Fire safety business, Thermatech Fire Consultants (TFC), is launching a new smartphone and android app Regulation 38 to help the property development sector report key information surrounding fire safety.
Regulation 38 aims to ensure information critical to the life safety of people using or working near a building in the event of fire is communicated to the owner, occupier and/or end-user; ultimately to make it available to the fire authorities to enable them to form firefighting strategies for the building/s in the case of a fire.
Following a number of high-profile fire incidents in recent years, including the University of Bolton student accommodation, Barking residential block and Grenfell Tower, the need for Regulation 38 as the ‘Golden Thread of Information’ has now become more prominent than ever before.
The ‘Golden Thread of Information’ is a term for Regulation 38 coined by Dame Judith Hackitt who is leading the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety in the Grenfell Tower inquiry.
It seeks to record key information about a building’s fire safety properties and relay this from architects to fire engineers through to building safety managers to owners. This allows the responsible persons to meet their legal obligations under the Fire Safety Order 2005.
To present this information, Suffolk based fire consultants TFC has created its new Regulation 38 app, for smartphones and tablets, which generates a Regulation 38 report, without compromising on competency.
Ashley Wood, Managing Director of Thermatech Fire Consultants, said: “We’ve invested heavily in the Regulation 38 app as we see it being a real game changer for the industry.
“This technological advancement increases accessibility for all stakeholders in the property management chain to the ‘Golden Thread of Information’.
“We have already experienced significant interest from businesses and associations within the fire safety sector and look forward to the app becoming a regular tool for building surveyors and fire safety professionals.”
Regulation 38 is a requirement under the Building Regulations for England and Wales to provide fire safety information to the ‘responsible person’ at the completion of a project, or where the building or extension is first occupied.
With more than 40 years of industry experience, Thermatech Fire Consultants has designed and developed the Regulation 38 app in collaboration with Ipswich-based software developer SimpleClick. The app makes it easier to record data and submit results instantly, producing a report presented in the user company’s branding.
Available to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play, the Regulation 38 app will take users through the steps required to ensure compliance with Regulation 38.
SimpleClick Director Claire Thorpe, who managed the Regulation 38 app project, said: “The Regulation 38 app is great example of our in-house created content management system, Doddle, which gives Thermatech the control over the app they require to create complex reports, efficiently and simply.
“The app allows users to track progress on multiple Regulation 38 reports simultaneously with the capability to work offline permitting report capture in remote locations. It has been a fantastic project for us to be a part of and one that we hope contributes to enabling key fire safety information to be made more accessible to all.”
For more information on Thermatech Fire Consultants’ Reg 38 app, go to www.regulation38.co.uk.