19 Nov BTI Nº 261

Amendment to the Technical Building Code

The revised Basic Fire Safety Document (DBSI) updates the requirements relating to the external spread of fire on façades and fire safety in car parks, in response to the increasing number of electric vehicles.

The first of these amendments concerns the fire reaction requirements for materials used in building façades.

On 22 February 2024, a fire broke out in a residential building in the Campanar neighbourhood of Valencia. The incident resulted in ten fatalities and fourteen injuries. The affected building had been constructed under the NBE-CPI/96 regulation, which did not include fire reaction requirements for the building’s external envelope. The devastating consequences of the fire sparked significant debate – echoed across the construction sector by its various stakeholders – about the need to revise the applicable requirements.

Another key amendment to the document involves the increased fire safety requirements for car parks, in light of the growing presence of electric vehicles. Fires involving electric vehicles display certain characteristics in how they develop, which make them more difficult to extinguish.

QUIMICA 21, S.L.

AT THE VANGUARD OF FIRE FIGHTING SECTOR