Summary of Doc B.
Where required, active fire suppression systems should be provided throughout the building or separated part, unless acting as a compensatory feature to address a specific risk. They should be designed and installed in accordance with the following:
For residential buildings, the requirements of BS 9251.
For non-residential buildings, or residential buildings outside the scope of BS 9251, the requirements of BS EN 12845, including the relevant hazard classification together with additional measures to improve system reliability and availability as described in Annex F of the standard.
NOTE: Any active fire suppression installed to satisfy the requirements of Part B of the Building Regulations should be provided with additional measures to improve system reliability and availability and is therefore to be regarded as a life safety system. However, there may be some circumstances in which additional measures to improve system reliability and availability specified in Annex F of BS EN 12845 are inappropriate or unnecessary.
If the provisions in a building vary from those in the below documents, sprinkler/mist protection can also sometimes be used as a compensatory feature.
BS 9251 makes additional recommendations when sprinklers/mist are proposed as compensatory features.
