Design & Installation

Smoke ventilation systems provide occupants of a building compromised by smoke with additional, valuable time to evacuate safely.

No two buildings are the same with regards to usage and layout, so you’ll need to carry out a risk assessment for your premises. Ideally, you should speak to a trusted supplier of smoke ventilation systems who can advise you carefully on selecting the right system.

At Silver Group, we have a wealth of experience in designing, supplying, installing and commissioning smoke ventilation systems. Whatever you need, be it a single automatic opening natural vent or a multi-zone, fan assisted mechanical installation integrated with your fire alarm and building management systems, we are a smoke ventilation partner you can rely upon.

Having worked with many of the UK’s leading building and M&E contractors on new projects, as well as property developers and facility managers on existing residential buildings, we have a substantial smoke ventilation systems portfolio. Not only can we advise you on smoke ventilation, but we also have vast expertise in fire security and automation systems.

When partnering with you to create the perfect smoke ventilation system, we’ll take you through four key stages: design, supply, installation and commission.

Stage 1
Design

During the design phase, we take all your ideas and requirements and put them into the mix along with current legislation and best practice guidelines. Then we balance those against your budget and timescales. Being meticulous about system design and specification paves the way for a streamlined, efficient installation and commissioning phase.

Our in-house smoke control consultants can ensure that the system is designed and specified to correct building regulations. All buildings present different requirements, in terms of airflow, engineering and architecture as well as bespoke design and aesthetics,

What’s more, we can also incorporate cooling ventilation into your system for the everyday comfort of your building’s occupants.

Stage 2
Supply

Did you know that many manufacturers will only sell their products and replacement parts to certified partners? If you’re using an independent contractor, it’s likely they may not be able to source these products or parts directly. It is crucial that only the correct parts as specified by the system manufacturer are used and that they are installed correctly. Our expertise and industry accreditations have allowed us to secure agreements with all the leading manufacturers to supply replacement parts for their systems.

Should you choose an independent contractor, we can supply parts as certified partners and resellers of the UK’s leading manufacturers. However, as a duty of care, we may insist that once installed, you employ us to carry out final commissioning, ensuring the correct cause and effect programming is fully operational. Not only does this provide complete peace of mind for the contractor that their work has been checked by a fully competent third party but once we are satisfied, we’ll provide a certificate of commissioning for that installation which is required by the authorities.

Stage 3
Installation

Silver Group are not only certified partners of SE Controls, but also certified installers of their equipment. Very few companies in the UK have this accreditation. This is something we’re rightly proud of, having earned it through continual skills improvement training at SE Controls’ dedicated training facility as well as regular on-site assessments of our engineers.

In addition, we’ve completed similar training and assessments from other manufacturers and are accredited members of The Smoke Control Association.

During installation, should your smoke control system need to be directly linked to your fire alarm system, then unlike many other smoke control systems installers, we have exhaustive knowledge and expertise of both systems and can ensure the correct integration.

Stage 4
Commissioning

Once the smoke ventilation system is installed, it’s crucial that the system is thoroughly tested to ensure it operates as intended and is as effective for smoke control as needed. This includes complex programming of what’s called the cause and effect protocols. These protocols are in place to ensure the system will open the correct vents in the correct sequence at the opportune moment to maximise smoke expulsion from public areas.

Naturally, commissioning is already included when we install the system ourselves but, we also strongly recommend it in cases where you have installed it yourself (or used an independent contractor). Without this, the system cannot be signed off and certificated. As a result, you’d be in breach of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety Order) 2005, something we do not recommend.

Once installation and commissioning of the system are completed, we will then carry out a full demonstration and handover to the building management team. An essential part of this handover it to check that everyone who needs to be is fully trained and has complete knowledge of how to operate the system.