Fire Protection in Academic Building - Case Study Example

361561 - Fire Protection in Academic Building Fire Safety Plan 3/2/2010 Student Index of Contents 1- Introduction 2- Detection and warning systems 3- Means of escape 4- Internal fire spread linings 5- Internal fire spread structure 6- References Introduction This paper is intended at providing a detailed and well documented proposed fire safety strategy for a four storied academic building that is proposed to be built on the existing university campus. Fire safety is the basic requirement in the construction of any building by the British standards in vogue in law (Great Britain 2007 Stationary office). The outline of the fire strategy for the building addresses the functional requirements of building regulations in the United Kingdom. A set of compartments in the drawings and planes have been inset, satisfying thereby, the legal, technical, social and compulsory prerequisites of building regulations 2000, thereby, using the guidance of approved document B-volume 2 (buildings other than dwelling houses). The work place (health safety and welfare regulations 1992 apply to all the sorts of building in conjunction with the building regulations 2000). The construction regulation 2006 provides guidance on the fire safety requirements of the completed buildings. But, it does not mean that the design and management regulations 2006 would not apply before the construction of building. The fire and rescue authority is basically responsible for the invocation of these regulations with respect to fire safety. The design of fire safety in schools, colleges and universities is covered by the building bulletin 100, which has been published by the DIES. In this guidance bulletin it is required that the building containing the atrium must need special fire safety measures. Detection and warning systems Keeping in view the age, aptitude and activities of the students, detection and the warning systems can be regarded second to none with point of view of the fire and hazard, safety and protection. The science laboratory is one of the most vulnerable and hazardous place to be taken care of with respect to the fire safety. This is because of the reason that there are chemicals like acids, bases, delicate equipment, inflammable materials, poisons, glass jars and ammonia gases which can catch fire with a very little carelessness. The electric short circuit can also not be ruled out in the science laboratory (Great Britain 1996 Health and Safety Regulations). Similarly the IT facilities, staff and officers’ facilities are always very compulsorily considered to be vulnerable from safety point of view because furniture, fixture, electric provisions, computers and wires, the CPUs and telephone facilities are all delicate to be handled. Since, this building would be basically used by a majority of the students who will undertake a foundation year before starting their chosen courses at the main university campus, therefore, the lesser maturity level of the students have also to be taken into consideration in this fire safety plan. The height of the fourth floor that would be around 12.5 meter above the ground level has also to be considered with respect to proper fire exits through stairs with enough running out space without any hindrance or blockage. Since, the foot print are of the ground floor is 780 square meter, its attachment with the other four floors by empty spaces is necessary (2006 Risk Assessment IMDG 163). The location of the building from the main road, history block, arts block and side boundary is also taken into consideration in this fire strategy plan. All the building design plans of four floors are given at appendix 2. Since, this building would be basically used by the students of the foundation course therefore, the risk assessments to the occupants of this building with respect to the fire is utmost necessary. The following criteria for the means of escape must be adhered to. In this building, keeping in mind the structure, occupants, the building design and plane, the exit routes and protected stairs ways within a reasonable travel time must be provided for. Keeping in view the type of occupancy by the students, the means of escape, the fire alarm detection system should be based on staged alarm on alert and evacuation signals (BS EN 54-11; 2001). This building must have the proper fire alarm system for detecting the fire other than the people who can smell and report. The building should have electrically operated fire alarming system with manual call points sited adjacent to exit doors. Fire detection and fire alarm systems should be integrated together, with the fire extinguishing systems and electrically locked exit doors must automatically respond to this system (Stationary office 2006). The fire alarm system and detection systems should automatically initiate closing down the air conditioning plant, operating the fire suppression and smoke control systems releasing the passive fire protection equipment and activating the ventilation system, it is recommended that at least L3 detection and alarm system should be installed. The exit signs must be very clear and illuminated. A preconstruction risk assessment of the proposed academic building at the university campus must be chalked out which should ensure the use of fire, resisting, appropriate combustible and low combustible material. The steel, concrete, plastic, PVC, glass, wood, aluminum materials should be pre-tested according to the British standards mentioned in the preceding paragraphs. It is equally necessary that the wiring systems and provision of electric switches and openings should be of such high standards that should not only comply with the regulatory frame work and also care and cater for the sensitive activities of the students. After having ensured all the above precautions the provisions for the means of escape through evacuation lifts associated equipments, safety emergency and escape lighting systems, non-slip floor services with escape routes, open able windows and escape routes, door closing devices, escalators and ramps must be made available in the design of the building. Similarly, the smoke controls by the means of escape, heat, exhaust ventilation systems, pressure differential systems, smoke barriers, make up air systems, stand by fans and motors, with smoke seals on doors must be provided for. The suppression of fire and