BS 9991:2015 Fire safety in the design, management and use of residential buildings. Code of practice

BS 9991:2015 Fire safety in the design, management and use of residential buildings. Code of practice, was published on 31 Oct 2015 it was withdrawn on 21 Nov 2024. It was replaced with BS 9991:2024 Fire safety in the design, management and use of residential buildings. Code of practice which was published 27 Nov 2024.

see also BS 9991:2024 Fire safety in the design, management and use of residential buildings. Code of practice

Both previous versions of BS 9991 are complemented by BS 9999:2017 - TC Fire safety in the design, management and use of buildings. Code of practice (for buildings that are not residential) which replaced BS 9999:2008 and was published: on 31 Jan 2017 and is still current.

The British Standards Institution (BSI) is the UK National Standards Body (NSB). It publishes standards and provides a range of books, self-assessment tools, conferences and training services. It also represents UK economic and social interests in European and international standards organisations.

British Standard (BS) publications are technical specifications or practices that can be used as guidance for the production of a product, carrying out a process or providing a service.

BS 9991 is intended to help people put suitable fire safety measures in place in residential buildings, such as; fire detection and alarm systems, fixed fire-fighting systems and so on. It gives recommendations and guidance on the design, management and use of residential buildings so they achieve reasonable standards of fire safety for people who are in and around them and fire-fighters.

Both BS9991 and BS9999 provide guidance on the management of fire safety during the whole lifecycle of a building. It applies to the design of new buildings, and to material alterations, extensions and material changes of use to existing buildings. The are intended for use by:

• Architects.
• Fire safety engineers.
• Fire and rescue service.
• Fire risk assessors.
• Building control officers.
• Installers of fire and smoke alarms.
• Certification and installation scheme inspectors.

Changes to the 2024 edition, replacing the 2015 edition have been made to ensure the recommendations are aligned with new legislation, plus:

• Iin respect of fixed firefighting systems, and in view of the lack of evidence in support of the efficacy of other systems at this time, the standard has been updated to refer solely to sprinkler systems;
• There are no longer any explicit exclusions on timber;
• The scope of the standard has been limited in terms of reaction-to-fire classifications of load-bearing elements of structure to better reflect the available evidence on the use of mass timber in medium and high residential buildings, though this applies to all materials, not just timber;
• This change also removes the link between reaction-to-fire classification and number of stairs;
• The limit on building height is capped at 100m in the scope, based on the general principles given in the SFPE guide on very tall buildings. Additional considerations for buildings over 50m are detailed in the text where appropriate; and
• Residential care is now included in the scope.

Fire safety is a set of practices intended to reduce the destruction caused by fire. Fire safety measures include those that are intended to prevent the ignition of an uncontrolled fire and those that are used to limit the development and effects of a fire after it starts.

The recommendations and guidance given in BS 9999 are intended to safeguard the lives of building occupants and fire-fighters. Whilst some of the recommendations and guidance might also assist in the achievement of other fire safety objectives such as protection of property, the environment, communities and business/service viability.

BS 9999 provides recommendations and guidance on the provision of measures to control or mitigate the effects of fire. The primary objective of BS 9999 is to ensure that an adequate standard of life safety can be achieved in the event of fire in the building. A secondary objective is to provide a level of protection for property and businesses against the impact of fire, e.g. in close proximity to residential buildings or as part of the same building or building complex. These measures will help facilitate safety in your surroundings.

BS 9999:2017 includes some principal changes that were not part of BS 9999:2008. These are:

• Inclusion of flowchart showing the sequential steps in the design process, to assist users in the application of the standard
• Inclusion of watermist fire suppression systems
• Revision of recommendations for smoke and heat control
• Addition of recommendations for fire curtain barrier assemblies
• Revision of recommendations for shopping complexes

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• ACM cladding.
• Approved Document B.
• Automatic fire detection and alarm systems, an introductory guide to components and systems BR 510.
• BS 5839-1.
• BS 8414-2: Fire performance of external cladding systems.
• BS 9999: Code of practice for fire safety in the design, management and use of buildings.
• Building Research Establishment.
• Celotex RS5000 PIR insulation.
• Cladding for buildings.
• External fire spread, Supplementary guidance to BR 187 incorporating probabilistic and time-based approaches.
• Fire and rescue service.
• Fire inspector.
• Fire performance of external thermal insulation for walls of multistorey buildings, third edition (BR 135).
• Fire safety design.
• Fire.
• Grenfell Tower fire.
• Hot work.
• Place of safety.
• The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
• The role of codes, standards and approvals in delivering fire safety.
• TrustMark.
• Understanding the factors affecting flashover of a fire in modern buildings.