Issue 10

Façade fires do not occur often, in comparison to other major structure fires only 1.3 – 3 % of the total number of structure fires [1], but relatively recently several high-profile façade fires have occurred around the world that have had major consequences such as the fires in the United Arab Emirates, Australia, China, France and the United Kingdom. [1-3]

These external fires spread rapidly from floor to floor and sometimes large parts of the whole building is engulfed in fire as became obvious in the very recent tragic fire in the Grenfell Tower in London in which 71 people died. This shows the importance to limit or delay fire spread to higher floors. Requirements built on large scale fire testing will decrease the risk of these types of fires together with quality systems to ensure that the buildings are constructed according to the tested construction. However, the recent fires and the continuous introduction of new materials and façade systems might call for an update of these tests and regulations.