its dangerous impact should also be for through the automatic sprinkler system, gaseous foam and extinguishing systems, portable fire and hose reels, fixed extinguishing systems of CO2, plant, pumps and plumbing, proper water tank, water mist and directed water deluge system, and unfailing link to the emergency power should be ensured in the construction of building. The building must have structural fire protection measure like cavity barriers, protected means of escape, structural protection, fire resisting glazing, protection measures, including lifts and stairs ways, protected from fire, penetration seals, fire doors, and automatic closing system mechanism must be provided in the building. Similarly, access to the fire fighting and control system has to be ensured at all costs. But, the whole system can seldom work without inclusion of proper training to the students, teachers and assisting staff those are supposed to occupy and use this building. It can therefore, be concluded that although the regulatory frame work for the British buildings with respect to the fire and safety measures can be surely safe and sound over the years for the occupants but and educational block at a university campus has to be given very special consideration (Partners in innovation, ensuring best practice for fire protection in buildings 2003). And the above mentioned fire and safety plan successfully caters for each and every requirement of the building for which purpose it is supposed to be used. Right from the built in safety measures in the plan and design, the materials to be used, provisions to be made and measures to be taken have been given in detail in the above analytical plan. But however, since the university administration is not inclined to make any alterations in the neighboring buildings and is also not inclined to link the fire alarm system and the client is also not prepared for providing sprinklers. It is therefore, recommended that the client must also take into consideration the provision of sprinklers as an absolute necessity. So that in future any hazard can be fought off. Means of escape Before describing the means of escape it is necessary to give the salient features of the building proposed for construction. The new proposed academic block is a four storied building and its design is relatively open and is based around a large atrium which is accessed with the balcony on upper levels. This academic building will contain the following facilities for the students at campus. There would be lecture theatres and class rooms containing appropriate number of students, teachers and assisting staff at one time with spacious seating arrangements, air condition, telephone and sound system with on the wall screen curtains for projectors and power point presentations. The lecture theatres and class rooms will have plastic, glass, wood and PVC fixtures other than the necessary steal and cement work for the design structure. The café and dining facilities in the building are supposed to have gas connections and electric installations with well aerated smoke and fire windows. This facility might also be equipped with electric cooking range and inflammable or fragile utensils. The flexible group work space is naturally supposed to have vulnerable, fragile and moveable furniture, fixture and other equipment for working of the students, groups from time to time. This area would be a place for flexible, free and leisure time group discussions of students also and most of the time the students will be moving around or carrying out their activities in this place. There should be protected stair ways and protected corridors. With respect to the building regulations 2000 (B 1), the building must provide for lifts, called installed evacuation lifts (Great Britain 2007 Building Regulations and subsequent amendments, Stationary office). There must also be enough portable and throughout ladders provided for within the easy reach of the students, for example fold down ladders and chutes should also be enough provided for. Here the escalators cannot be counted as means of escape rather the mechanized walk ways can be regarded as means of escape. The fire sterile areas leading to the safe places outside the building have to provide for. Therefore, the ladders, stair ways, exit routes, and protected corridors can be regarded as the means of escape. Since, this four storied building is more or less like a flat, its escape routes should correspond with section 8 (B 3 of the guidance rules). The basement must have external door and a window suitable for egress from the basement. It should also have a protected stair way leading from the basement to the final exit. The balconies outside and alternate exit should meet the conditions in the paragraph 2.17 of fire safety approved document B. the roof of this building must provide for thirty minutes fire resistance. There must be a door into a common and external stair and there should be an escape route over the flat roof. The escape routes have to be designed in such a way that every part of the story will have access to more than one stair and it does not prevent areas to be in a dead end condition. The exit capacity of the students at one time should also be provided in the design. The protected corridors should serve each and every room like lecture theatres, class rooms and other facilities. The escape stairs have to be protected internally within a fire resisting enclosure (Stationary office 2000 Building Regulations UK). The basement stairs, since they are more likely to be filled with smoke, therefore, there should be separate stairs. The evacuation lifts may be provided as a part of management plan for evacuating the students and teachers. The mechanical ventilation and air conditioning system is to ensure that combustible Materials, inducts should not be used. Section 5 of document B provides for the general provisions on the fire safety of all the buildings before designing and afterwards maintenance. Different sections of this B1 document spell out the resistance, test criteria and standards of performance of the means and materials to be used in the construction of these buildings. Section 5.2 to 5.4 provide for the protection of escape routes by the way of fire resistance of enclosures. Section 5 to 5.6 provide for the standards for the fire resistance doors of the buildings, similarly section 5 to 9 spell out the fire resistance