Fire Safety in Dwellings - Term Paper Example

FIRE SAFETY IN DWELLINGS: REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS Introduction: Fires can be defined as a “rapid, persistent chemical change that releases heat and light and is accompanied by flame” (THEFREEDICTIONARY 2008). Building fires cause severe damage to both property and people. Since fires occur in both commercial and residential buildings fire safety requirements should be met in all types of structures to reduce the consequences of fires. Abstract: This report focuses on the fire safety regulations that should be met in order get approval of a two floor house plan from the planning authorities under the new requirements set forth by The Building Regulations 2000 Volume 1 Dwelling Houses. This report clearly lists down the fire safety requirements that need to be satisfied under the revisions announced by the Communities and Local Government on 18th December 2006 (Planning Portal, 2006). The report also provides certain recommendations and design changes to Mrs. & Mr. Jones to ensure that their plan meets the standards set down by the regulations. Fire Safety Regulations: Building Regulations 2000 The Building Regulations 2000 is one of the fire safety regulations in the United Kingdom. The Approved Document has been accepted by the Secretary of State and offers guidance with respect to the regulation 7 of the Building Regulations 2000 (The Building Regulations 2000 2006, p.4). In the latest edition of this regulation (2006) many changes have been incorporated into it to set highest standards of fire safety in buildings. The Approved document is divided into Volume 1 and Volume 2. While Volume 1 includes requirements for dwelling houses the other volume has requirements in place for all other buildings which fall under the Building Regulations (The Building Regulations 2000 2006, p.8). The requirements under the regulations B1 to B5 are listed as below: B1: Means of Escape and Warning According to this requirement the house should be constructed and designed in such a way so that people can escape from the house to a safe place outside the premises through suitable unobstructed routes without any external help. It should also have facilities that give early warning to the occupants doubling their chances of survival (The Building Regulations 2000 2006, p.12). The basic requirements under this section can be summarized as below: Smoke alarms of BS 5839-6:2004 to at least a Grade D Category LD3 should be installed in the houses with a standby power supply. They also have to derive the power from the main electricity supply. Two storey houses should be fitted with Grade B Category LD3 fire alarms. These alarms should be placed in bedrooms and places such as kitchens where fires are likely to start. Each floor of the house should have a smoke alarm and should be installed in ceilings at least 300mm from the wall and lights (The Building Regulations 2000 2006, pp.15-16). All rooms of the house in the ground floor except the kitchen should open into a hall and then an entrance through which the residents of the house can escape outside. A window or door should be provided for emergency egress. All the rooms of the second floor of the house should open into protected stairway or a window or door for emergency egress (The Building Regulations 2000 2006, p.17). Recommendations in the Proposed Plan: (Refer Appendix 1) According to the regulations fire alarms have been installed in each floor. However, the fire alarm which installed above the radiator has to be relocated to other side of the hall as in that position the smoke might be diverted away from the fire alarm because of air currents due to the increased temperature from the radiator. The fire alarms should be placed in all habitable rooms in the circulation space within 7.5m to the doors in the first floor. It is also necessary to install a heat detector in kitchen and lounge to prevent any false fire alarms. According to the plan, in the ground level there are two escape routes which open on to exit doors 1 and 4. The room doors 5, 7 and 8 lead to the main entrance door 1 and 2. Door 3 opens to the outside of the house. The first floor also conforms to fire exit requirements. Furthermore, all doors are not less than 750mm and are easily accessible to the fire fighters during a fire. All kitchen doors have 30 minutes fire resistance and have been tested in accordance with BS 476-22:1987. Emergency egress windows are designed according to regulations and are provided in the plan. Windows 1 and 4 located in dining and study/ family rooms have an unobstructed open able area of 0.33m² and 450mm in height and width. The bottom of the open able window is also not over 1100mm from the ground. Window 5 is appropriate for escape during a fire. In the first floor of the plan windows 12, 13 and 14 (front elevation) and window 16 (rear elevation) are suitable for emergency egress. B2: Internal Fire Spread (Linings) This section deals with the requirements for the products used for lining internal structure of the house. Internal