Smoke control for warehouses and single storey industrial buildings

There are various uses to which smoke control systems can be put in the case of a fire in warehouses, factories and single storey sheds.

• To facilitate escape by providing smoke free escape routes.
• To reduce the likelihood of damage or loss to production or stock.
• To enable the fire-fighters to better see the fire and therefore to extinguish it more speedily and effectively.
• To permit greater travel distances to exits to be designed in, without the need for compartmentation, resulting in a larger or more open building plan. Where travel distances cannot be achieved under the Building Regulations, smoke control can be introduced as a compensatory feature.

A well designed fire ventilation system should be able to maintain adequate smoke free escape conditions at low level to allow the building to be evacuated with minimum risk of smoke inhalation, injury or death.

A smoke control system usually comprises smoke barriers to limit the spread of smoke at roof level, smoke vents (SHEVs) to exhaust smoke from the building and inlet vents to allow replacement air to enter the building, together with all necessary controls.

The potential for fire growth within a high bay warehouse can be much greater than normal due to the rapid growth of the fire travelling up the vertical racking.

Next steps

Contact Colt. We have considerable experience in the design and implementation of climate and smoke control systems in single storey buildings and warehouses.

All our systems are specifically designed to blend into the building structure, and where possible are concealed until needed. They are compliant with all relevant codes and standards.