Installation Regulations for Dry Risers
Regulations for the installation of dry risers in the UK
Dry riser design and installation is governed by British Standard BS9990 2015. It is a legal requirement that any new dry riser should meet these standards. In summary:
- Dry risers should be installed in buildings where the floor is between 11 & 50 meters above ground level. This is roughly equivalent to buildings of between 3 – 17 stories;
- Operating pressure of 12 bar;
- The run of horizontal connecting pipe is a maximum of 18 m in length.
There are many more details involved which are summarised on our pages about dry riser regulation.
Commissioning of Dry Risers
Dry riser testing and commissioning is essential to ensure the equipment is is good working order. The importance of a working dry riser can not be underestimated. The Fire brigade depends on dry risers in their fight against fire. If they cannot quickly and easily access the equipment or if it is faulty it may hamper their attempts to fight the fire so further endanger lives.
Once a dry riser installation is complete the contractor must provide an Installation Certificate to comply with BS9990 to the Responsible Person or building manager. The Responsible Person must arranged for the dry riser to be maintained to comply with BS9990. This requires a visual inspection every 6 months and a pressure test every 12 months. After each of these tests a report and certificate should be issued as evidence that the Dry Riser is maintained and working. We have produced guide for the servicing testing and maintenance of dry risers to explain this process.
Imagine our shock when we heard about a building that was over 6 years old and contained a dry riser that would never have worked (reported by the Building Safety Register).
It started with a comment from a resident about an ‘out of the blue’ £25,000 bill for repairs to their dry riser.
A new managing agent had requested a pressure test for the dry riser and it failed. Further inspection revealed that the dry rise had never been fully installed and pipework was missing. Additional work was required to complete the installation resulting in the unexpected bill.
How can we ensure installation and testing of dry risers meets regulation?
Improved awareness and enforcement of the installation and testing regulations for dry risers is required to ensure that such failures are prevented. Utilising technology to improve record keeping is one solution. The Building Safety Register was set up in June 2019 to improve the management of building safety. They campaign for the creation of Building Safety Logbooks for all buildings.
Dry Risers Direct fully support this imitative and are proud to provide all the required documentation and certification to satisfy the regulations.
