Bilco UK - Natural Smoke Ventilation

Smoke Ventilators - Automatic Opening Vents - Roof Access Hatches - Vertical Escape Ladders

The Company

The Bilco Company was established in America in 1926 and has for many decades designed and supplied horizontal access products for construction industries around the world. For 20 years the company has operated its European operation from offices in Bury St Edmunds Suffolk, where full technical help is available for the range of roof access hatches, natural smoke vents and floor access doors. A wide range of stock products are held in Bury and can be distributed for next day delivery. Special sizes can be manufactured to suit individual site requirements.

Natural Smoke Ventilation

Natural smoke vents help remove smoke and gases from burning buildings primarily to provide clearer escape routes for people within the building. They also aid firefighter’s visibility when entering the building to tackle the fire and reduce the lateral spread of the fire; important to reduce the damage to the building and its contents. Used widely in the stairwell, corridor, smoke shaft and on roof areas of factories, warehouses, auditoria and retail facilities.

The Bilco REM single leaf ventilator opens to the fire open position of 140º within 60 seconds, meeting the requirements of Approved Document B and EN12101-2 to ensure rapid dispersal of smoke and noxious fumes. Double leaf vents for larger ventilation areas are manufactured to open to 90º. In addition the construction of the ventilator includes rigid polyisocyanurate insulation to the cover and the curb to provide maximum thermal efficiency and a closed cell EPDM gasket to ensure the air leakage requirements of Building Regulations Part L are achieved. Their design means that nearly all REM vents can be used for access onto the roof area and can also be linked into the BMS for comfort ventilation.

Roof Access Hatches

Roof access hatches provide safe and convenient access to the roof areas for routine maintenance and inspection as well as for servicing of HVAC systems and other roof mounted equipment. They are ideally suited for use in office buildings, flats, factories, warehouses, retail stores, shopping complexes, hotels, manufacturing plants, hospitals, schools, auditoria and sports facilities where roof access is a requirement.

The wide range of stock sizes will provide access solutions for ladder, ship stair, and full sized stairways or for equipment access applications. Standard sizes are available ex stock and are generally delivered to site within 2-3 working days.

All Bilco roof hatches are manufactured to provide a high degree of thermal efficiency and supplied with 50mm of polyisocyanurate insulation. The unique counterbalancing spring mechanism ensures that all hatches are easily operable by one person to assist designers and employees in meeting the requirements of the Manual Handling Regulations.

Fixed & Retractable Ladders

Bilco’s range of fixed vertical ladders are available in either aluminium or galvanised steel and can be supplied with safety cages and guard rails as necessary. Our standard range has ladders up to a height of 6.0m but special sizes are available on request. All our fixed ladders are manufactured to BS 4211:2005.

The retractable ladders can be supplied with or without a trap door and lining and a fire rated option of F30 or F90 is available. Other options include telescopic handrails, opening from above and electronic operation. All retractable ladders are remanufactured to EN 14975 (DN 4570).

Additional Products

Bilco can also supply a range of Floor Access Doors and Floor Access Panels as well as a range of Safety Products to offer fall protection and easier means of access when using fixed ladders.