FootAsylum Heywood
The Brief:
The Client was installing a substantial amount of additional storage racking within his existing warehouse facility to cope with the increased storage requirements of their business and required the design supply & installation of a commercial BSEN12845 sprinkler protection within the new racks to protect the proposed storage arrangements and goods to suit the client & clients Insurers Aviva.
The warehouse already had an existing roof sprinkler system together with some additional low level storage racking, existing fire pumps and two existing water storage tanks however due to the substantial amount of storage racking proposed, the type of racking (very narrow isle) and the height of the racking additional in rack sprinklers were required on multiple levels which would overwhelm the clients current sprinkler system water supply arrangements.
Furthermore the clients existing water storage tanks (which were already too small for their proposals) were in a state of disrepair and a concern to the client and fire insurer as to their suitability to be maintained.
As such the client’s proposals and vision for the additional storage were declined by the fire insurers due to the lack of fire sprinkler water storage.
Our Solution:
We were confident that we would be able to undertake design proposals and hydraulic calculations and prove to the client & fire insurers that the additional storage racking arrangement and associated sprinkler protection would be achievable by designing, supplying and installing additional water storage (to supplement the existing tanks) to achieve the required water supply duration of 90 minutes.
We designed sprinkler system proposals and hydraulic calculation’s to suit the proposed storage racking arrangements, submitted to the insures and confirmed that if we could install an additional water storage tank of 245,000 litres (working in conjunction with the existing tanks) then the storage racking proposals and associated sprinkler protection could be achieved.
As the client and insurers still had concerns about the existing 2 number external water storage tanks we undertook an internal ROV (remote operated vehicle) inspection of each of the existing water storage tanks and provided a detailed condition and structural report on each of the tanks.
The ROV inspection showed substantial internal perishing of the existing internal butyl liners although the structural condition of the tanks was proved to be fine.
As a result of the above we isolated & drained both existing tanks, supplied and fitted new internal butyl liners to the tanks (this giving them at least another 10 years protection) and refilled and commissioned the tanks so the clients premises was down for the minimum amount of time.
The next challenge was for us to design supply and install the additional water storage tank required to make up the additional water capacity required.
The client confirmed there was no option to fit the additional tank outside the premises as the building was leased and the external site conditions were not appropriate for the large tank(s) required.
We proposed a solution to supply and erect 2 new (half capacity) cylindrical water storage tanks internally within the warehouse which was agreed with the client & insurers & these tanks were supplied and installed by Besseges contractors & connected to the existing external tanks & existing fire pumps thereby providing the additional required water supply requirements of the new storage racking and associated sprinkler protection.
On completion of the above refurbishment works to the existing water storage tanks and the supply & installation of the additional water storage tanks our client was able to erect his high bay storage racking within the warehouse, we were able to design, supply & install the new sprinkler protection within the storage racking as necessary & thereby allowing the client to store his goods to his exact requirements and in line with the BSEN12845 LPCB regulations and the clients fire insurers.
The Results:
On completion of the sprinkler installation the client has benefited from the increased storage levels, the premises has benefited from the confidence of an increased water supply to the new and existing sprinkler system(s) in full compliance with Allianz insurance requirements and acts as a 24hour 365 days a year automatic fire protection system which is designed to protect the building, goods and storage from possible malicious or accidental fire occurrences and is recognised by the buildings insurers as the best form of fire protection which is providing protection to the premises when the building is occupied or unoccupied and electrically monitored and linked to the fire brigade services for automatic attendance in the event of an activation.
Subsequent to the above installation the client is proposing to install further additional storage racking inside the warehouse (and additional sprinkler protection) and with the enhanced increase water supplies installed by Besseges this has afforded the client the flexibility & confidence to satisfy any of their future storage arrangements.