of glazed elements. Section 5.10 spell out the standards restricted in the British construction of buildings on the doors on escape routes whereas, 5.11 explains how the door fastenings are regulated (Great Britain Regulatory Reforms Order 2005). Requirements of B3 as per rules and regulations explain the load bearing elements of structures of buildings under fire resistance. Similarly guidelines for buildings of educational institutions with respect to fire safety engineering are also explained in the British standards as per these documents. The European technical approval provides for the technical assessment of the fitness of different construction products. In this regard it is important to mention that the approved document B has been split into volume 1 for the dwelling houses and volume 2 for the non-dwelling houses. Internal fire spread linings It is naturally necessary that the fire doors must be supplied at the entry and exit gates particularly at the one site of every floor including basement and the fourth floor so that if fire spreads at one floor it should not catch the other floor. The materials, products and structures before using must be tested for their strength against fire resistance on extremely high temperatures and deformation under the pressure of fire, heat and smoke. The guidance is provided for this purpose under appendix E of general document. In this connection the sprinkler systems are also recommended to be installed in this academic block which can substantially reduce the risk to life and property and can also significantly reduce the pressure of smoke and heat (BAFSA 2006). The other innovative suppression systems can also be used. It is therefore, recommended that the fire safety aspect must be included in the design of the building which should be very must inclusive to the standards of resistance of fire for the materials used under British standards. According to the fire safety engineering British standards BS 7974 provides for the frame work of safety measures in this building. In which fire occurrence has to be controlled in its every probability, severity, spread and danger (a guide for architects 2006). For the purpose of proper performance of internal wall linings, the surface of blazing, any part of ceiling, indoor structures, fire place surroundings, fitted furniture, shelves have to be according to the European standards given in paragraph 6.2 of the guidelines. Document B 1 of both the volumes provides for the means of escapes, and fire alarms while document B 3 provides for compartment walls and sprinkler protection including fire dampers. Document B 2 requires the standards and specifications of the fire spread and lining materials, floors and stairs other controls on internal surface properties, furniture and fittings, classification of their performances, specifying panel core materials and also specifying material for jointing systems. It is also important to mention that building regulations are made for specific purposes like health and safety. Different amendments are also issued from time to time. The regulatory reform order 2005 is particularly a replacement of the fire precaution regulations 1997And fire precautions act 1997. It imposes, essentially the risk assessment to be made by the owners of the buildings. Article 6 of the order applies to all non-domestic premises. The building that has been discussed in the paper is a public occupied dwelling where hundreds of students would be present from 8 am to 3 pm at least for five days a week. Most of the students would be naturally the pre-adult adolescents and their carelessness in handling the equipment, substances, electric, gaseous, smoking and ignitable material cannot be ruled out (Great Britain Gas safety Regulations 1998). The fire resisting ceilings, fire protecting suspended ceilings, roof lights, special applications, thermostatic materials, lighting diffusers, should have been got approved from the competent authority before using them in the building. Internal fire spread structure While considering the internal fire safety structures the non-combustible materials should be used in the sleeking where a pipe penetrates a compartment wall in the refuse chutes and ladders making the escape routes. The ceiling of the room may be constructed with flexible, classified panels of thermostatic materials and circulation spaces (Association for specialists, fire protection, and the installation of fire and smoke resistance dampers 2007). The materials of limited combustibility may be used in the stairs reinforcement areas, roof coverings, ceiling tiles, roof deck, and internal cavity barriers. Since, the rate of fire spread is significantly less in poly-isocyanurate, therefore, it is recommended to be remembered that the poly-metric system are collapsible in case of fire. The core materials should be used with limited combustibility in cooking areas like kitchen, cafeteria and the core materials with high combustibility should be used in science laboratory. The integrity criterion specified in BS 476-22 for a period of not less than thirty minutes should be tested and applied for all the glazed surfaces inside the building. It is important that the designer and architect should understand and account for the construction process in which the effective fire protection is ensured. Fragile lining is not a good idea. The fire resistance criteria for the compartments, walls and roofs must be ensured. The construction management should be made responsible for ensuring responsibility, accountability and supervision because the things once taken into care at the construction stage can seldom be taken care off at the maintenance stage (Great Britain Pipeline safety Regulations 1996). It is the basic responsibility of the designer, to follow and create the fire safety manual for this project as per rules and regulations. According to the occupation of the building the designer has to indicate the fire safety cautions. There should be result oriented monitoring and evacuations based on the rehearsals. The fire safety manual has to be made available by the management for the regulators and auditors for inspection at any time (Stationary office, building regulations 2000 approved document B volume 2 2007). The fire safety policy should be stated not only in the manual but also at the assessable notice boards for the teachers and students. All the risks and