A new report by the Fire Protection Association has cast doubt over the use of timber frame structures for high-rise housing, forcing the UK Timber Frame Association to act on its recommendations.

Focusing on the Colindale fire last July, when a six-storey timber frame housing scheme burned to the ground in nine minutes – caused, probably, by a discarded cigarette – the FPA report questions whether timber frame is a safe construction method. It also questions whether timber high-rise developments are safe upon completion. In the week of publication the findings were supported by another fire, which destroyed a timber-frame student accommodation block under construction in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

The UKTFA has said its association members will be expected to act upon the report by installing vertical fire compartmentalisation every 20 metres in buildings more than three storeys high.

Source

Construction Manager

Postscript

Use of timber frame increased by 7.5% in all housing starts last year, three times the rate of masonry methods. The value of the timber frame industry is also expected to have grown by 11% in 2006, rising to £542m.