The French Housing Ministry has announced that there were 10.4% more housing starts in 2016 than in 2015 and that planning approvals rose 14.2%.

Today BS 9999:2017 was published. This is a code of practice for fire safety in non-residential buildings and includes many incentives to fit sprinklers.

A ban on fitting sprinklers in ammonia refrigeration machinery rooms has been lifted.

Below are brief accounts of recent fires in industrial, commercial and residential buildings, all controlled or extinguished by sprinklers.

On 29 September a series of fire tests were run in an old apartment building in Bayonne, southwest France.

German media report that a fire in the Bergmannsheil University Hospital in Bochum has killed two people and injured many more

In the September edition of Face au Risque an article discusses recent growth in the French sprinkler market.

During the summer the British government ran a public consultation on its proposals to revise the guidance for fire protection of schools.

This month marks the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London. Over 80% of the central city was destroyed.

Smaalenenes Avis reports that a fire broke out at 11:00 on 18 August in a residential block in Storgata in Askim.