Once again, looking forward to heading to Olympia London, where will be exhibiting at London Build on November 15th and 16th. This show is a great opportunity for to reconnect, face to face, with valued customers and engage with the wider construction industry.
London Build has earned its reputation as the "festival of construction," recognized for its mix of DJs, musicians, entertainment, and competitions. It offers the perfect informal setting to meet with the UK’s construction professionals.
Topic of the panel discussion
With an impressive lineup of over 350 exhibitors, an expected 30,000 registered attendees, 500 speakers across eight conference stages, and 200 hours dedicated to CPD training and education, there is a lot to be excited about this year.
Each year spins also angles on it with the case of a panel talk and the theme of the show stand
This marks the fourth year of involvement with London Build. While the core message of protecting people and property remains constant, each year spins a different angle on it with the topic of panel discussion and the theme of the exhibition stand. Let’s take a moment to look back at some of these from previous years. 2019 was the first year exhibiting at London Build, initially testing the waters, and never looked back since!
2020
In 2020, the year of the pandemic held a virtual panel discussion focussing on the importance of early engagement in firestopping and how current practices and mentality within the construction industry can and need to be improved further. With other industry experts, answered some key questions:
- How early is early enough?
- Who needs to be engaged?
- How can manufacturers help and what can they do to facilitate the process?
- Who should liability sit with?
- What training is needed to ensure fire-stopping contractors are compliant?
2022
Last year the theme of the stand delved into fire-stopping compliance and how can support all parties
Last year the theme of the stand delved into fire-stopping compliance and how can support all parties, from design to installation, to achieve this. As part of the journey, touched on themes such as cross-party communication, competency, and cultural change and how these can be achieved through manufacturer training and support.
Hosted a panel discussion in line with this messaging titled, The Journey to Achieving Firestopping Compliance. Joined by other industry experts, offering different perspectives, the panel discussion centered around the nine golden rules laid out in the Firestopping of Service Penetrations: Best Practice in Design and Installation guide. The key takeaways highlighted the crucial need for early engagement and tested fire-stopping solutions when designing and constructing a building.
2023
That leads to this year. While commitment to supporting all parties on their fire-stopping journey remains the same, understand that the responsibility for selecting and designing the right fire-stopping solutions lies with the main contractor. Accordingly, hope to start a more detailed conversation about standardized processes for main contractors, and how the implementation of these processes can significantly enhance building safety.
Responsible for ensuring the chosen solutions are compliant and installed appropriately
Typically, tested fire-stopping solutions are selected by the main contractor as part of the ‘design and build contract’. Therefore, they are responsible for ensuring the chosen solutions are compliant and installed appropriately. To achieve the ultimate objective of protecting people and property, different stakeholders must be engaged, making it a complex process. Because of this, highly recommend the creation and adoption of a standardized process for every project.
Potential challenges
On the 16th of November (11 a.m., the Fire Safety Stage), will be hosting a panel discussion. This will bring together key players responsible for driving change in the industry to discuss what is involved in creating a standardized process, the organizational benefits, and potential challenges when implementing these.
Craig Wells, Sales Director, said: “Decisions related to fire stopping are among the most important choices we’ll ever make. They are life-critical. The implementation of standardized processes encourages competency, ultimately, enhancing building safety. The team looks forward to another year exhibiting at London Build and discussing this subject more with like-minded industry professionals.”
