Fire Safety in Buildings with Efectis Expertise

Fire safety comprises all measures implemented to reduce the likelihood of a fire occurring that could result in loss of life, injury or material damage. These measures also aim to enable all living beings to easily move away from the fire location and escape with as little harm as possible. Fire safety measures can be implemented both during the construction process of a building and subsequently applied to an existing structure. The Regulation on Fire Protection of Buildings defines the persons responsible for ensuring fire safety as follows: a. Administrative authorities authorized to issue building permits, b. Investor organizations, c. Building owners, d. Employers or their representatives, e. Architects and engineers responsible for design and implementation, as well as executing contractors and manufacturers, f. Consultants, advisors, project control, building supervision and operations officials involved in the construction process and use of the building. The Regulation explicitly states that the fire consultant has a legal obligation. The fire consultant works together with the employer to prevent and reduce unwanted fire effects and to correctly plan fire safety requirements. The fire consultant should not participate in material procurement and assembly processes; they should only provide consulting, project design and implementation inspection services. Should the fire consultant participate in material procurement and assembly processes, conflicts of interest may arise. Nevertheless, the fire consultant must always maintain their impartiality. Although there is no requirement for a competency certificate to perform fire consulting duties in our country, fire consultants must possess engineering knowledge and experience in all subjects contained in local regulations. Additionally, fire consultants must be proficient in international standards such as EN, NFPA and FM. Fire consultants can, with their knowledge, advise employers or employer personnel on legal obligations, offer cost-reducing solutions, prevent "operational blindness" and most importantly, ensure that fire safety investments are made correctly and wisely, bringing time and cost savings.

Efectis Era Avrasya and Fire Consulting

Efectis Era Avrasya, under the Efectis Holding umbrella, provides fire testing, certification, fire consulting and engineering services to all global markets. Thanks to its extensive laboratory infrastructure, international certification competency, the knowledge accumulated through 70 years of experience of the Efectis Group and its experienced team, Efectis Era Avrasya is able to provide comprehensive fire consulting services. The Efectis Era Avrasya fire consulting team observes the fire performance of building materials through fire tests, discusses performance requirements with test experts and examines relevant standards, thereby expanding their knowledge base daily and gaining the opportunity to evaluate buildings with a more holistic principle. Manufacturers must conduct fire resistance tests for products they claim to be fire-resistant and must prove the fire performance of their products. These products are tested as a system in all their details. Products tested must be produced and installed in the field in the same way as they were tested with the same equipment and assembly methods; otherwise, the products in question cannot provide the fire resistance duration obtained and proven in the test.  

Fire Consulting Processes

Efectis Era Avrasya is able to perform on-site installation inspections of every building element for which fire performance is required, including fire and smoke dampers. It can perform inspections of many systems such as fire doors, wall shaft penetration sealing, fire walls, flooring, suspended ceilings, facades, dampers, smoke exhaust fans, and can provide technical support during the procurement phase. The Efectis Era Avrasya fire engineering team can not only design suppression and detection systems in addition to structural fire safety, but can also verify the correctness of designed projects. In addition to these activities, Efectis Era Avrasya, whose importance is only recently being recognized in our country, can offer performance-based solutions to its customers through advanced engineering services (CFD analyses). Within the scope of ensuring fire safety in buildings, Efectis Era Avrasya provides fire consulting and engineering services with a holistic perspective in accordance with international regulations such as NFPA, FM Global and EN.     Mustafa Salih Korkmaz Engineering and Control Manager Efectis Era Avrasya