The History Behind BS 8629

To understand BS 8629, we need to start at the beginning and why the standard was created.

In June 2017, Grenfell Tower located in North Kensington, London, was engulfed by a tragic fire that claimed 72 lives. This tragic event created serious questions about the fire safety measures in high-rise buildings, leading to a large-scale inquiry by the British Government. The inquiry culminated in the Hackitt report, which identified several issues in building regulations and fire safety measures.

One key area addressed in the report was the evacuation procedures for high-rise buildings. It’s recommended implementing a new evacuation system to assist firefighting crews when evacuating residential buildings taller than 18 metres high (Can be used in buildings less than 18 metres but not mandatory). This system aims to improve efficiency and effectiveness during emergencies and serves as the foundation for the British Standard BS 8629:2019.

The standard provides comprehensive guidelines for the design, installation, and maintenance of evacuation systems in high-rise buildings. It ensures that these systems are robust, reliable, and capable of facilitating the safe and efficient evacuation of residents during emergencies.

The Creation of BS 8629

BS 8629:2019 is the ‘Code of practice for the design, installation, commissioning, and maintenance of evacuation alert systems for use by the Fire and Rescue Service in buildings containing flats’. BS 8629 outlines how the Evacuation Alert Control and Indication Equipment (EACIE) system should be designed, manufactured, and operated to implement a safe and efficient evacuation. The British Standard highlights the system requirements of what an evacuation alert system must meet to ensure the safe evacuation of residents.

Many high-rise accommodation blocks follow a stay-put policy, meaning that when a fire occurs in an apartment, the resident evacuates while surrounding residents remain in their apartments until the fire is extinguished or the fire brigade determines evacuation is necessary. However, in some cases such as the Grenfell disaster a stay-put policy may not be the safest solution.

An EACIE system (sometimes referred to as an evacuation alert system) allows firefighters to initiate a phased evacuation when needed. This system enables the controlled evacuation of one or multiple floors simultaneously, improving safety and response efficiency during emergencies.

The BS 8629+2023 Addendum

In 2023, an addendum known as +A1:2023 was introduced to further refine and enhance the BS 8629 standard. This update incorporated lessons learned during the initial implementation of the standard, addressing practical challenges to make it more suitable for real-world scenarios. Key improvements included the networking of evacuation systems and the omission of voice sounders, ensuring more effective and adaptable evacuation alert systems.

What Does It Mean for The Fire Industry?

Newly constructed accommodation buildings over eight floors have been required to install an EACIE system (Scotland October 2019, and England & Wales December 2022). As a result, many fire alarm manufacturers have started producing EACIE systems, given the significant overlap in components between fire alarms and EACIE systems.

With this new standard in place, the industry is still adapting to these systems, including understanding the restrictions involved in their installation. Some of these restrictions include:

• EACIE panel to be housed in a vandal proof enclosure.
• Top of EACIE panel to be mounted at 2.2 metres above floor level.
• EACIE system to be wired in enhanced grade fire rated cable.
• No detectors or MCP’s to be installed on the EACIE system.
• No utilisation of the fire alarm system to be used as part of the EACIE system.
• 65db(A) in habitable tenant areas.
• No sounders in landlord areas.

Want to know More?

Should you like to know more about BS8629 and the +2023 Addendum we will be holding a series of CPD’s one being an ‘introduction to BS8629’ at The Event Leeds in May you can sign up here.

Should you be wanting to procure a EACIE system for your next project and looking for a manufacturer, designer, Installer or someone to service and maintain your system feel free to reach out to our team and they will be able to assist you.

You can also download the brochure to our EvacPro which is Protec’s Evacuation Alert Control and Indication Equipment here