Floors, Walls & Ceilings
Survey to meet safety demands Crown Trade Timonox flame retardant paints can help specifiers meet their duty of care responsibilities under current fire safety compliance legislation. The coatings are chosen by property professionals across the UK for their ability to reduce the risk of fire spread on walls and ceilings, where multiple layers of conventional paint can create a flammable surface if they have built-up over many years.
V
ernon Kinrade, Specification Sector Support Manager, says: “Under current fire regulations, owners of all buildings other than single occupancy private dwellings have a duty of care to achieve and maintain conditions in buildings that reduce the risk of injury, risk to life and damage to property. “The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (England and Wales) and the Fire (Scotland) Act require the identification of a responsible person – such as an owner, property manager or an employee – who has a duty of care to ensure that a fire risk assessment of the building as a whole is undertaken. “Paints – even water-based products – contain resins or binders which may be flammable. Although a single coat of emulsion on a bare plasterboard surface
42 Public Sector Build Journal
is unlikely to form a hazard, over many years a build up of multiple layers of conventional paint over any surface can become a significant fire risk, particularly in corridors, stairwells and other areas forming part of a fire escape route.
■
Depending on the nature of the project, specifiers looking to introduce flame retardant coatings in a building can contact Crown Paints, who will conduct a free site survey
oxygen around the flames through the release of non-combustible gases, and by using a formulation that provides a barrier to the flammable paint layers beneath. Crown Paints offers a free site survey programme, to ensure specifiers looking for the facts about flame retardant paints get the right advice on the subject. Vernon adds: “As part of the site survey process, depending on the project, our specialists will make an assessment of the age and condition of the existing painted surfaces and can take a flake of the existing paint away for analysis, as this will show what coating system needs to be applied to offer the optimum protection. “These individual surveys ascertain the precise condition of surfaces to be painted. Ultimately, this means the site survey prevents over or underspecification and ensures that the very best, tailored solution can be recommended. “For example, we often find for 80% of projects where Timonox is specified, only two coats of the product are needed. This makes optimal use of budgets for our clients. “We can also establish that there is often no need for the client to undertake the costly removal of existing coatings.” Crown Trade’s latest video, The Right Paint For The Job – found at www.youtube.com/crowntradetv – includes footage of a burn test, which compares Timonox against conventional paint.
info@crownpaintspec.co.uk enq 018
Risk assessment “This is a serious concern for both private and public sector organisations which have a duty of care to minimise fire risk and guard against potential loss of life, injury and property damage.” Applied on the walls and ceilings of corridors, stairwells and other communal areas that form part of a circulation area or fire escape routes, Timonox can help provide additional time for a building to be safely evacuated. The coatings work by limiting the
Across the UK, Crown Trade Timonox Flame Retardant Coatings are specified as part of fire safety management programmes