International. Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings announced that it is supporting a new initiative to raise the bar for fire safety standards around the world.
The International Fire Safety Standards Coalition (IFSS), led by a variety of professional bodies around the world, aims to develop a set of high-level common standards to address fire safety in buildings.
Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings supports the goal of establishing and reinforcing the minimum requirements that professionals must follow to ensure the safety of the building in the event of a fire.
Bob Glendenning, Global Manager of Fire Engineering at Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings, said: "We sincerely support this initiative to improve fire safety standards across the board, from design to the fire engineering process. With our own developments in technology and science, we continually look for ways to improve product specifications to meet the most demanding standards."
The IFSS Coalition says that as the real estate market has gone international with investments stretching across national borders, the sector still lacks a consistent set of high-level global standards that inform the design, construction and management of buildings to address the risks associated with fire safety.
Once the standards are developed, the IFSS Coalition will work with professionals around the world to deliver them locally. The standards will be owned by the IFSS Coalition and not by a particular organization.
The IFSS Coalition will create a Standard-Setting Committee that will draw on an international group of fire technical experts to develop the details and ensure they are fit for purpose in global markets.
Members of the IFSS Coalition include the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE), the Local Building Control Authority (LABC), the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM), the Singapore Institute of Construction (SIBL), the Australian Property Institute (API), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and the World Bank.
Sherwin-Williams has supplied its range of fire protection coatings to a number of landmark construction and engineering projects, including London's The Shard, Azerbaijan's Flame Towers and the Leadenhall building, known as The Cheesegrater.
