An advanced smoke & heat exhaust ventilation (SHEV) system developed by smoke and natural ventilation specialist SE Controls has received full Registered Detail Certification from the LABC (Local Authority Building Control) following a detailed and extensive performance evaluation process.

The new SHEVTEC® Extended Travel Distance System was developed by SE Controls to provide an off the shelf solution for developers to deliver extended travel distances with a single escape staircase while avoiding the expense of costly CFD modelling.

Due to the safety critical nature of its application, the new system took more than two years to develop fully with SE Controls’ designers and engineers making extensive use of advanced computational fluid dynamics techniques to model a wide range of operating scenarios, building layouts and escape situations.

In addition, the LABC certification registration gives local building control officers (BCO’s) the confidence to accept the SHEVTEC Extended Travel Distance System knowing that it has already been rigorously evaluated and tested. The system’s components are all tested and CE marked to the most recent European Standards and SE Controls believes it the only company that can offer such a high performance solution.

The fully compliant and CE marked system also incorporates a range of additional features that enable specifiers, designers and developers to achieve a more cost effective solution without compromising safety. The SHEVTEC Extended Travel Distance System offers further cost savings to developers by reducing the size of smoke shafts to less than half of the 1.5m2 required by an Approved Document B compliant natural ventilation system.

The innovative system has already been installed by SE Controls in a major accommodation project for around 1000 students in Nottingham, which was also monitored and scrutinised as part of the detailed LABC verification process.

Will Perkins, SE Controls’ Managing Director, explained: “This is a significant achievement in smoke ventilation and fire safety as the new system not only provides an effective solution for buildings outside of Approved Document B, but also provides greater freedom for architects, specifiers and developers. Clearly, we are all delighted to be awarded approval by the LABC as it now provides local authorities with a ready made fully compliant solution.”

Recent guidance published by the Smoke Control Association (SCA) covering ‘Guidance on smoke control to common escape routes in apartment buildings, flats and maisonettes’ is the focus of a key seminar being held on 10th April 2012 at FETA’s headquarters in Hare Hatch, Reading. Aimed at BCOs, the Fire Service and other stakeholders, details and booking instructions are available from FETA’s website www.feta.co.uk.