The Roundtable: Riser Shafts: Who is responsible?

In recent years, fire safety in tall buildings has really come into focus. The need for safer buildings and efficient riser design was exacerbated further by the Grenfell tragedy. As one of the UK’s leading experts in riser zone design, Ambar Kelly held a roundtable looking at riser shafts, whose responsibility they are, and what can be done to make them safer. Nick Atkinson, Director of Ambar Kelly, discusses the points raised.

While many contractors are only concerned with the fall from height risk of riser shafts, the issue of fire safety is no less important. In fact, to create safer buildings, the construction industry needs a real paradigm shift in how it sees the fundamental purpose of riser design. However, there is no general consensus for who is responsible for riser zones, which presents a serious issue because contractors may attempt to evade responsibility for riser zone design.

With that in mind, the roundtable was held in the hope that the construction industry could look internally at what can be done to design-out risk in the initial stages of construction and better understand who is responsible for riser shafts.

Before the participants focused on identifying who is responsible for the riser shaft, they revealed the importance of addressing riser-related fire issues at the design stage. Nick Atkinson, Managing Director at Ambar Kelly, advocated for architects and contractors to take a holistic approach to a building’s design to ensure longstanding buildings that remain safe, including taking riser shafts into account.

When looking at the issue of responsibility, Andrew Furness, who co-authored HSG168 and the Joint Codes of Practice (JCoP) Eighth Edition, believed that a decision needed to be ultimately left with the principal contractor. In fact, he suggested that inefficient decisions can often be made because the responsibility is passed to the frame sub-contractor, who won’t necessarily be directed as to what materials should be used for effective protection.

Furthermore, both him and Lucy Craig, Operations Director and Design Leader at Mace Group, both noted that while the principal designer is there to consider the design risks associated with the design that’s placed in front of them, that’s not always what actually happens on a project. To correct this, Andrew recommended going back to basics to help people actually understand what their role and responsibility is.

Regardless of who is responsible for the riser shaft, it’s imperative that the finest systems are installed in it to prevent the spread of smoke and flames, as well as preventing trips and falls. That’s where Ambar Kelly’s RiserSafe® flooring can help. A total riser zone system, the RiserSafe® supplies multiple functions across the various disciplines involved in riser design and implementation. Beneficial to all key parties involved in the delivery of the project, the RiserSafe® saves on costs and time and saves lives.