Fire Safety on Construction Sites

Hazard profile

Construction sites typically present a significantly higher fire risk than the completed facility: fire protection systems are not yet in service or only provisionally installed, compartmentation is incomplete, combustible building materials and packaging are often stored without order, and hot work such as welding and cutting is a daily activity. Demolition works add the further risk of inadvertently disabling existing protection systems.

Measures

A protection concept for the construction phase covers fire brigade access routes and hardstandings, temporary water supplies for firefighting, minimum separation distances for storing combustible materials, permit procedures for hot work, and the phased commissioning of permanent extinguishing systems as sections of the building are completed. A named person responsible for fire safety on site coordinates these measures across all contractors involved.

Insurance relevance

Construction and erection insurers frequently require a documented site protection concept as a condition for larger projects or those built predominantly from combustible materials. Major fires during construction are among the costliest single losses in the CAR/EAR class, since reinstatement costs and delay to completion combine.