RISERSAFE IS 15 THIS YEAR – HOW HAVE THINGS CHANGED SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 2010?

March 26 2025

In 2010, the construction industry was introduced to Ambar Kelly’s innovative modular riser flooring solution, RiserSafe®. The world has changed significantly in the 15 years that have followed, but one thing remains the same – the superior fire and fall safety RiserSafe® offers.

Despite changes to building regulations and quality standards increasing the importance of riser shaft safety and the use of non-combustible materials, such as RiserSafe®, there is still a general lack of understanding across the tall buildings industry. This is exacerbated by the regular application of combustible GRP flooring in riser shafts and the assumption that, compared to non-combustible riser flooring, it is more cost effective.

While fire safety has moved ever-closer to the forefront of design and construction in the past 15 years, it’s important to take a look back at the shape of the construction industry in 2010 and ask the important questions of ‘how has it changed since?’ and ‘is that enough?’

What was the construction industry landscape like in 2010?

2010 saw the introduction of the Building Regulations 2010, a set of legal requirements for the alteration and construction of buildings in England and Wales. In addition to promoting energy efficiency and conservation, the regulations aimed to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of people in and around buildings.

Alongside encompassing a wide range of aspects, such as ventilation, drainage, structural stability, thermal insulation, and accessibility, the regulations also focused on fire safety.

The most important aspect of the 2010 regulations was the requirement that certain types of building work must be supported by evidence to show they meet the required standards.

This documentation would require the inclusion of any calculations undertaken to show compliance, test reports on building materials and products used in the construction, third-party certification, and evidence of any building work designed and constructed in accordance with the plans and specifications submitted as part of the Building Control Application.

With Health and Safety Executive data revealing falls from height accounted for 20 deaths and 3,957 major injuries in the construction industry in 2010, this became a major focus for those in the built environment. With the commonly-used scaffolding becoming costly, time-consuming, and unsafe, alternatives were sought.

Two very-contrasting products were therefore introduced in 2010 - Ambar Kelly’s modular riser flooring system, RiserSafe, and GRP grating.

Able to be bespoke designed and manufactured to meet the individual needs of each project, RiserSafe can accommodate all package interfaces in absolute safety.

The technologically-advanced modular riser flooring solution was designed with superior riser shaft safety in mind, not only stopping the spread of smoke and flame between floors but also enhancing fall protection by providing a fully covered steel frame.

The key differences between RiserSafe and GRP grating are that Ambar Kelly’s innovative product is non-combustible and factory produced as a module with all M&E holes pre-cut off-site, while GRP grating is combustible, site installed, and has holes cut on-site.

How has the construction industry changed since?

A lot has changed since RiserSafe® was launched in 2010. The tragic events of Grenfell Tower in 2017 shone a spotlight on fire safety in high-risk buildings (HRB), increasing the importance of using non-combustible materials and highlighting how shafts and cavities can cause the chimney effect, which exacerbated fire in this tragedy.

Following the Grenfell Tower inquiry years later, the Building Safety Act was introduced to focus on fire safety and evacuation provisions. The changes to Approved Document B saw references to the national classification for fire resistance, known as BS476 Parts 6 & 7, removed.

Consequently, now modern construction materials must be classified in accordance with Euroclass EN13501-1, with performance classes A1 and A2 for non-combustible products and B, C, D, and E for combustible products.

In recent years, suppliers of temporary fall protection products, such as GRP flooring, have referenced BS476 Part 7 Surface Spread of Flame. However, the Grenfell Tower inquiry noted these fire resistance tests give a false sense of security when references such as Class 0 were used.

This meant that even if the GRP grating had the required ‘fire resistance’, the project would likely be rejected when it was handed over at Gateway Three, as despite having a BS476 Part 6 or 7 declaration, it is still combustible. This also highlighted common misconceptions over responsibility. Indeed, contractors would believe the product’s supposed fire resistance to be correct and hand over the project to the next person in the chain, without realising they would often hold all the risk.

Furthermore, if a non-combustible class A1 steel riser flooring product was specified in Gateway Two and replaced by a combustible Class C GRP product, it would need to be recorded in the change control plan as a result of the change in design and associated risk. Additionally, any changes would also need to be documented before the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) would certify the building at Gateway Three.

One of the other significant changes in the past 15 years has been the substantial improvements in Building Information Modelling (BIM), with main contractors employing BIM managers, and their subcontractors designing in 3D to coordinate the building in the virtual world. These Cloud-based collaboration meetings eliminate potential clashes in the federated model well before a spade is put in the ground.

Ambar Kelly has moved with the times, investing heavily in Trimble Tekla bespoke RiserSafe macros, allowing the company to take the Tier 1 and Tier 2 contractor models and use them to factory-produce a RiserSafe modular flooring unit. This is then dropped into the structural frame and cast in, ready to receive M&E services. It works so seamlessly that the majority of people on site don’t even know it's there.

Conversely, GRP grating has not moved with the times. Installation still relies on numerous small contractors offering to fill holes on-site with combustible materials, only for bits of the grating to be cut away on-site to allow M&E services to pass through. This can often be in different positions to the ones initially designed, leading to site clashes, project delays, and additional costs.

In the 15 years that have passed since RiserSafe®’s launch, the world has faced substantial challenges, with rising interest rates and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis increasing the pressure on contractors to compete for projects and stay in budget. Utilising innovative systems such as RiserSafe® is a highly effective way of removing problems before they are on the critical path to reduce the potential expenditure on amendments, and speed up design and construction processes.

Education and the increasing of awareness are essential

While the construction industry has changed massively in the 15 years that followed RiserSafe®’s launch, with safety and quality standards significantly increasing, there is still much for the tall buildings industry to do to improve fire safety in HRBs. While RiserSafe® remains the pinnacle in modular riser flooring solutions, education and awareness of the importance of riser shafts and the use of non-combustible materials needs substantial improvement.

With that in mind, it’s crucial that manufacturers, organisations, industry leaders, and the government work together to drive increased awareness and education on the things that matter – for the betterment of not only the industry but building occupants, too.