Draft Building Safety Bill welcomed by Swiftclean
Ductwork cleaning and legionella risk experts Swiftclean have welcomed the new Draft Building Safety Bill which, among other measures, advocates considering future safety at the design stage of every building.
Swiftclean has long advocated this approach with regard to allowing sufficient access in ventilation and kitchen extract ductwork systems, in order to comply with safety cleaning measures such as TR19® and TR19®Grease.
Swiftclean Managing Director, Gary Nicholls said, “We have been advocating considering future compliance during the design stage for many years. We often find that in order to clean all parts of the system thoroughly, even on a brand-new system, it is necessary to retrofit additional access points. It does seem only logical to factor in the need for future fire risk control cleaning, in compliance with TR19 Grease® in particular, when designing and constructing the kitchen extract system. The grease deposits that accumulate as a result of the cooking process are a serious potential fire hazard, and hopefully, this bill, drafted in response to the Grenfell disaster, will put fire safety measures such as TR19 Grease® compliance higher on the agenda.
“It is very common in large apartment blocks to have fast food outlets and restaurants located on the ground floor, with offices on the first floor, and residential dwellings on multiple floors above that. We saw all too clearly at Grenfell the importance of preventing the upward spread of fire.
“Kitchen extract ductwork is usually routed upwards, often travelling all the way to the roof, so it is vital that we can remove all grease deposits from the ductwork, at the regular proscribed intervals.
“The integrity of the water supply is equally important. We certainly should be designing systems in which the water flows freely at all times, through each part of the pipework and also through water tanks. Tanks need to be accessible for cleaning and testing for legionella control, but they also need to be adequately shaded and protected from solar gain, so that the water temperature does not encourage the proliferation of legionella, or other bacteria such as pseudomonas aeruginosa, Helicobacter pylori, E. coli and Mycobacteria avium.
“There are many other safety measures which should be considered from the outset of a property’s design, so this Draft Building Safety Bill is particularly welcome in sharpening the focus on these vital considerations.”
Nicholls has for many years served on the BESA steering Committee which helps to draft TR19® and TR19®Grease guidelines and the company has a long, award-winning track record in providing ductwork hygiene and legionella prevention services across a range of sectors, including social housing.
