With the publication of BS EN 14972, can Automist be used to meet building regulations?

Yes. Automist can be used to meet building regulations even after the withdrawal of BS 8458:2015, because the underlying fire safety principles it addresses remain unchanged.

Automist has successfully passed fire tests to the new standard BS EN 14972 part 17 (which replaces BS 8458:2015) as one of the first water mist systems to do so. Documentation of the results can be found in the full testing report from Baltic Fire Laboratory.

Automist has been rigorously evaluated under BS 7974 fire engineering principles. Independent research, including the Ashton Fire Engineering Report, demonstrates that Automist performs comparably to sprinklers and passive fire protection in domestic settings.

As the BSI Water Mist Systems committee manager has confirmed:

“It should not be inferred simply from the withdrawal of BS 8458:2015 that products manufactured to the standard or certification schemes developed to the standard can no longer be used or recognised.”

In practice, while guidance documents evolve, the fundamental life safety and property protection principles do not. Automist continues to provide effective fire suppression and can be accepted as part of a compliant building design.