“Project Fire’s sprinkler testing device to be installed across major London residential schemes.”
Project Fire’s Zonecheck Residential is the first and only UK residential sprinkler testing device to be independently approved. It will be installed throughout several large-scale residential schemes, including the Cherry Park mixed-use residential development, one of the biggest single-site private rented sector schemes in the capital.
In April 2020, the UK Government published its response to the building safer future consultation where it accepted 53 recommendations from the report. This process also triggered the improvement of the Approved Document B, which states that sprinklers must be implemented in buildings that are more than 11 metres above ground level from the 26th of November 2020. Any new residential and mixed-use buildings containing flats, or even work carried out on existing buildings from this date, must subsequently follow the legislative update and install compliant sprinklers.
Zonecheck residential was subsequently designed to automatically test flow-switches installed across a residential sprinkler system without discharging any water and with a simple key-switch operation. This is especially important for residential buildings because it creates less disruption to tenants and makes life easier for facilities management teams.
“Zonecheck Residential is a compliant and easy to use flow-switch testing system. The new compact CPVC model was released early 2019 and still remains the only approved residential flow-switch testing device currently on the market. Zonecheck Residential falls in line with BS 9251 maintenance requirements and is one of the most reliable, hassle free and cost efficient ways a residential property can carry out their sprinkler testing.”
Since the Approved Document B improvements in April 2020, several large residential projects in capital have installed Project Fire’s Zonecheck Residential. Cherry Park is one of those developments and is a single site private development which will include 1,224 residential homes across 3 residential towers and mansion blocks. Project Fire’s Zonecheck Residential will be installed throughout the risers so that each floor can be tested remotely with no disruption to residents or retail units. Compco Fire are the main sprinkler contractor on-site helping to install 140 residential Zonechecks across the huge development project, which will save the Cherry Park Partnership thousands of litres of water and man hours thanks to its automated testing.
Other major London residential sites include the Battersea Regeneration Project, Gas Holders in Kings Cross and the 16m ground-breaking Wembley Park regeneration project. The Wembley site was the first to install Project Fire’s newly developed compact CPVC residential Zonecheck, designed for easy installation into smaller residential risers and voids, 110 were successfully installed. The project covers a colossal 85 acres and includes the SSE Arena Wembley, 7,000 new homes, 8,640 new jobs, 7 acres of parkland and communal sky gardens.
Recent trends in the construction industry have also continued with the residential sector now reaching higher levels prior to the pandemic. Combined with the changes in legislation and updates to residential sprinkler standard 9251, we are now seeing an increasing need for sustainable and efficient residential testing and monitoring solutions.
Residential Zonechecks provide a convenient and approved solution for carrying out sprinkler testing with minimal disruption to the people living in and using these buildings. While building owners get peace of mind knowing that their sprinkler systems are being correctly tested.