Fire sprinkler systems in schools and nurseries (FOI)

​Request

A

How many States run nursery, primary and secondary schools in Jersey have been fitted with fire safety sprinkler systems?

B

How many States run nursery, primary and secondary schools in Jersey have been refurbished to include fire safety sprinkler systems?

C

Are there plans to make fire safety sprinkler systems mandatory in all States run nursery, primary and secondary schools in Jersey?

Response

A

Within the Education property portfolio, only the recently built St Martin’s Primary School has been constructed with the inclusion of an entire building fire safety sprinkler system, which has been constructed in full compliance with current Fire and Safety Regulations and local Building Bye-Law Fire Regulations.

In addition to this Rouge Bouillon Primary School has a partial fire safety sprinkler system installed, which covers just the underground car parking area.

There are at present no planning and building bye-laws or States of Jersey Fire and Rescue Service requirements to install fire safety sprinkler systems within any existing or proposed schools. The buildings are not presently covered by any States of Jersey Fire and Rescue Service legal requirement for sprinklers, which means that the properties only need to be fully compliant with the local Building Bye-Law Fire Regulations Approved Document B.

Fire safety sprinkler systems are primarily installed for the saving of lives and are not generally required to be installed in low-rise buildings which are not being occupied overnight, not constructed for multi-storey occupation, such as high-rise flats, and which have the presence of multiple escape routes.

B

No States of Jersey run nursery, primary and secondary schools in Jersey have been refurbished to include fire safety sprinkler systems to date.

C

There are no current plans to make sprinkler systems mandatory in schools, however the States of Jersey approach for the future is to install sprinkler systems in all newly constructed schools. An example of this is the new Les Quennevais Secondary School, which will have an entire building fire safety sprinkler system installed, as per St Martin’s Primary School.

At present there are no proposals to retro-fit fire safety sprinkler systems to any of the existing schools and colleges. Due to the nature and age of some of the buildings within the Education property portfolio, to install fire safety sprinkler systems throughout the entire portfolio would be difficult to achieve.

The States of Jersey Fire and Rescue Service and the Education Department work closely together to develop and implement a very robust and approved site fire evacuation protocol. Fire evacuation procedures are managed by the regulatory quantity of fully trained staff who undertake the property Fire Marshall requirements. This site process and procedure complies with the Fire and Safety Regulations and provides the staff members, children, parents, visitors and maintenance contractors with reassurances of their safety when using or visiting the schools.