Why International Fire Safety Standards (IFFS) Are Needed.

Workshop
With Real Life Case Study Of Grenfell Tower Fire London.

Gary Strong, United Kingdom

Key words: Standards, risk management, professional practice, International Fire Safety
Standards (IFSS), trust, client and public protection, implementation, regulation.

SUMMARY

A global coalition of professional bodies, governments, academic institutions and others are
coming together as a result of the tragic Grenfell Tower fire in London in June 2017, on a not-
for-profit basis in the public interest to deliver a set of high level fire safety standards (IFSS)
that all members of the coalition will adhere to and be ambassadors for the standards around
the world to ensure consistency and adoption.
The growth in global population is driving the need for more and more high rise living vertical
village towers which are mixed use, as well as more urban buildings which may pose a life
safety risk. Occupiers, insurers and investors in these buildings need to be reassured the building
complies with an international fire safety standard.
Fire safety has to be paramount in these and all other higher risk buildings. We are not so
concerned by height but by risk - low level buildings could be high risk eg hospitals, care homes,
student accommodation, hotels.
This workshop will examine what happened in the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 in London;
what the government and industry response has been since; and what the lessons learned so far
are.
The IFSS coalition will appoint a standard setting committee (SSC) of experts to write the
standards and keep them under review and update them as necessary.

Why an International Standard on Fire Safety (IFSS) is Needed (9395)

Gary Strong (United Kingdom)
FIG Congress 2018
Embracing our smart world where the continents connect: enhancing the geospatial maturity of societies
Istanbul, Turkey, May 6–11, 2018
 Why International Fire Safety Standards (IFFS) Are Needed. Workshop
With Real Life Case Study Of Grenfell Tower Fire London.

Gary Strong, United Kingdom

1. WHAT IS IFSS?
IFSS stands for International Fire Safety Standards. It is a new, high level international set of
standards that aims to provide greater clarity and consistency globally in the application of fire
safety to buildings at a project, state, national, regional or international level. It sets out high
level principles that any person involved in the design, construction or managing of a building
globally would be proud to be associated with.

2. WHAT PROBLEM IS IFSS TRYING TO SOLVE?

Despite rapid globalisation, with investment funds flowing across borders and money pouring
into built assets, and increasing number of different professionals operating across the world,
the construction and real estate profession globally currently lacks a consistent set of high level
principles for the design, construction, and management of buildings for fire safety. Differences
in materials testing and certification, national building regulations/codes, and guidance on how
to manage buildings in use, particularly higher risk buildings, means there is confusion,
uncertainty and risk to the public. Multiple differing standards means there is no standard. For
the first time at a global collaborative level, IFSS will introduce a set of standards that will bring
greater consistency of minimum levels of fire safety and professionalism across the world.

3. WHAT IS AN INTERNATIONAL STANDARD?

In the context of the work being undertaken by the IFSS Coalition, an international standard is
something that is established and agreed at the international level and which is implemented
and delivered locally. The standard itself will be owned by the IFSS Coalition and not by any
single organisation. IFSS organisations subscribe to the shared international standard and
commit to its use and implementation through their membership.

4. HOW DOES AN INTERNATIONAL STANDARD WORK?

IFSS will set out universal rules that provide classification, definition, analysis and presentation
of fire safety standards at a project, state, national, regional or international level. Professional
institutions will incorporate these high level standards and rules within their guidance or local
standards, and we expect governments to support and/or adopt these principles.

Why an International Standard on Fire Safety (IFSS) is Needed (9395)

Gary Strong (United Kingdom)
FIG Congress 2018
Embracing our smart world where the continents connect: enhancing the geospatial maturity of societies
Istanbul, Turkey, May 6–11, 2018
 All organisations in the IFSS Coalition will participate in the implementation of the shared
international standard through their respective memberships and staff.

5. WHY NOT STICK WITH THE ESTABLISHED METHODS OF REGULATION

FOR FIRE SAFETY?
At present, the many contrasting standards across the world have contributed to uncertainty and
confusion in the testing, and approval, of construction methods, products and operation of
buildings. Research has shown that inconsistent approaches to the assessment and regulation of
fire safety can lead to loss of life in extreme cases through to a loss of confidence by
governments, financiers, investors and the public in buildings.

6. WHERE WILL IFSS BE USED AND ADOPTED?

IFSS will be used throughout the world both in developed nations and developing nations. Each
of the organisations in the IFSS Coalition has committed to its adoption throughout its own
professional membership.
Any building fire safety standard is usually purely voluntary unless it is referenced in the
national construction code, where it would operate as part of a deemed to satisfy
measure. Countries often currently reference a number of national, and industry standards for
this purpose. Anyone wishing to have a standard referenced in a national code needs to be able
to satisfy the protocols for referenced standards, which provides countries with a means to
satisfy themselves of the rigour and bona fides of a standard. The Coalition aims to have such
adoption by governments of IFSS.
Of course, a standard can exist outside of this regime and be used on a voluntary basis, but it is
unlikely that a building designed and constructed to such a standard would receive building
approval.
Managing buildings in use are often not subject to detailed codes or regulations. IFSS will
address the safe use and management of buildings.
Our ultimate aim is that there will be a public display certificate of compliance with the
International Fire Safety Standard in all higher risk buildings where the public have access.

