Written question asked by Baroness Hanham (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Adonis (Labour) on Monday, 23 October 2006.

Schools: Sprinklers

Question: Whether they will make it a legal requirement that sprinkler systems should be installed in all new and renovated schools.

Answer: The construction of new schools, and building work at existing schools, is subject to approval under the Building Regulations, which are set by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). These regulations are aimed at achieving a satisfactory standard of life safety, including in situations where a fire breaks out. They do not require the installation of sprinklers in schools. y department issues guidance on fire safety in schools. Our current guide, Managing School Facilities Guide 6, Fire Safety, published in 2000, includes advice on sprinklers (www.teachernet.gov.uk/fire). We include further information on sprinklers in our new guide, Building Bulletin 100 (BB 100), Designing and Managing Against the Risk of Fire in Schools. This sets out how to achieve a satisfactory standard of life safety, and therefore how to meet the requirements of the Building Regulations, and suggests ways of improving property protection. BB 100 is still in draft form and is being revised following public consultation. One of the messages that came back from that exercise was the need for the Department to issue more detailed guidance on the use of sprinklers in schools, over and above what was already in BB 100. Consequently we commissioned further studies to be carried out. Work on these is nearing completion and additional guidance on sprinklers will be incorporated in the final version of BB 100. We expect to publish this early in 2007.

Secondary information