WRITTEN QUESTION E-0184/02

by Caroline Jackson (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(6 February 2002)

Subject: Fire safety in buildings

New building materials, capable of providing very high security against fire, and which meet the most stringent fire safety requirements (such as autoclaved aerated concrete), are now coming on to the market.

In the light of this:

1. Is the Commission planning to update the Council Recommendation of 22 December 1986 on fire safety in hotels (86/666/EEC(1)), and, if not, why not?

2. Given that fire safety requirements for building materials vary very widely in the Member States and that, in some Member States, they are very low, will the Commission come forward with proposals for improvements in fire safety in general?

(1) OJ L 384, 31.12.1986, p. 60.

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(15 March 2002)

The Commission has launched a review of the Council Recommendation 86/666/EEC of 22 December 1986 on fire safety in existing hotels(1) in order to examine to which extent the Recommendation's objectives have been achieved and whether any further action is necessary. This initiative is the follow-up to the report on the application of Recommendation 86/666/EEC(2) that the Commission recently presented to the Parliament and the Council. As announced in the conclusions of the report, the Commission intends to examine the need to up-date the technical guidelines laid down by the Recommendation. The first step, to be carried out in close co-operation with the national authorities and with contributions from the interested parties, will focus on the assessment of the technical guidelines of the Recommendation in the light of the technological and scientific progress since its adoption.

The next steps will address the other areas identified in the report, in particular the definition of more precise provisions for alternative solutions where the guidelines cannot be applied to existing hotels and the reinforcement of the provisions concerning monitoring of implementation. Dissemination of best practices in fire safety management and monitoring will also be considered. The Commission intends to finalise this work in 2003.

The fire safety of construction products are currently regulated at Member States level. However, the Commission, in consultation with Member States' Fire Regulators, has elaborated European classification systems for construction products in relation to reaction to fire and resistance to fire.

These Euroclasses are established as Commission Decisions, taken in the framework of the implementation of the Construction Products Directive (CPD), Council Directive 89/106/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to construction products(3), and represent important instruments for Member States to harmonise fire performance requirements on construction products. The reaction to fire Euroclasses are underpinned by a brand new European test method, the single burning item or SBI test. This test was partly funded by the Commission and provides a harmonised means of assessing the reaction to fire performance of construction products. The SBI test standard was published on the 13 February 2002. Therefore the classification Euroclasses for reaction to fire is now operational, and a common framework is available to the Member States. The Commission is convinced that the new Euroclasses system will provide an important contribution to increasing the safety in case of fire in buildings.

(1) OJ L 384, 31.12.1986.

(2) COM(2001) 348 final.

(3) OJ L 40, 11.2.1989.