Streamers - BIM4Housing Fire Safety

Suzanne Whitehead –Clarion
Fire Assurance Manager for Clarion Housing Group. I have worked in fire safety across different sectors including Building Control, fire engineering, higher education and housing for more than 20 years. I recently represented Clarion Housing on a number of government initiatives and consultation following the Grenfell Tragedy including Resident Engagement Best Practice Group. I have led a review our new build construction for the last 2 years and now currently overseeing the implementation of a formal fire safety management system within the business. I sit on the Technical Steering Group Stay Put strategy group for MHCLG/Home Office and am the elected Vice-Chair of the NHF Building Safer Group.

Steve McAlinden – Thrive Homes
Fire Manager Advanced Diploma, IOSH, Managing Safely, Fire Manager Course, NEBOSH Fire safety Risk & practical management. A Fire Safety Manager with 30 years experience in most aspects of the building trade specialising in Fire Risk Assessment and Management in social housing properties. My knowledge of Building Regulations, Fire Safety Legislations, my keen interest in Fire Safety political and industrial developments and understanding of residents’ behaviour allow me to apply as holistic approach to Fire Safety as possible.

Pauline Tuitt – L&Q
Asset BIM Manager at L&Q. This year will be my 10th year at L&Q during which time I have worked in a number of roles from managing projects for vulnerable residents to leading a team clienting on behalf of our Building Services teams to ensure they received information necessary for them to maintain the assets in our new build schemes. I moved on to work on the development of our earlier BIM L2 programme, before taking up my current role in a newly emerging team responsible for working with our development teams from inception of our new build schemes, ensuring all information required to manage and maintain our buildings throughout their life is provided complete and accessible, before accepting handover of schemes into operations.

Joanna Harris – Sodexo
Technical Ambassador, Hard FM, UK&I
Jo joined Sodexo in November 2020 to compliment the development of best practice Hard FM in the UK&I region. She is responsible for promoting, programme managing and embedding best practice in maintenance and technical services internally and representing Sodexo as a technical authority externally with professional trade bodies etc. Jo was previously a Business Manager and subject matter expert in facilities management and maintenance at BSRIA. She lead a team of consultants and researchers that provided the technical expertise on the built environment and was responsible for authoring best practice guides in Facilities Management including Business Focused Maintenance, Asset Management and Maintenance Audits and Condition Surveys and Asset Data Capture.

Edward Coster – Clarion Safety Case Manager
I have a background in housing and construction of 30 years; in this time I have worked as an operative, then a building surveyor before moving into fire safety management and technical fire safety assessment over the last ten years.

For the last year I have been working on Safety Case development project at Clarion Housing Group, which forms part of the preparation for the new Building Safety regime which will roll out under the Building Safety Act. Prior to this I was part of the technical auditing team reviewing fire safety aspects of Clarion’s new developments (both design and installation on site).

Sharon McClure – Operations Director, Avesta Group
Since I started working within the Construction Industry, primarily in passive fire protection, I have become an ambassador for our industry.

Through my involvement within the Scottish Contractors Group / BuildUK / BuildScotland; Construction Scotland Procurement Working and currently serving as an Association for Specialist Fire Protection (ASFP) Council Member, I am also supporting the Academy for Construction People as part of their Executive Committee, with their Passive Fire Protection Apprenticeship Programme, providing a mixture of class and site training to increase the knowledge of the apprentices, and to ensure a more robust form of training for all UK based passive fire contractors.

As an active member of our industry, I hope to contribute to the improvements of not just our trade, but of the built environment as a whole.

Paul White – Ventilation Fire Smoke
I am a Chartered Mechanical Engineer. I have had a long career in the design, development, testing and application of fire resisting and smoke control products. My main areas of expertise are ventilation, dampers, ducts and smoke control. Through interaction with many other groups and organisations I have an understanding of most passive fire protection issues too. I have published a well-received book about Smoke Control dampers that also gives an insight into smoke control systems. I am active in standards development bringing wide experience to both the BSI and CEN arenas as a committee chairman and member. I am now an independent consultant on the areas that I am experienced in and developing some training too.

