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Smoke Control Knowledge

Expert guidance. Practical answers. No nonsense.

Featured

REMOTE EYES REAL LIMITS

A dashboard tells you the panel is healthy.
It can't tell you the vent seal has perished.

Maintenance
17 min read
Featured

THE MATRIX CAUSE & EFFECT

Every vent, damper and fan does what this table says.
Most are never tested against it line by line.

Technical Learning
17 min read
Featured

NEW INTAKE SAME BUILDING

Every September the building fills with people who have never seen it.
The smoke ventilation has to work anyway.

Design
16 min read

Latest Guidance

TEST WEEKLY RECORD IT

Anyone can operate a test switch.
Not everyone leaves a record that stands up.

19 min read ·
GUIDE
Maintenance

CHAIN, ROD OR RACK?

Chain, linear and rack are not interchangeable.
The window decides, not the datasheet.

19 min read ·
GUIDE
Products

RETROFIT RESIDENTS IN

The old system can't just be switched off.
Sequencing is the whole job.

18 min read ·
GUIDE
Design

E, S OR I? PICK RIGHT

E, S and I sound similar.
Only one of them is correct for your building.

10 min read ·
TECHNICAL
Products

Technical Learning

Structured learning, not just articles

Foundational guides written for building managers and specifiers who need to get up to speed fast.

Browse Technical Learning Guides

DURING FIRE OR AFTER IT?

Smoke control saves lives. Smoke clearance cleans up.
Don't confuse the two.

9 min read ·
TECHNICAL
Design

HVAC PANEL? NOT FOR SMOKE

A life safety system needs its own panel.
HVAC was never built for this.

11 min read ·
OPINION
Design

SMOKE KILLS THIS STOPS IT

A smoke ventilation system clears escape routes
before that happens.

10 min read ·
CPD
Technical Learning

AOV BASICS FOR MANAGERS

An AOV only helps if someone maintains it.
That's you.

12 min read ·
CPD
Technical Learning

STUCK DOORS? OVERPRESSURE

Overpressure relief vents are what stop that.
BS EN 12101-13:2022 says when you need them.

17 min read ·
TECHNICAL
Design

ONE SYSTEM DOZEN PARTS

How the components of a smoke control system
work together.

19 min read ·
TECHNICAL
Design

SMOKE SHAFT OR PRESSURISE?

Same goal, different trade-offs.
Cost and space usually decide.

13 min read ·
GUIDE
Design

PRESSURISE CLEARER STAIRS

Pressurisation keeps smoke out by pushing back.
Literally.

16 min read ·
TECHNICAL
Design

WHAT IS AN AOV?

No one needs to be there when it matters most.
That's what automatic means.

10 min read ·
CPD
Technical Learning

GRENFELL WHAT CHANGED

Approved Document B changed. The Building Safety Act followed.
Here's what specifiers need to know.

12 min read ·
TECHNICAL
Compliance

TEST FAILED WHAT NOW?

Someone is liable and something needs fixing.
Here's where to start.

9 min read ·
GUIDE
Maintenance

OLD PANEL NEW PROBLEMS

Swap it wrong
and a simple retrofit turns into a rebuild.

11 min read ·
GUIDE
Maintenance

ROOF VENT OR WINDOW?

Same job, two different products.
The building decides which one.

8 min read ·
GUIDE
Products

SAME DUCT DIFFERENT JOB

One stops fire. One controls smoke.
Confuse them and neither works.

10 min read ·
TECHNICAL
Products

NEVER ALONE ALWAYS LINKED

Fire alarm, BMS, sprinklers.
Smoke ventilation only works if they talk to each other.

9 min read ·
TECHNICAL
Design

PROVE IT GOLDEN THREAD

The Golden Thread demands a paper trail.
No record, no compliance.

8 min read ·
TECHNICAL
Compliance

BS 9999 AND BS 7346-8

Two standards contractors miss most often.
Both still apply.

9 min read ·
TECHNICAL
Compliance

O RANGE FSM SHORTLISTED

The O Range panel made the FSM Awards shortlist.
Here's why we entered.

7 min read ·
PRODUCT
Products

BS 9991 WHAT CHANGED

The revision changed design and maintenance obligations.
Most buildings haven't caught up.

9 min read ·
TECHNICAL
Compliance

ONE FLOOR THE REST CLEAR

That's not luck.
That's primary zone lockout doing its job.

8 min read ·
TECHNICAL
Design

GEOMETRIC NOT AERODYNAMIC

Specifiers mix them up constantly.
Only one of them meets ADB.

8 min read ·
TECHNICAL
Design

NO STANDARD SO WE WROTE ONE

Maintenance had no shared guidance across the industry.
Now it does.

9 min read ·
OPINION
Maintenance

LOOKED FINE IT WASN'T

Eleven real examples of maintenance that passed a glance
and failed the building.

8 min read ·
OPINION
Maintenance

NO REGISTER NO PROOF

You can't maintain what you can't find.
The register comes first.

8 min read ·
GUIDE
Maintenance

FAILED TEST CLOCK STARTS

Pass, advisory, or fail all mean something different.
Only one buys you time.

7 min read ·
GUIDE
Maintenance

TEST RHYTHM DAILY TO ANNUAL

Every interval catches something the others miss.
Skip one and you're guessing.

8 min read ·
GUIDE
Maintenance

RESPONSIBLE? IS IT YOU?

The Building Safety Act and Fire Safety Order both name a duty holder.
Know which one is you.

7 min read ·
GUIDE
Compliance

INSTALLED COMMISSIONED?

Different question, different proof.
Most failures happen here.

6 min read ·
GUIDE
Commissioning

IT CHANGED DID YOUR SPEC?

Approved Document B was updated.
Here's what it means for smoke ventilation design.

9 min read ·
TECHNICAL
Compliance

AOV UPKEEP NONE OPTIONAL

AOV testing isn't one job.
It's three, on three different clocks.

9 min read ·
GUIDE
Maintenance

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