RISE appointed by the European Commission

RISE Research Institutes of Sweden (former SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden) was one of the organizers of the “International Seminar for Fire Safety of Façades” in Paris 2013 and in Lund, Sweden last year. At the Lund seminar, the need for a new European harmonized large-scale fire test standard for building façades was clearly identified. RISE has since then been appointed by the European Commission to coordinate the development of such a standard. At present, the SP FIRE 105 test method is used in the Nordic countries, whereas other standards are used in other European countries. The existing standards will serve as a base of knowledge for the new standard development.

Yesterday the UK Secretary of State made a statement to the Parliament on the Grenfell Tower fire and fire safety. He concluded among other things that based on recent fire tests made, the hazard from cladding materials so tragically demonstrated in the Grenfell Tower fire, exists for many buildings in the UK. So far all the samples of cladding tested have failed. Last week the UK Secretary of State asked for the testing regime/program to be independently assessed. This was assigned to and carried out by RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. A full explanatory briefing note on the testing process is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/explanatory-note-on-safety-checks-and-testing.

The full statement of the UK Secretary of State is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/update-on-grenfell-tower-fire-and-fire-safety