Please click on the link below to view a webcam providing 24 hour video feed of a construction site where Innovation Fire Engineering provided the fire design for the project.
As a fire engineering company, our involvement in a project is usually limited to the planning stage, Building Regulations stage and providing advice during the construction phase to ensure that the active and passive fire safety measures are being provided in accordance with our fire strategy report for the project.
Throughout the process we attend design team meetings and examine various drawings produced by the architect and building contractors. However, it is rare that we undertake site visits to observe the scheme at various stages of the construction process or get to visit the building upon completion. It is one thing to see an artistic impression of the building, but another to see the actual building during construction or upon completion. Although it is desirable for us to see the building, it is not an essential requirement for us to do so; therefore we rarely have the opportunity to see the ‘final product’.
However, on one of our projects, through the use of technology, we have been able to see the building as it is being constructed. The architect on the scheme has provided us with the web link to a webcam focused solely on the construction site. Now, at any time of the day, we can use the web link to access images of the site and see how it is progressing in real time. Personally, I think this is a fantastic idea for a fire engineer and other specialist consultants not involved on site, as it makes the scheme more interesting and tangible, seeing it constructed in front of our own eyes. Therefore, if it is not cost prohibitive, more architects could replicate this idea, as it is the next best thing to being on site yourself. Do you think this is a viable idea to provide to a design team?
James Brady.
