53
PRO INSTALLER JUNE 2014
PRO BUSINESS
@proinstaller1
GGF Sets the
Standard for FireResisting Glazing
The GGF Fire Resistant
Glazing Group (FRGG)
has now published the
new Standard for “The
Specification and Installation of Fire-Resistant Barriers containing
Glass for Resistance
against the passage of
Fire and Products of
Combustion.”
The FRGG has brought together the group’s expertise
in a new standard covering
the specification, supply and
installation of fire-resistant
barriers containing glass for
protection against fire and
the effects of combustion.
The standard is ideal for the
training of installers and
glaziers in the specialities
of fire-resistant glazing, to
develop and maintain professional levels of competency within the glazing and
construction industries.
This GGF standard for
fire-resistant glass and glazing is the first of its kind.
Not only does it set core
criteria for installers. Others
will also find the standard of value in providing
guidance. That includes, for
example, those who engage
installation contractors or
who are responsible for fire
safety in buildings (not only
owners and facilities managers but also risk assessors,
fire safety managers and
competent persons under
the Fire Safety Order). The
standard is also a useful
reference for those who are
charged with overseeing the
application and enforcement
of regulations and fire safety
legislation.
Fire-resistant glazing is
used to limit the risks of
dangerous fire spread and
to give occupiers vital time
to get out of the building
before conditions become
untenable. Glass is a key
element in today’s buildings.
Much of modern architecture can be said to be
transparent, due to such an
extensive use of glass. That
means an important role for
fire-resistant glass and glazing – and a fundamentally
important place for the new
GGF standard in the overall
provision of fire safety in
the UK’s building stock.
‘much of modern
architecture
can be said to
be transparent,
due to such
an extensive
use of glass’
An associated GGF training module is also available
founded on the criteria set
down in the standard, leading to the development of a
GGF accredited register of
trained installers.
Some training has already
been carried out and the
GGF intends to develop the
training programme across
the UK through the Federation’s Regional network.
Giles Willson, Deputy
Group Chief Executive and
Director of Technical Affairs
commented, “In the last
few years, the Fire Resistant
Glazing Group has taken
significant strides in terms
of training and in trying to
educate the industry on the
importance of the correct
installation of Fire Resistant
Glazing. This new Standard
is a welcome addition to
the GGF Technical library
and will be used by the
GGF as part of our training programme which will
initially be free for all GGF
Members. We will shortly be
publishing dates and venues
for training days across the
UK and I urge all Member
companies who install Fire
Resistant Glazing to send
their installers to attend.”
The importance of Training and this new Standard
One of the distinctive
hallmarks of the GGF is a
sharp focus on the correct
specification, use and installation of glazed systems
in the wide role played by
glass in modern buildings.
That applies critically to
fire-resistant glass and glazing which is called upon to
work effectively and reliably
in the most challenging of
circumstances should fire
break out, whilst functioning in other respects as
standard glass products.
Members of the Fire
Resistant Glazing Group
(FRGG) are well aware from
their involvement with the
fire safety community of
the importance of fitness
for purpose of fire-resistant
installations in containing fire and providing fire
separation. They also know
from the supply of glass and
glazing systems to construction that the understanding
of fire-resistant glazing is
not as high as it should be.
Correct specification and
installation of fire-resistant
glazing systems are fundamentally important, but too
open to short cuts that can
be taken along the design,
specification and build
chain leading to higher risks
from less than adequate
provisions against fire. The
FRGG sees that it has an obligation as the knowledgeable industry body to do
what it can to raise levels
of awareness together with
standards of application.
‘installations
of fire-resistant
glazing must
simply be
fit for their
intended use’
Fire safety cannot be left
to chance. Nor can provisions for protection against
fire be treated on a “maybe
or perhaps” basis. Installations of fire-resistant glazing
must simply be fit for their
intended use. No option.
Fire is unpredictable and
can so easily become intense due to the widespread
use of synthetic combustible
materials in fixtures and fittings, spreading so quickly
that there can be so little
time to think about what
to do. Modern fire safety
design calls for effective
barriers to hold back flames
and the products of combustion, so that any