Paul McSoley – Mace
Paul is a chartered engineer and has worked in construction for over 25 years from an Apprentice, Specialist System Project Manager, MEP Project Leader, Technical MEP Leader and a Design Leader for all disciplines on major projects and currently as a technical compliance lead in a major UK construction business.
He has been an active participant within the industry linking together the fire compliance problems of walls, dampers, fire rated duct work etc. He has also been part of the BESA technical committee for several years and has a drive and passion to support BESA and the wider industry through steering committees, technical committees and knowledge shares. He is an advocate of passing on his expertise and experience on matters such as public health, water systems, fire testing standards & compliance, energy & carbon, contracts, construction delivery, commissioning, handover and is always happy to help.

Nicholas Nisbet - AEC3
Nicholas Nisbet is an architect who has focussed on process improvement and information. His specialities include the implementation of BIM processes in architecture, engineering, construction and owner/occupation of buildings. He works as an independent consultant for governments, near-government bodies and companies worldwide looking at business and information improvement in the built environment. He is active within ISO, CEN, BSI, buildingSMART and several UK Government interoperability and safety initiatives.

Jim Creak - Winters Electrical
Jim Creak, 30 year involvement in Manufacturing and Technical Application of Safety Signs and Signing. BSI Technical Committee Chair for application of escape route signs and signing Technical committee Chair for the application of Safety Signs and Signing. Technical contributor to the Photoluminescent safety Products Association for low level escape route illumination and Technical contributor to development of luminance performance Standards for safety wayguidance systems.

Jarek Wityk – Design Manager Winters Electrical
I am a Senior Electrical Design Manager responsible for developing and implementing BIM, including information management, Revit, Dynamo & BIM360 deployments, automation, content audit and data collection. I also provide technical support to the team to successfully deliver Company and individual goals. I have been part of UK BIM Framework task group providing input on Guidance Part 3 - Operational Phase of the asset life cycle Edition-2. As well as being a contributor to Guidance Part 2 Edition 7. I provide design and technical support to the team, successfully delivering Company, team, and individual goals. I lead the Digital Engineering process and ensure collaboration with project peers to ensure design reviews and workshops are undertaken on all projects. Also, prioritise workload and decision making and work with the Operational Director, Contract Managers and Quantity Surveyors to provide a seamless engineering operation. Collaborate with the work winning team to create competitive advantage, creative innovations by considering future market trends to increase company profitability. I am a technical specialist with experience in the design, building physics engineering and #BIM fields. I have been responsible for implementing various technologies to assist in project delivery throughout my career. I have also held positions where I was responsible for ensuring that all work undertaken by outside consultants adhered to company guidelines and procedures.

Dave Peacock - Technical Director TÜV SÜD
Dave is a technical expert with 25 years’ experience in construction including 14 years’ experience in BIM & Digital roles.
As Technical Director of the BIM & Digital Services unit in UK, Dave is responsible for technical advisory and overall operations of the unit, assisting clients to define their information requirements and working with them to meet their goals.
Dave is a key member of the UK BIM Alliance, chairing the Midlands region and part of the UK BIM Framework - ISO 19650 Guidance Review Committee which helps shape the guidance to adopt BIM processes globally.
He has also been part of the Golden Thread Initiative (GTI) led by L&Q, which has helped to define the way forward for the management of assets in the housing sector in light of the Grenfell Tower disaster and the upcoming Building Safety Bill.

Chris Hall - Siderise
Chris Hall BSC(Hons) MBA has over 35 years’ service in the construction industry in various commercial and general management roles both in the UK and Overseas. Most industry time spent in the insulation segment- fire, thermal and acoustic. Experienced in standards development and other technical groups, Chris is currently the External Affairs Director for Siderise Insulation, having stepped down as Sales Director in 2020. Passionate in putting back into the industry by helping shape new policies and practices for the future. Advocate of digitalisation where it adds value and helps deliver on the “golden thread”.

Scott Sanderson – PRP
Scott Sanderson is a partner at leading housing practice, PRP. Passionate about quality, collaboration and digital integration Scott's role focuses on technical design, design management, DfMA and the continuing development of PRP's interdisciplinary BIM capability.

PRP are founding members of BIM4Housing and BSI certified as a Tier 1 Lead Designer under BS EN ISO 19650. Our continuing ambition is to leverage BIM to improve design and information quality, safety, efficiency and collaboration in the housing sector.

