In this field, most of the products are BENOR certified, the quality label on which BOSEC is based.

Passive prevention

is based on:

  • the use of materials with a reaction to fire that delays the development of a fire that has started,
  • the realisation of a compartmentalisation with sufficient fire resistance to limit the development of the fire for a given time.

In addition, evacuation routes and exits allowing people to escape must be provided in sufficient numbers. Measures that improve the fire resistance of building elements offer, through their more permanent character, more safety for fire prevention.

 

Discuss it with you architect or consultancy firm

As with any other profession, you want to work with the best contractors and avoid problems and malfunctions wherever possible. As well as financial savings and the satisfaction of protecting your assets, the safety of all occupants is also assured, and that's priceless!

Your architect or consultant might not be familiar with the BOSEC ans BENOR collective quality labels as, due to their voluntary nature, they are not covered by official graduate and master's study programs. As such, they are not required by the law or regulations either but, just like the official standards, they still represent best practice and should be complied with by any responsible building owner. Failing that, you must be able to demonstrate the application of regulations that are at least equivalent. 

 

Evaluation of your contractor

As a contracting body or project manager, it's vital to choose your contractors carefully. While certifications such as ISO 9000, VCA, BeSACC, etc. do provide added value, none of them actually assesses the level of capability and know-how of the technicians, the design quality of the systems installed or the quality of the products deployed. It is on these elements that the BOSEC quality label focuses. 

You should therefore ensure that your contractors possess BOSEC and/or BENOR certifications, or ISIB approval in the case of installing fire doors, as these are essential for the correct completion of your work.

 

A recognised brand

Only buildings which have been constructed in accordance with best industry practice will benefit from a ten-year guarantee and consequently be insurable. The integrity of  the compartmentation in the event of fire is just as important as the guarantee of the building's structural stability under normal usage conditions.

The Federal Government and the Regions consistently support initiatives that help limit the deployment of the emergency services and therefore help save public funds. Due to Eureopean directives, the BOSEC and BENOR quality labels can unfortunaterly no longer be referred to in Belgian regulations but the fact they were previously cited testifies to the authorities' support of the sectoral federations belonging to the ANPI association. 

Important: while the quality labels can no longer be included in the regulations, they can be referred to in the specifications produced by local/regional councils when they are the contracting authority for a defined project. This provision is supported by Directive EC/2014/24.

 

Serious savings for your building

The BOSEC and BENOR quality labels are specifications in themselves. The 'as-built' documents which should be issued to you describe the exact products and methods to be used. These documents are therefore extremely useful when subsequent work needs to be conducted. An act as simple as drilling through a partition to route an electrical or computer cable through it can, if best practice is not followed, have a dramatic effect in the case of fire, as small perforations of this type destroy the smoke-tight sealing and thermal insulation of the walls, no matter how meticulous the original design might have been.

So it's important to include the BOSEC and BENOR reference systems in subsequent work files, as stipulated in Directive EC/92/57 !

 

Visit www.anpi.eu for more certified products and other useful information.

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