Fire Sprinkler System - Europe

Europe

Renewed interest in and support for sprinkler systems in the UK, largely as a result of effective lobbying by the National Fire Sprinkler Network, the European Fire Sprinkler Network and the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association, has resulted in sprinkler systems being more widely installed. In schools, for example, the government has issued recommendations through Building Bulletin 100 that most new schools should be constructed with sprinkler protection. In 2011 Wales became the first country in the world where sprinklers are compulsory in all new homes. The law will apply to newly built houses and blocks of flats, as well as care homes and university halls of residence. In Scotland, all new schools are sprinklered, as are new care homes, sheltered housing and high rise flats. In Norway as of July 2010, all new housing of more than two storeys, all new hotels, care homes and hospitals must be sprinklered. Other Nordic countries require or soon will require sprinklers in new care homes, and in Finland as of 2010 a third of care homes were retrofitted with sprinklers. A fire in an illegal immigrant detention centre at Schiphol airport in The Netherlands on 27 October 2005 killed 11 detainees and led to the retrofitting of sprinklers in all similarly designed prisons in The Netherlands. A fire at Düsseldorf airport on 11 April 1996 which killed 17 people led to sprinklers being retrofitted in all major German airports. Most European countries also require sprinklers in shopping centres, in large warehouses and in high-rise buildings.