R Lewis has a commitment to on-going learning and development, with one of our key company objectives to maintain high levels of relevant employee training.

In September 2022 Ellis Jones joined our company to train as a Passive Fire Inspector Surveyor and since joining us, Ellis has worked diligently and professionally to learn as much as he can to support him in his new role.

Having completed several product and industry related equipment training schemes; in March 2023 Ellis successfully added the Independent Fire Inspectors course to his portfolio, passing with flying colours.

Neil Buswell, Fire Stopping Inspector and mentor to Ellis says, “Ellis has worked with all our teams, both on and off site, across the UK, as well as for many major clients. He has continually demonstrated a keenness to learn and progress.

We would like to pass on our congratulations on his success in the Fire Inspectors course. There will be future training courses for him with the ASFP and BRE and as Ellis consolidates his learning and increases his fire protection knowledge base, he will become even more of an invaluable asset to the R Lewis team.”

R Lewis & Co pride ourselves on the knowledge and expertise within our teams of fire protection professionals, all of whom are committed to providing the best possible service support available to our customers.

For more information on how we can assist you with your fire protection requirements, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

In January 2022 a new code of practice was introduced for the fire risk appraisal of external wall constructions (FRAEW) and cladding of existing multistorey and multi-occupied residential buildings. PAS 9980 sets the standards of how the review of risk at external walls should be carried out and recorded. Not every building will require a fire risk appraisal. The definition of an external wall includes any cladding on a wall and the underlying wall construction, load bearing or not.

R Lewis & Co have years of experience conducting compartmentation surveys, helping clients meet their buildings fire safety standard requirements.

In the past we have completed surveys on behalf of ‘duty holders’ needing to ensure their building’s risk assessment PAS 79-2 (FRA) duties for maintenance are fulfilled. We have been instructed to advise after something unexpected, such as a leak, occurs within the building. An incident such as this can expose a breach at a fire compartment, through a fire stopping material or at a penetrating service such as a duct or pipe.

We have also had instances where due to a minor fire or smoke damage incident, a subsequent inspection has exposed other potential construction issues or raised questions concerning other areas of a buildings active and passive fire protection measures.

Does your building require an external inspection?

A building’s Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) could refer to the requirement for an assessment of the external wall.

However, if the building is of traditional wall construction for example external solid masonry or built before the mid 1960’s, the facades have not been altered or added too with combustible systems then no further action may be required. The buildings operations and maintenance (O&M’s) content could also support these claims.

Report based evidence on the relevant external wall testing (BS8414) is also applicable and a competent fire risk assessor will review compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, making it clear to the reader that external walls constructions are to be part of the assessment scope.

Your planned maintenance schedule may have become more in-depth with the introduction of the latest codes of practice, and this may be the driver for sourcing expert fire engineering support or compartmentation survey services to assist you in meeting the necessary fire precaution standards.

Whether its internal fire compartmentation, including communal routes, hazard rooms, fire door sets or external compartmentation at a building’s external facade, where the scope and building conditions allow, R Lewis & Co Limited can work with you to carry out retrospective review of the fire safety design and buildings fire strategy. We can provide advice on existing passive systems and door set installations, maintenance, upgrades where able assisting to negate the need for extensive remediation and as required scope for new work.

Where the focus turns to external elements of structures, we would stress that that not all external wall constructions and cladding designs constitute a risk, and our brief may initially be to undertake exploratory inspections only and comment on the findings of the conditions found within the buildings design cavities.

When required more comprehensive ‘opening up’ surveys can be employed to establish the presence and condition of fire separation or compartmentation systems such as cavity barriers within the external wall build-up.

The latest building fire safety crisis – is your building affected without you realising?

The now more widely known building safety crisis has introduced many unfamiliar construction and industry terms to the attention of many; these include building compartmentation and cladding.

Cladding systems can incorporate multiple materials, used as non-load bearing water proofing and decorative constructions and encompass supporting structures, panels, insulation or lining systems which might include for design cavities.

External walls, ‘curtain walling’ make up the entire external wall of a building from inside to outside and include internal linings and external finishes.

Modern constructions that by design create the need for fire compartmentation can include areas at the external façade such as where linear movement joints and cavity spaces are required. The need for fire separation can also apply to retrospective designs following building extensions or renovation work.

If you are concerned about being able to conduct a fire risk appraisal to the correct standard and need help or advice, please contact us via our website or call 029 2021 5716. We would be happy to discuss your worries and advise whether we feel you would benefit from us completing an internal fire compartmentation survey or external fire cavity wall inspection.

Useful Resources:

Further information can be found in the standard content of PAS 9980, published in January 2022 this publicly available document outlines a methodology for a fire risk assessment of external wall constructions.

R Lewis and Co is an accredited installer of Injectaclad, a unique fire protection solution designed to reinstate the fire resistance performance of rigid and flexible wall and floor constructions where a retrospective cavity barrier is required.

Injectaclad were the proud winners of the Association for Specialist Fire Protection’s (ASFP) Fire Protection Innovation of the Year 2020 in recognition of our unique fire protection solution. The challenges of 2020 meant that the awards ceremony could not go ahead as planned with the presentation of the award being delayed until it was safe to do so.

Once restrictions were lifted, Injectaclad invited ASFP’s Business Manager Mike Ward to its head office in Cardiff for a more informal handover of our award, combined with a site visit and a demonstration of our unique product.

This award is great recognition from peers within the fire protection sector as the ASFP is a trade association representing suppliers from across the fire protection sector, including passive fire protection manufacturers, contractors, and testing/certification bodies.

