Boiler Flues in High Rise Blocks of Flats Deemed Possible Fire Ingress Point on Post-Grenfell Fire Regulations Review

[CHRISX]

Sorry - I should have posted this in the Central Heating section.

Hello All,

I don`t know how many Members would be affected by this and at present it is only a Boiler Manufacturers interpretation of possible amendments to the Building Regulations Fire protection relating to Boilers in Flats in High Rise Blocks:

I have just read an Email that I received from H&V News online magazine which contained a link to an article in which a Boiler Manufacturer has interpreted reviews / probable amendments to the Building Regulations on Fire Protection for High Rise Blocks of Flats after the Grenfell Fire disaster to mean that Boilers in these flats that have flues that are made from polypropylene plastic would be a possible point of Fire ingress in the event of a Fire getting to the area where the Flue exits the flats.

HERE IS A QUOTE FROM THAT ARTICLE:

In a nutshell, this Amendment effectively renders all boiler installations in high-rise buildings non-compliant as most gas boiler flues are made of polypropylene plastic (PPE), which is classed as a combustible material.”

HERE IS A LINK TO THE ARTICLE:

Fire safety amendments render 'most high-rise housing flues non-compliant' says manufacturer (I've edited your link and removed the [automatically-inserted] tracking information that was in it - Be sure to link directly in future, check links you're copying and find the actual root source, Dan).

The article states that approximately 20,000 Boilers a year are installed in High Rise Blocks.

Obviously most if not all of the Condensing Boilers installed since April 2004 will have polypropylene plastic flues.

The Boiler Manufacturer stated in the article that `they are the only Manufacturer of Condensing Boilers that make Flues from galvanised powder coated steel and high grade aluminium` which would be compliant with these possible Fire Regulation amendments so that is obviously why they are highlighting the possible problem with the polypropylene plastic flues.

I will be interested in the outcome of these Building Regulations Fire Protection amendments although it will not affect me because I don`t get requests to install Boilers in Flats in High Rise Blocks.

Chris

 

[snowhead]

It's not going to be a big deal for all other manufacturers to offer a metallic flue as an option for replacement boilers fitted in high rise flats affected by any new regs.
Any opening is a risk, aluminium burns quite nicely at the right temperature, so flues would have to be steel / stainless steel.

Plastic extract fans will have melted before the flue is a problem.

 

[CHRISX]

Hello snowhead,

You are right if these Fire Regulation amendments are ratified Boiler Manufacturers could re-tool to manufacture galvanised steel / corrosion proofed [powder coated ?] Flues but there most be hundreds of thousands of Condensing Boilers that have been installed since 2003 / 2004 which would now probably be deemed as `obsolete` by the Manufacturers regarding making new metal flues for them ?

I am sure that because of the Grenfell Fire disaster and other High Rise Block fires any new Fire Regulations applicable to High Rise Blocks of Flats would become retrospectively applicable.

If these Fire Regulations become retrospectively applicable they would not just apply to High Rise Blocks where combustible external cladding has been found and in some cases the existing Boilers would have been installed from Scaffolding while the Blocks were undergoing a refurbishment and depending on the external wall surface it might not be possible to manufacture / install a `fit from inside` Flue kit which would seal the Flue hole from products of combustion and blown rain ingress ?

I am trying to imagine what it would cost to erect Scaffolding on large High Rise Blocks of flats to replace Boiler Flues and how many of the Boilers that were installed in about 2003 / 2004 to 2008 could have new metal Flues manufactured and fitted regarding the manufacturer being prepared to carry that out for `obsolete Boiler models` ?

Your point about Extract Fans is well made and I am sure that they would also have to be replaced with a Fan that had a Fire ingress protection system / Fan Grille closing system or it would make a nonsense of the proposed Boiler Flue Regulations !

Chris

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Yes no boilers fitted in anything over 18m I think

 

[centralheatking]

To be honest I really do not consider any gas appliance should be installed in any multiple occupancy building. Maybe a gas fired power plant making hot water centrally and passed to the flats etc via a hex
on an energy meter. Ronan Point springs to mind. We advise buy to lets and multi landlords to rip all gas out...and it saves on landlord and tennants each year and saves the pratts blowing the place up centralheatking
I was taken to a dev of 715 dwellings in Manchester recently all powered in this way at an average of 7kw per 2/3 flat and it works