Why an International Standard on Fire Safety (IFSS) is Needed (9395)

Gary Strong (United Kingdom)
FIG Congress 2018
Embracing our smart world where the continents connect: enhancing the geospatial maturity of societies
Istanbul, Turkey, May 6–11, 2018
 7. WHAT IS THE IFSS COALITION?
The IFSS Coalition is a group of professional and not-for-profit organisations responsible for
researching, developing, publicising, and implementing International Fire Safety Standards for
the construction and real estate sectors. The Coalition was established in September 2017 after
the awful Grenfell Tower fire tragedy in London in June 2017. The IFSS Coalition supports the
creation, maintenance, and use of high quality international standards, developed using a
transparent and inclusive standard setting process. Each of the Coalition organisations has
signed a declaration of support and commitment to promote and implement IFSS, and to
encourage world markets and governments to accept and adopt it.

The IFSS standard setting committee will consider;

(these are suggestions for discussion at the first meeting)
1. the desire for non combustible cladding on all high risk buildings - should this be
mandatory
2. the desire for sprinkler systems in all high risk buildings
3. the desire for fire and smoke detection central systems in all high risk buildings
4. the essential need for measures to deal adequately with smoke in all high risk buildings
5. the essential need for compartmentation to limit the spread of fire
6. the essential need for a fire strategy in all high risk buildings
7. the essential need for a fire risk inspection and assessment to be conducted at least
annually on all high risk buildings and at least every five years on all other buildings
8. the essential need for fire engineers/professionals to be engaged early in the design of
new high risk buildings and to ensure the final building delivered complies with the
design
9. the essential need for inspection during construction to ensure essential fire safety
products and detailing is delivered as designed.
10. to consider the definition of high risk buildings
11. to consider extending the standards beyond life safety to building preservation in the
interests of society (for certain buildngs such as hospitals and historic buildings)
12. to consider the different building codes and regulations that already exist and to
recommend changes to these as necessary to ensure consistency globally
13. to consider the different test standards for fire testing materials and combinations that
already exist and to recommend changes to these as necessary to ensure consistency
globally.
RICS with their experience of similar international standards offer to facilitate the meetings of
the coalition and the SSC and to publish on behalf of the coalition the final agreed standards.
Please contact for further information Gary Strong gstrong@rics.org

Why an International Standard on Fire Safety (IFSS) is Needed (9395)

Gary Strong (United Kingdom)
FIG Congress 2018
Embracing our smart world where the continents connect: enhancing the geospatial maturity of societies
Istanbul, Turkey, May 6–11, 2018
 1. THE INTERNATIONAL FIRE SAFETY STANDARDS COALITION
The IFSS Coalition is a partnership of leading organisations from across the globe, committed
to producing and supporting one shared set of publicly available standards for fire safety. The
Coalition are creating a Standard Setting Committee (SSC) dedicated to realising the vision of
shared and international standards.
Members of the Coalition so far;
AEEBC – The Association of European Experts in Building and Construction http://aeebc.org/
BCA – Building Control Alliance http://buildingcontrolalliance.org/
CABE – Chartered Association of Building Engineers https://www.cbuilde.com/home/
CEBC - Consortium of European Building Control bodies http://www.cebc.eu/
CIAT – Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists https://ciat.org.uk/
CTBUH – Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat http://www.ctbuh.org/
FIG – Federation International de Geometre, an international umbrella body of surveying
professional bodies globally http://www.fig.net/
ICC – International Code Council https://www.iccsafe.org/
LABC – Local Authority Building Control https://www.labc.co.uk/
NHBC – National House Building Council http://www.nhbc.co.uk/
RICS - Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors https://www.rics.org/uk/
The WORLD BANK http://www.worldbank.org/
Each member of the Coalition nominates a Trustee, who are responsible for the correct
governance of the Coalition and in whom is vested the IP of the publicly available free to
download standards.

2. WHAT IS AN IFSS SUPPORTER ?

An IFSS Supporter is an organisation, which is not a professional body or association, that
supports a collaborative approach to the development of international standards and commits,
in principle, to the adoption of IFSS.

Why an International Standard on Fire Safety (IFSS) is Needed (9395)

Gary Strong (United Kingdom)
FIG Congress 2018
Embracing our smart world where the continents connect: enhancing the geospatial maturity of societies
Istanbul, Turkey, May 6–11, 2018
 IFSS Supporters can include, but are not limited to, the following types of organisation;
• Academics
• Architects and designers
• Banks and lending institutions
• Construction consultancy firms
• Construction industry service providers
• Construction materials testing firms
• Construction companies (eg multinational firms with international construction
portfolios)
• Construction products firms
• Construction-related software providers
• Construction cost data service providers
• Engineers
• Facilities management firms
• Fire engineers
• Fire consultancy firms
• Fire risk assessors
• Governments
• Property agents
• Property investment firms and developers
• Surveyors
• Test laboratories
Prospective IFSS Supporter organisations are asked to express their interest through any
member of the IFSS Coalition, or by emailing gstrong@rics.org for further information.

Why an International Standard on Fire Safety (IFSS) is Needed (9395)

Gary Strong (United Kingdom)
FIG Congress 2018
Embracing our smart world where the continents connect: enhancing the geospatial maturity of societies
Istanbul, Turkey, May 6–11, 2018