Call For Fire Regulations To Be Urgently Reviewed

The SDLP is calling for fire regulations to be reviewed after an investigation by the BBC revealed that only two per cent of tower blocks have sprinklers.

Cllr Tim Attwood called for sprinklers to be made compulsory in all tower block across Northern Ireland.

He proposed a motion in June at Belfast City Council to ensure lessons are urgently learned following the fire at Grenfell Tower.


He said: "In England apartment buildings over 30m in height require sprinklers. In Scotland they require sprinklers over 18m in height. and Wales have introduced sprinklers for new houses. In NI they do not. This means that a new building the size of Obel requires sprinklers in Scotland and England but not here.

"There is also no requirement that refurbished buildings should require sprinklers – so it is likely that a new refurbished building like Windsor House does not require sprinklers. These regulations need to be urgently reviewed."

(CD/LM)