hazards should have been notified. The control systems should be indicated and mentioned on the notice board. The safety signs and escape routes should also be available in all the corridors on the notice boards. The firefighting equipment should be made conveniently available to the students and staff. The active and passive protection systems should be available in the building. For the fire safety system, operators manual must be made available all the times. All the fire prevention and security measures should be made available in the drawings of the building that must indentify closed circuit televisions. Cameras, fire detection zones, smoke control zones, fire alarms and the precautionary, measures should be available to be readily understood by the students and teachers. It is most important that an arrangement should already been made with the local fire and rescue service and the preplanned procedure must have been agreed with the fire and rescue service at the main university campus. It is equally important that detailed routine inspections, maintenance and testing activities must be carried out according to schedules and frequencies. The access to the fire and rescue service must be notified. This system must also involve proper fire detection and alarm systems, smoke detection, intruder detection and integrated fire and security systems. The fire fighting should also include the proper provision of access of vehicles to the building from the north side. If need be the sufficient supply of firefighting equipment. Appropriate means of communication to the fire and rescue service to the building. And a wide open space for the fire fighters in the academic block proposed for construction. There is a need for contingency planning also so that any emergency can be met with full vigor and strength at any time of fire incident. The management is basically responsible for taking into consideration the nature of occupants. The risk profile of the building of academic block should be chalked out before starting construction. External fire spread lining can simply be reduced or eliminated by the use of fire resistance standards and load beating elements. A roof should not perform the function of the floor. The external walls need to have fire resistance. The loading gallery, platform floor and stage grid should possess the similar characteristics. Externally the building should have fire fighting shaft. The spread of fire within the building can also be restricted by compartmentalization. In this way the chances of fire can be reduced. Section 2 to5 of the approved document B provides for the same. Junctions, protected shafts and more atria are necessary for this purpose. External walls should be used for separate protection of the inside areas (PD 7974-1 application of fire safety engineering). The junction of compartment wall with roof can protect penetration of fire from one to the other place in the building. The pipes for oils and gas and ventilation ducts should be placed in the protected shafts. There should be double skinned corrugated roof sheeting. The escape routes should be protected. The cavity barriers and fixings should be carefully fire proof. Conclusion It is not only legally binding to observe all the cordial requirements of regulatory frame work under the building regulation 2000 in Britain but this binding has also moral and social implications in its application. Since, the protection of human lives and their properties is the basic responsibility of state under the constitution; therefore, it is not only the responsibility of police and justice department to secure the lives and properties of people from loss, damages and injuries etc. but, the state is at the same time responsible for making those enabling laws and providing guidance and legal frame work for the entire population of the country and different industries so that the economic development should go hand in hand with the human and social development. Therefore, no individual in his private capacity or a group of people both in their private and public capacity can be allowed to exercise their liberties in a manner which is detrimental to health and safety of themselves and others. British secretary of state has thus periodically announced and made amendments in the building regulations 2000 with detailed guidelines in the best interest of nation at large. The general public has been accordingly provided safety of life from the hazards and incidences ensuing from unregulated buildings like those seen in the rest of the world, particularly third world countries. For instance, if a building is allowed to be constructed without testing its materials and specifications of its drawings and designs and no fire strategy is provided in it, it can tantamount to a collective murder or suicide by its dwellers. This situation is neither desirable nor legal and viable for an old and proud civilization like Britain on the face of earth. Therefore, building regulations 2000 with fire safety measures are the socially acceptable, economically feasible and ecologically sound and legally binding. References 1- Great Britain (2007 construction, design and management) London, Stationary office. 2- Great Britain 2007 Building Regulations and subsequent amendments London, Stationary office. 3- Great Britain 1996 Health and Safety Regulations HSMO. 4- Health and safety executive (2006 Risk Assessment IMDG 163). 5- Stationary office 2000 Building Regulations UK. 6- Great Britain Regulatory Reforms Oder 2005, London, Stationary office. 7- Department for communities and local government, Fire safety and Risk assessment, Stationary office 2006. 8- PD 7974-1 application of fire safety engineering to the design of buildings part 1. 9- BS 6266 code of practice for fire protection for electronic equipment installations. 10- Association for specialists, fire protection, the installation of fire and smoke resistance dampers 2007. 11- Doors and hardware federation, a guide for architects 2006, London. 12- Stationary office, building regulations 2000 approved document B volume 2 2007, Building other than dwelling houses. 13- Great Britain Pipeline safety Regulations 1996, London HMSO. 14- Great Britain Gas safety Regulations 1998, HMSO. 15- Partners in innovation, ensuring best practice for fire protection in buildings 2003, building research establishment Watford. 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