The organisation works hard to maintain standards and its annual awards ceremony provides a platform to celebrate the best of the best amongst its members. To be included in this list is a great honour for Injectaclad and testament to the hard work put in by the whole team at Injectaclad for developing this life saving solution.

For more information on the Injectaclad solution, visit www.injectaclad.com

Construction Excellence in Wales (CEW) represents the construction industry in Wales and celebrates innovation, collaboration, and best practice within the sector.

The organisation recognises member’s achievements through its annual awards ceremony and R Lewis was proud to have a received a Highly Commended award in the Innovation category, alongside our partner Injectaclad.

Injectaclad is an acrylic based graphite sealant developed by leading fire protection experts. It is used to reinstate the fire resistance performance of wall and floor construction cavity details, where linear gaps are present within hidden voids that can allow fire and smoke to pass through from one compartment to another.

R Lewis played an important role in developing the application of Injectaclad and were the first company in the UK to be accredited as an approved installer.

For more information on the Injectaclad solution, please visit www.injectaclad.com

Visit YouTube to watch video of the awards ceremony.

The annual Construction News Awards are known as the UK’s largest and most prestigious construction awards and attracts hundreds of entries from around the country.

R Lewis and Co is proud to have made it through to the finals of the Best Innovation category in recognition of our work with Injectaclad, who were also included in the list of finalists.

Injectaclad’s unique fire protection solution is designed to reinstate the fire resistance performance of rigid and flexible wall and floor constructions where a retrospective cavity barrier is required.

R Lewis played a key role in developing the application of Injectaclad and were the first company to become an approved installer.

For more information, please visit www.injectaclad.com

It has been another very busy month for us here at R Lewis and what better way to finish it off than to receive recognition from the National House Building Council Pride in Jobs Awards 2021.

McCarthy Stone, Midlands acknowledges the part our team played providing “invaluable support” on site at a development in Abergavenny, Gwent

We are delighted to confirm our status as the first Jotun certified coating applicator for their Steelmaster 1200HPE products. This high performance epoxy passive fire, weather and impact protection system has been fire tested by Warrington under their Certifire certification scheme.

Developed to provide high performance cellulosic fire protection across a range of structural steel section sizes to include those usually unsuitable for higher levels of fire protection due to limitations associated with some thin film intumescent and other fire protection systems.

Jotun’s range of epoxy coatings enable substrates to be protected in extreme environmental conditions for up to 120 minutes protection. This high performance system will protect structures internally and externally where variable atmospheric conditions or high impact situations are expected. Structural surfaces required to satisfy fire protection and several other critical specification criteria, for example swimming pools, car parks, industrial applications and many other building types can be protected with 1200 HPE high performance epoxy.

Using specialist off site coatings equipment at our off site facility in Llandough we expect to take on board many more exciting new challenges using systems such as Jotun 1200HPE to protect structural steelwork and components for multiple levels of specified performance protection. We have our sights firmly set on expansion in both hydrocarbon processing and the off shore oil and gas industries; further establishing ourselves as the company with solutions for all your off site, in house and on site coating needs.

With several cellulosic coatings projects already completed at our off site facility this year, we look forward to working closely with a range of suppliers providing continued high quality performance protection for all our customers.

Download our Jotun 1200HPE applicator certificate

We are proud to announce we recently achieved accreditation through The Green Light Safety Assessment Scheme which has been approved by Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP).

R Lewis is working with Green Light to ensure we are compliant with current legislation and best practice in accordance with Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015 – Guidance 8. Further reducing the likelihood of accidents/incidents or near misses through association with organisations that are competent and aware of their responsibilities.

We were delighted to be able to assist some of our project clients with the supply of PPE testing equipment in London.

Having worked with Aspen healthcare over several months providing site survey support across the groups hospital portfolio, we were pleased to be able to provide valuable face fit testing equipment to assist the medical staff with their protection programme in the fight against COVID-19.

Our site survey services have also been providing support to a building project acquired by the NHS in Wales for the provision of initially 250 emergency bed wards. This unique contract has brought home the scale and range of dedication on hand in all our industries to get this building into service as quickly as possible, so that our key workers in the health service have the facilities necessary to provide urgent care and the protection patients with the virus need.

Our AGM took place recently at the Cardiff City Stadium and was attended by all our employees.  The day provided an opportunity for our growing business to get together and discuss a number of topics, which included an update on our training successes, with presentations from team members who had recently completed industry training, including the IFI Inspectors Course and an update on our on-going commitment to maintain NVQ qualifications.

Key discussions were had regarding the importance of industry communication and how we must continue to maintain our high standards and internal links between each department to ensure the best services are provided to all customers.

We also covered our latest project portfolio; the range of services the company offers its clients and upcoming product innovations and services the company are seeking to take to the marketplace.

We were fortunate to be joined for the day by members of the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFRS). It was not only useful to have them involved in our discussions, but also to hear their presentation, which covered a range of topics and included:

• Responsibilities and enforcement of the Fire Safety Order
• Services offered by the SWFRS
• Training and tools available to the fire service
• Types of buildings and their evacuation strategies
• Fire compartmentation and why it is needed
• Methods of containment during fire fighting
• Grenfell and what lessons have been learnt

The SWFRS presentation was extremely informative and very well received. We could all relate to the content and in particular the discussions concerning building inspections and the need for correct fire compartmentation to include passive forms such as fire stopping and fire doors.

Fortunately, the football ground car park was more than big enough to cope with all the R Lewis vans!