Fire regs update from specialist consultant

The seminar focused on a number of key legislation and regulation updates brought in following the Grenfell fire disaster, changes which aim to make buildings safer than ever before.

Due to the importance of the topic, a full half-day session was held with a presentation from DFC, a specialist fire engineering consultant used by Russell WBHO on projects throughout the region including Oxygen Towers, Axis Tower, 3 St Peter’s Square, and the Clayton Hotel in Portland Street.

More than 20 Russell WBHO staff attended, from design managers and project leads, to senior managers and those Building Student trainees currently undertaking their design management rotation.

DFC provided an overview of the Building Safety Act 2022, highlighting new requirements and obligations at the early and latter stages of a project, and highlighted changes to Building Regulations ‘Approved Document B’ and BS 9991.

Director Adam Monaghan, together with senior engineers Iris Chang and Matt Whitehead, then fielded a Q&A from the Russells team.

John Millward, Russell WBHO Construction Director, said: “This is such an important topic, one we were keen to explore and understand in greater depth, and who better to provide that than our trusted fire safety consultants. As part of our in-house training commitment we arrange monthly CPD seminars, but this was so much more than that and provided the team with a strong working knowledge of the issues. Everybody felt the seminar was extremely informative and we thank Design Fire Consultants for their time and expert knowledge during Q&As.”

The event was held at the newly opened Clayton Hotel in Manchester’s Portland Street. The team was delighted to return as customers to the 329-bed hotel they completed building earlier this year.

John added: “I also must say that the hospitality and conference facilities at the Clayton Hotel were second to none. The food, beverage and customer service were top-notch and we will definitely return.”