This was in blatant contravention of several specific standards including: The Building Regulations 1981 Approved Document B Fire Safety 2000 Edition Section 11.2; The IEE Wiring Regulations 16th Edition BS 7671: 2001 Section 527-02-01; and in Scotland The Building Standards (Scotland) Regulations 1990, Amendment 5, 1999 Technical Standard Part D. Section D5.1.

All recognised that cutting a hole in a fire-rated ceiling presented a potentially serious safety hazard. The fire rating of the ceiling was severely compromised by the hole. Flames and smoke would naturally find ingress in the gaps between the downlight and the ceiling, escaping up into the ceiling void and to the floor above far faster. The ceiling could not then perform to its given safety standard.

By compromising a ceiling’s safety standards, in the event of a fire, serious issues of civil and even criminal liability could be raised. Specifiers, installers, managers and owners might all find themselves culpable if it was shown that they had ignored the standards mentioned above.

Thankfully now, more and more people understand that, when recessed lighting is installed, it is legally correct and necessary to restore the ceiling’s original fire rating – and that the best method of doing this is to fit a fire protection cover to BS.476: Pt.23. They can be installed along with the lighting or quickly and simply retrofitted to existing recessed lighting. It’s a quick, simple and economical solution – but choosing the right type of cover can be more complicated than it first appears.

There are basically two types of fire protection covers, the old blanket types and new ‘caps’ such as Aico’s own Firecap which simply drop over the fitting. Both are highly effective in stopping fire and heat ingress, although the ‘cap’ design is significantly quicker and simpler to install both in retrofits and in new installations. Models are available for use with both downlighters and also fluorescent modules.

As the fire protection cover you choose is critical to safety, obviously it is important to specify the right quality solution. Recessed downlights and ceiling designs and construction come in all shapes and sizes and with various fire ratings. Therefore, to meet all popular applications a fire rated downlight cover must undergo a wide range of testing.

The understanding of test data can appear complicated. However, in simple terms the test data is there to give the parameters in which the product has been tested and therefore in what circumstances it can be safely used. If it is to protect the spread of fire and smoke and to prevent property loss and loss of life, and meet building control approval, it is imperative that the product has been tested in the application for which it is being used.

Apart from the obvious safety aspects of fitting the wrongly specified product, there is also the allocation of responsibility if a fire occurs, particularly if injury can be connected to the incorrect specifying of covers.

Most manufacturers of downlight covers specify to what standard the covers have been tested and copies of their test data are available upon request. With this information available then, it is your responsibility to ensure that the covers are not misused.

Understanding the test data

1) Plasterboard ceilings are generally covered by BS476 part 21/22 or EN 1385-2

2) Suspended ceilings are generally covered by BS476 part 23

There are a number of different fundamental designs of both plasterboard and suspended ceilings and therefore you would expect to see at least four to five different fire test reports to have a well-tested and universally usable product.

Once the manufacturer has undertaken four to five fire tests, a Global Assessment will then be issued which will determine all of the types of ceiling for which the covers are tested. It will also note any limitations.

One of the major limitations if a downlight cover has not been tested on a full-scale furnace will be on the span of ceiling for which the product is limited. For example, some products you may find are limited to 3.03 metre maximum span of ceiling. This makes the product practically useless. Such a product could not be installed even in an average room size and even then it could be limited to just one installed fitting in the ceiling.

Before you begin to specify or install downlight covers, always ensure that you have a full set of test reports. This should be at least four to five tests to give reasonable coverage. Never accept just a partial report. Test reports can be very misleading if not read in their entirety, and fire test reports are very different to electrical product certification that the industry is more used to dealing with. Always ask your supplier to outline exactly what the test report covers and what it does not. In particular, ask what are the limitations of the product test coverage. Get this in writing and keep it safe. If a Global Assessment is not available then the product will be very limited in its scope of application. If the manufacturer has published and passed to you the limitations, and there are flaws or limitations in the product, you will be responsible if the product doesn’t do the job. It doesn’t matter if you misunderstood the information provided, or just skimmed it – the manufacturer’s responsibility has been fulfilled.

Further to this, many fire protection covers serve a dual purpose in preventing noise leakage through the gaps in the ceiling around the downlight. If you require a fire protection cover that also has to fulfil this need, insist on independent acoustic test results, using exactly the same principles as we discussed above.

Fire protection covers may be simple – but they’re so important to safety that it’s vital not only to fit them but to fit the right ones for the right application. Cover your downlights properly and you will be covering yourself at the same time.

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