In response to the evolving demands of the UK’s built environment sector, a new collaboration has been announced between the Fire Protection Association (FPA), UL Solutions, and PartB.
Outlined in the release of the joint paper, Testing Times: a solutions-focused collaboration for UK fire testing, the collaboration aims to deliver independent, impartial, and transparent fire safety testing at a time when regulatory scrutiny, innovation, and accountability are reshaping the construction landscape.
The UK construction sector is undergoing a significant transformation driven by the Building Safety Act, the findings of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, and a growing emphasis on compliance, traceability, and competence. With the introduction of the Building Safety Regulator’s Gateway programme and extended liability under the Defective Premises Act, stakeholders across industry are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that every component and product used in construction meets rigorous fire safety standards.
Recognising the urgent need for reliable data and impartial testing, the FPA, UL Solutions, and PartB have joined forces to offer a robust solution.
The FPA will provide a secure and confidential environment for fire safety tests to be undertaken for clients of UL Solutions and PartB through their independent fire testing laboratory. The independence of the FPA means that tests will be carried out in an impartial manner, at arm’s length from the client, as well as ensuring intellectual property and proprietary data are protected.
The initiative is a direct response to the challenges highlighted in the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report, which called for impartial testing to restore trust in the sector and empower stakeholders to make informed decisions, reduce remediation costs, and demonstrate a commitment to best practice.
Speaking on its launch, FPA Chief Executive, Dr Gavin Dunn, said “This new collaboration addresses a critical gap in the construction sector: the need to test and certify the fire performance not just of individual products, but increasingly also the interfaces and combinations of systems that often present the greatest fire safety risks. Leveraging the FPA’s independent testing capabilities, UL Solutions’ certification expertise, and PartB’s engineering insight, offers a holistic approach to fire safety validation for the whole UK built environment sector.”
