Adopting Eurocodes helps increase safety, boost efficiency, and reduce costs, according to the world’s largest coatings manufacturer.

Speaking at a Parliamentary Seminar on fire safety, Peter Scott, Structural Engineering Manager at AkzoNobel’s International Paint, will today urge the engineering and construction industry to adopt the codes.

Arguably the most advanced structural codes in the world, these are already mandatory for European public works, and are set to become the de-facto standard for the private sector – both in Europe and worldwide.

AkzoNobel’s International Paint business has provided anti-corrosive and aesthetic fire protection for steel structures with its Interchar and Chartek products for the over 35 years, in markets including infrastructure, power, oil and gas, chemical, mining and bridges. The company has embraced the latest standards and technology which is delivered by qualified engineers, offering a free fire design services to its clients based entirely on the Eurocode approach.

The Eurocodes were developed by the European Committee for Standardisation in an effort to create more uniform levels of safety in construction in Europe, as well as contribute to the establishment and functioning of the internal market for construction products and engineering services within the European Union. The codes have been mandatory for European public works since 2010, but will not become mandatory for private works until 2015.

Adoption of the Eurocodes since they effectively replaced British Standards for structural design three years ago has so far been slow, although anecdotal evidence suggests that the proportion of their use within the industry has been rising as confidence grows.

Using Eurocodes on structures including Rotterdam Railway Station and the Sustainability Centre in London has allowed International Paint to rationalise the amount of fire protection required, through calculating the capacity of the structural members in relation to their degree of utilisation and therefore providing just the right amount of fire protection. This method has led to material savings, provided safe engineered solutions and also provided value engineering to reduce construction time and costs.

Peter will be speaking at a parliamentary seminar hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Fire Safety & Rescue Group in conjunction with the National Fire Sprinkler Network about the key role structural fire safety and Eurocodes play in fire safety. A Chartered Structural Engineer working for AkzoNobel’s International Paint, he has over 20 years of experience and specialises in design and fire protection of structural steel buildings in the built environment and heavy industry markets.

Peter Scott, Structural Engineering Manager, Worldwide Fire Protection, AkzoNobel said: “Passive fire protection is a critical safety element of any structure.  If specified incorrectly it could have serious consequences in the event of a fire.

“An increased understanding of how the performance of steel structures behave at elevated temperatures can provide safer solutions by understanding the steel failure temperature that is required for a given fire scenario by means of a structural assessment.

“The European Structural design codes provide engineers with the opportunity to exploit the properties of structural steel to its maximum capacity in the fire limit state.  This approach can generate a limiting steel temperature for individual members and if used effectively in the specification process it can bring significant cost and time savings to a project.