) the transaction is immediately up to date in K8 when the sub-task has been actioned, no additional effort required, no costly filing and storage. Hence efficiency, hence greater profitability. KCS’s robust cloud – hosted solution, K-Cloud, provides data security, resilience, business continuity and includes everything from servers to storage, system analytics and more. The solution reduces costs and waste and helps you scale as the needs of your business change. KCS work hard to ensure every one of its customers get the most of their K8 system. It’s dedicated team can provide a range of services including consultations, implementations, technical advice and tailored training. Isn’t it time you got the right tool for your business? Find out more about K8 at www.kerridgecs.com

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For more information call Terry Hanlon on 01925 270093 or email terry.hanlon@timbermedia.co.uk