Latest News
Latest news, views and events concerning SEFV and our Fire Alarm Design & Installation Services
AOV Installation Prestigious Private School Hertfordshire
South East Fire & Vent has recently completed an AOV Installation to a Prestigious Private School based in Hertfordshire as part of a £25 million expansion project to their Teaching & Research Blocks. Using the #Haes-technologies MZ-AOV Range of control panels it controlled window operated actuators (supplied by others) a total of 8 window actuators were controlled by the 10Amp version linked to the house fire alarm, with a firemans override switch fitted at the bottom of the stairs. This was an Architects driven design which caused some compliancy issues & 3rd party installation & supply of actuators due to facia [...]
AOV Installation Cambridge
South East Fire Vent were recently instructed by a reputable Electrical Contractor to carry out the AOV & Smoke Clearance works to a prestigious development situated near Cambridge University for Hills Construction. Our scope of works was a simple one, provide the wiring solution & final fix equipment for 2 apartment blocks & final fix & commission the system. Due to delays by the builder this took 2 days to complete. South East Fire & Vent are based in Chelmsford, Essex & carries out Life Safety System Design, Installation, Commission & Maintenance Services across Essex, Kent, Suffolk, East Sussex, Cambridgeshire & [...]
New AOV System to Prestige Development in Hertfordshire
South East Fire & Vent have just completed a new AOV/Smoke Clearance System in a prestige Development in Hertfordshire. SEFV are proud to have taken over maintenance of a prestige development of exclusive apartments set in 55 acres of land in hertfordshire. After recently completing the first maintenance visit it was found that on one block there was no AOV/Smoke Clearance System installed depsite the previous Service provider reporting that "all was ok" with the system. The site had a window motor fitted along with a green break glass call point marked up as "AOV", upon testing it was found that [...]
New Project – Replacement of Non Compliant Smoke Clearance System
March 2022 South East Fire & Vent were recommended by a Consultant we have previously worked with to help with a planning issue at a Doctors Surgery in East London. The previous installation company had miss-sold the project based upon incorrect information & product selection given to the end user & wasted 10s of thousands of pounds installing 2 "closed protocol" mechanical smoke clearance systems that did not have planning permission for them. The original system was only installed in 2018 & we were asked to come in & provide a solution to the site that complied with current Building Regulations. [...]
New Project – Smoke Clearance Dec 21
South East Fire & Vent have been awarded a project in Kent installing 4 new AOV Smoke Clearance systems to 4 stairwells in a large Warehouse. The brief was that the fire officer required the 4 internal stairwells added during a fit out of a 250,000sqft warehouse after the installation of 4 mezzanine floor to have a smoke clearance system fitted. We opted to use our Haes AOV Controllers along with Sertus Solid Aluminimum Roof Vents for this installation. Incumbent contractors interfaced our system into the house fire alarm. As this warehouse is over 25m high we had to employ a [...]
Project Update Stock – November 21
November 21 - Project Update Our project in Stock, Essex has now been completed, this prestigious development of 9 exclusive apartment buildings in rural Essex has now been handed over. South East Fire & Vent fitted a bespoke L5 fire system throughout the common area of this 4 storey development & car park, Fitted bespoke smoke dampers throughout common area corridors & stairwells, fitted our EN1201 approved roof vents & fitted a car park smoke clearance system with Carbonmonoxide Detectors fitted. All of these systems have been interlinked together forming a smoke clearance system & fire strategy that compliments the [...]
BS7346-8 – Smoke ventilation Maintenance
Tenant safety, fire protection and the diverse range of relevant legislation have long been a key focus for facilities managers and landlords, but in recent months, these elements have taken on a new significance. Compliance has always been essential, but changes over time, together with regulation updates and the introduction of the BS7346 Part 8 Code of Practice have prompted new questions, nationwide, about whether existing life safety smoke ventilation systems are compliant. The maintenance of smoke ventilation systems is mandated by British Standard BS7346-8, which states minimum compliance of two service visits per annum are required by suitably trained engineers, [...]
A note About Safety – A Home Office Study
According to Home Office figures, smoke accounts for almost 80% of all fire related deaths in the UK. It’s not only the inhalation of toxic smoke and hot gases, caused by the burning of furniture and building materials that create the problem, but also the reduced levels of oxygen that reach the blood stream. Oxygen makes up around 21% of ambient air, but if it drops by only 4%, our judgement and co-ordination are impaired, another 8% drop and we lose consciousness. At just 6% oxygen in the air, we experience respiratory and cardiac arrest and ultimately death. To increase the [...]
Case Study – North Point Horsham 105 Unit Apartment Block
SEFV were asked to provide a solution for an office conversion to flats for the life safety systems. The design brief had 2 blocks with 105 flats based over 3 floors with a basement car park in each block. Within each corridor there was a requirement for a smoke shaft that had to be constructed. As SEFV are reknown for "thinking outside the box" there was no space to create the natural shaft required so we suggest decommissioning one of the 2 lifts within each block & converting that into a smoke shaft, which as a pre-cast construction complied with all [...]
Case Study – Brentwood – Office Conversion to Flats – AOV System
Case Study - Brentwood - Office Conversion to Flats - AOV System SEFV were contacted by the Architect to provide a solution to a development in the heart of Brentwood for the AOV system to a listed building without installing louvered vents to the corridors and with keeping of the original look of the building. Our solution was to motorise new windows within the corridors with En1201 approved Windowmaster Motors & provide our bespoke SafeAir motorised Fire/Smoke Louvers to a smoke shaft at the other end of the protected corridor, along with our bespoke SafeAir Penthouse Roof Louver at the top [...]
A note to Developers, Specifiers & End Users
Lets talk about costs, product selections & appointment of a Life Safety Contractor shall we? Product Selection Lets face facts, none of us like to spend money unnecessarily in whatever walk of life we do, we’re always looking at trying to save a bit here & there, but from a “fit for use” purpose in a life safety system what do you “actually” get & what are the “true” savings? We all know that the larger the Company/Organisation, the more expensive things will be due to the overheads & why should we pay for that right? But the same could apply [...]
Open or Closed Protocol Product Selection
Open or Closed Protocol: Your Guide to Making an Informed Decision Introduction The options afforded by the ever-evolving technologies in the Life Safety Industry are many and varied and, for the majority of today’s businesses and property owners, can be confusing. You will receive advice from all quarters; the manufacturers of the equipment, the system designers/installers or your facilities management providers. Regardless of the reasons that any one type of system is chosen over another, there is an absolute necessity that all of its components work seamlessly in providing the rapid and dependable detection of fire. There are also other considerations [...]