BS 8644-1: What you need to know and do now

BS 8644-1 is a real game changer in building fire safety. What is it and who does it affect?

BS 8644-1 is the new British Standard for digital management of fire safety information. Going hand in hand with the Building Safety Act 2022, the new Code of Practice gives recommendations for the management, presentation and exchange of fire safety information, using digital information management processes.

Intended to cover ALL stages of the lifecycle of a building – and applicable to those involved in everything from briefing, design and construction to handover, operation, and fire and rescue service intervention – BS 8644-1’s key objectives are to:

• give recommendations for the management, presentation and exchange of fire safety information using digital information management processes

• provide a safer built environment appropriate for its intended end-users

• reduce the level of business disruption and property loss caused by fire

• enable relevant, accurate and accessible fire safety information to be available to the right people at the right time.

Why is it important?

Because prior to its introduction, there was no guarantee the right people had access to the right information at the right time… even though the intention might have been there.

Regulation 38 of the Building Regulations, for example, includes a duty to hand over fire safety information, so those responsible for managing a building’s safety can do so effectively. That’s the theory, but there was no standardised process in place for that to happen in practice.

Commissioned in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety found that fire safety information handover either wasn’t happening or was but to a varying standard, with potentially devastating results.

Why the shortfall? Traditionally, the management of fire safety information during the various stages of a building’s lifecycle has been conducted in silos, with those responsible at each stage working independently of each other rather than together, which certainly doesn’t help.

Nor does the fact that fire safety measures are still often managed manually, using spreadsheets or paper-based processes, unlike other more digitalised disciplines within the industry. Imagine how difficult that becomes – and the potential for red flags to be missed – when there’s not just one building to manage but an extensive estate.

To combat these critical shortfalls, Dame Judith recommended  “Government should mandate a digital standard (by default) of record-keeping for the design, construction and during the occupation of new high rise residential buildings (HRBBs)” – a digital standard included in the Building Safety Act and for which new Code of Practice BS 8644-1 has been developed.

What YOU need to do NOW

The Building Safety Act 2022 requires ‘dutyholders’ such as building owners and facility managers to implement digital systems for record keeping, information monitoring, sharing and compliance for in-scope buildings.

The good news for dutyholders is it’s a lot easier than you might think. One of the world’s leading suppliers of quality door system components, Halspan has the answer.

Building on its long-standing commitment to improving fire safety in buildings, Halspan has developed Halspan Tracker – the simple way for building owners, facility managers and responsible persons to ensure the door systems and other fire safety assets they’re jointly responsible for comply with ever more stringent building safety regulations.

A better way of managing crucial fire safety assets, Halspan® Tracker provides a complete digital record of inspection and maintenance – in accordance with BS 8644-1 – helping to ensure compliance and providing peace of mind for everyone involved.

How Halspan® Tracker works

Firstly, a building’s door systems are each fitted with a unique Halspan® Smart Tag. This identification tag stays with the asset throughout its service life.

Next, a record of each Smart Tag is created on the Halspan® Tracker online asset management system. This record is updated whenever the asset is inspected or maintenance work is carried out. Over time, this builds into a complete picture of the asset’s quality assurance journey, from cradle to grave.

Scanning a Smart Tag using the Halspan® Tracker app on a smart device identifies the asset and provides access to its quality assurance record, which can then be updated as required or checked for compliance.

Simple as that!

Compliance made easy

Using Halspan® Tracker, dutyholders can view all their fire safety assets’ quality assurance data in one place, enabling them to see at a glance which assets are compliant, which aren’t and what corrective action needs to be taken. A significant step forward!

Safe and secure access

In her review, Dame Judith also says:  “Digital records are to be in a format which is appropriately open and non-proprietary with proportionate security controls”.

With Halspan® Tracker, all the quality assurance information collected is stored securely in the cloud, where the licence holder – typically the building owner – can access it at any time. The licence holder can grant controlled access to the data as and when required, for example to facility managers, fire door inspectors, and residents so they can feel secure in their homes.

A complete solution

The Building Safety Act 2022 applies to both current and future buildings. Halspan® Tracker also caters for both.

A universal solution, Halspan® Smart Tags can be retrofitted to existing doorsets and door assemblies or fitted during fabrication, as part of the Halspan® Verified quality assurance scheme.

Halspan® Tracker can therefore be used to build up quality assurance records for ALL an estate’s door assets, helping dutyholders to meet their legal obligations, providing all-round peace of mind and maintaining compliance, leading to the improved building fire safety we all want.

More information

For more information on the Halspan® Tracker asset management system and how you can benefit, email info@halspan.com, call +44 (0)3300 563836 or visit www.halspan.com, where you can read more about Halspan® Verified and what else Halspan is doing to improve fire safety in buildings, including the new Halspan® Inspection Services division.