To meet Approved Document B of the current Building Regulations it only requires automatic fire sprinklers to be fitted to new high rise blocks that are over 30 metres in height (18m in Scotland).
There is currently no mandatory provision for retrofitting existing residential high rise blocks with fire sprinklers as it has always been assume
d the cost in terms of the actual installation and potential disruption to the incumbent residents would make the process impractical and overly costly.
Over the past couple of months a ground-breaking project that has been successfully implemented in Sheffield challenges these assumptions and should prompt a rethink by legislators on the fire safety provisions within our existing social housing stock.
The British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA), with the support of Sheffield City Council, Sheffield Homes and South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service, funded a trial retrofit sprinkler installation in Callow Mount, a typical 13 storey 70’s tower bock in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
BAFSA who stumped up the estimated £80,000 project costs through generous donations and contributions in kind from its own Members and other Fire safety associations both home and abroad, deserves praise for having the courage and conviction to take the lead role without any certainty of success.
Their confidence was not misplaced as the installation was completed within budget and in well under half the time 
allocated. More surprising for the sceptics was that not one of the 47 mainly elderly residents was required to vacate their flats during the installation.
Sheffield City Council’s Cabinet member for Homes and Regeneration, Cllr Harry Harpham, said: As well as helping to protect local people from fire, this project will provide meaningful evidence to local authorities throughout the UK of the potential to economically install fire sprinklers in high-rise properties.
The project is already attracting interest from other Fire Chiefs and Local Authorities keen to learn from the real time experience.
It is now generally accepted that the tragedy at Lakanal House in 2009 in which 6 people died could have been avoided if the 14 storey residential social housing complex had had the benefit of fire sprinklers.
It is estimated that there are between 4000 and 5000 residential buildings in the UK of a similar construction, which based on the evidence at Callow Mount could and should now be assessed for a similar retrofit installation. The vast majority of these buildings are publicly i.e. Government owned so just for once it would be nice if the legislators would emulate BAFSA and be proactive in promoting life safety for their tenants and not wait for another tragedy on the scale of Lakanal House before acting responsibly.
