Let's make timber safer

cutout

The construction industry should not stop using timber but instead needs to continue to develop better ways to increase its fire safety, argues Barbara Lane

Since publication of the paper I co-authored with Susan Deeny on fire safety design in modern timber buildings, CLT suppliers and designers from the UK and Europe have engaged with us, as well as the Structural Timber Association. We see a desire within this industry to meet the fire safety challenges of timber – challenges that are not unique to this material, however. We want to be clear that we support a framework which produces robust methods for engineered timber in low-, medium- and high-rise buildings.  

Our paper has been used by industry body the Concrete Centre to imply that its content suggests the need for limitations in the use of timber. This is wrong. We need all construction industry stakeholders to be more usefully focused on supporting open and honest investigations into advancing fire safety design and construction, in all material types – something that recent events show has been far too long in the waiting. 

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