CIRIA stands for Construction Industry Research and Information Association. This is a neutral, not for profit organisation actively involved in helping to improve the construction industry. CIRIA as an organisation is often commissioned to deliver best practice guidance by the regulator or responsible authorities, bringing together all manner of industry experts to deliver practice guidance for industry.

In 2012 I was asked by the Environment Agency to join a team of industry experts to help produce new best practice guidance around spill containment and the prevention of water pollution. I  went on to be one of the launch speakers when the document was published in 2014. During our first meeting we set out our aim, to deliver a document for ALL businesses handling materials that could cause pollution if they were to suffer a spill, fire or flood. Involving educated customers ensured that the right questions would be asked of the construction sector to deliver the right design every time.

CIRIA 736 was commissioned by the Environment Agency in 2012 as a response to the failure to contain pollution at the Buncefield Oil Terminal in 2005. This significant disaster at a top tier COMAH site highlighted that secondary and tertiary containment designs had failed to prevent the subsequent pollution release during the fire.

CIRIA 736 replaced CIRIA 164 which was primarily for the COMAH sector to follow. The new guidance has been written for ALL business and identifies the need to understand what the potential pollution risk is; should a major spill or fire impact a business.

CIRIA 736 introduces site operators to the lessons learned from Buncefield and guides the user to understanding and evidencing that they can prevent pollution should they suffer a fire, flood, spill or any kind of pollution release. The latter part of the guidance covers the correct construction and design of bunds and identifies the failure of poor design.

For any business with pollution risk, it is essential to review this latest guidance, you can download a copy of the guidance here. If, as in many cases,  your site was designed in accordance with CIRIA 164 it is unlikely that the containment processes and facilities will be effective and it is important that they are reviewed. Sandfield Penstock Solutions have exclusive resources to help you with that.