Varun Soni – BIM Manager CalfordSeadon
Varun boasts 8 years’ experience in the industry and has been at calfordseaden since 2017. Throughout his academic and professional career, he has built a solid grounding in architecture, design, construction, and the implementation and use of BIM for design and construction projects. Varun is proactive in his approach to promoting BIM as an effective and efficient way of working in the industry from greater clarity and information management to a stronger understanding of the asset. Varun strongly advocates new digitalised methods of working to enable more digitalised areas in the industry, including an integration of AR and VR into BIM, more standardised delivery of information, and also an opportunity to bring greater value engineering and information management to construction and in particular to the housing sector.

Will Perkins - Group Managing Director of SE Controls
Will has worked in the smoke control industry for over 35 years and is a long standing member of FSH/025. He has actively participated in the drafting of many British and European standards and he is the Convenor of CEN TC191/WG7, responsible for the production of EN12101 parts 9 and 10 which cover control panels and power supplies for smoke control systems. He was also the Convenor of BS7346 part 8 which covers the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of smoke control systems. Will was instrumental in the development and introduction of the UK Smoke Control Association’s third party competence accreditation scheme.

He has joined the group as he is keen to share his product and regulatory knowledge to promote digital technology in improving occupant safety through real-time compliance.

Nick Haughton - Head of Global Marketing at Sapphire Balconies
Nick originally joined The Sapphire Balconies in 2006 at the London office as an estimator. After relocating to the Reading office when it was established, Nick managed both the purchasing and marketing teams and progressed into managing the Reading Balustrade factory and the Winchester balcony factory. Following the significant growth in volume, Nick now focuses on where his passion and qualification lies and heads up both Sapphire's UK and Global Marketing teams, at the forefront of educating the market in best practise through the delivery of technical CPD presentations, early stage design meetings, events, and industry thought leadership.

Phil Murphy
Phil is an independent High Rise Residential Building (HRRB) Fire Safety Management Consultant. His career in Fire Safety began 25 years ago when he became a firefighter with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service. During his service he studied Fire Engineering through the Institution of Fire Engineers and attended the Fire Service College where he gained a Fire Safety Officer qualification. Since leaving the service a decade ago, Phil has worked with property management companies and responsible persons supporting them to manage fire safety across a broad range of large and complex structures. Phil is accredited with being the lead technical fire safety author of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) Addendum for High Rise Buildings.

Bill Watts – Senior Partner at Max Fordham
Bill is a senior partner at Max Fordham llp, a building services consultancy. His professional career has been in the design and procurement of all building types. His interest in BIM is to improve the quality of the design, procurement and operation of buildings by the use of the golden thread of information through the process. He is particularly interested in housing as a key area that would benefit from this approach to deliver higher quality at the same or lower cost.

Michael Strömgren - Briab
Michael is the Public Affairs Manager at Briab and has a background as a fire safety regulator and researcher. For more than ten years he has led work for fire safety in national and international regulations and standards. He is an expert on building requirements, performance-based design (PBD) and has more than ten years of experience working with the European fire safety industry and its regulatory bodies.

Michael is an advocate for digitalization of fire safety and he is the project leader for the R&D projects “The Unbroken Chain of Information for Fire Safety” and "Increased Value for Contractors by Digitalizing Fire Safety Data for Property Owners". Within Briab, Michael is part of team a novel software called Briab Bimfire which enables fire safety engineers to work in BIM-based workflows.

Duncan Alabaster – Polyseam
I have had 32 years experience within the Passive Fire Protection industry working with PFC Corofil, Mandoval Coatings and HillMoore Fire Protection Ltd. I have been involved with specification, product development, testing and training. In addition to my manufacturer’s experience, I have worked on the tools- and when between jobs worked as a surveyor for a sub-contractor carry our Fire Risk Assessment reports in local authority tower blocks post Grenfell. I am currently working as Technical Manager for the Polyseam Protecta Firestop brand.

Yusuf Muhammad - Plumis
Yusuf Muhammad is a co-inventor of Automist and Chief Design Officer at Plumis, an innovative British engineering company whose Automist fire suppression misting technology has saved lives in homes across the UK. He has won numerous design awards for a host of innovations across a number of industries including the James Dyson Award, the Toyota IQ Design Challenge & Transport Design of the Year by the Design Museum. He also starred in the BBC 2 Show 'The Big Life Fix'.