structures can be either walls, ceilings or any other structure inside the house. This is very significant as the lining materials in the circulation space of the house determine the degree of fire resistance in the event of a fire. These materials should also have a reasonable heat release rate when they catch fire (The Building Regulations 2000 2006, p.24). Recommendations in the Proposed Plan: (Refer Appendix 1) In accordance with the regulations it is recommended that all internal linings and ceiling of the rooms in both the ground and first floors except the kitchen should be constructed with plasterboards type Gyproc (12.5 skimmed both side of partition). Additional protection should be given for the (CLY) room in the first floor which is used for heating water. Also to guarantee high performance the materials for the internal linings should be either of national classification standards BS 476-7:1997(or 1987or 1971) and with class 1 or of European classification with accordance to BS EN 13501-1:2002 standards and class C-s3, d3 or higher than C. Suspended or fire resistant ceilings can also be used. External windows to the rooms should be glazed with thermoplastic materials (The Building Regulations 2000 2006, pp.26-27). B3: Internal Fire Spread (Structure) This section deals with the requirements in a building that ensures the stability of a building in case of fire for a certain period of time. An unstable building would collapse and cause problems for the residents, the fire fighters and the neighbouring buildings. The buildings should withstand the fire for a minimum of 30minutes. According to these requirements the building should also be constructed to prevent the spread of fire to the neighbouring buildings and also to reduce any unseen spread of fire within concealed spaces of the building (The Building Regulations 2000 2006, p.29). Recommendations in the Proposed Plan: (Refer Appendix 1) In accordance with the compartmentation requirements under this section, the kitchen where there is a major likelihood of fire should have a compartment wall which would prevent the spread of fire to other parts of the house. The opening in the kitchen which is a provision for installing an exhaust fan should be protected with a fire stop sealing as this is near the place where a gas stove would be placed. Also since cavities or concealed spaces help in unseen spread of fire cavity barriers should be placed around the edges and openings of the cavities in the proposed plan (The Building Regulations 2000 2006, p.35) B4: External Fire Spread This section deals with the requirements of the external wall and the roof of the building to resist the spread of fire to the neighbouring buildings (The Building Regulations 2000 2006, p.41) Recommendations in the Proposed Plan: (Refer Appendix 1) It is recommended that external walls should be meet the Class 0 (national standard) or Class B-s3, d2 or higher European standards (The Building Regulations 2000 2006, p.43). Sprinkler systems of BS9251 standards are also recommended. Roof coverings should also meet test standards of the BS476-3:2004 and BS EN13501-5:2005. The external wall of the house should be a brick wall construction. Also there are 2 electricity and gas boxes in the family room according to the plan. These must be provided with additional protection. The boundary that faces the wall should be parallel or be at an angle of not more than 80 to side of the building. B5: Access Facilities for Fire Services This section deals with the requirements to facilitate easy external and internal access for fire fighters and fire fighting equipments. Recommendations in the Proposed Plan: (Refer Appendix 1) The standards require that adequate fire mains and vents for smoke to flow out are present inside the house and basement respectively (The Building Regulations 2000 2006, pp.52-53). Additional Recommendations: To ensure additional safety it is recommended that emergency lights be installed in the circulation area so that the residents can find the exits in the vent of fire and electricity failure. Also since in the kitchen the chances of fire are high it should be equipped with a fire extinguisher and fire blanket. Appropriate signs pointing to the exits would help the residents escape easily. Fire risk assessment should be carried out periodically after the house is built to identify problem areas and minimize the chances of fire. Conclusion: It is evident that building fires can cause extensive damage and prevention of fires is the best possible way to avoid this. This is the reason why stringent fire safety regulations have been set by the latest edition of the Building Regulations 2000. The report analyses the various fire safety requirements under this regulation and advocates certain changes to the house plan of the Jones. These are just facilities for fire safety based on the Building Regulations 2000 however; functional fire safety requirements can be predicted only based on the usage, actual size and location of the house. Appendix 1: The Proposed House Plan List of References: Planning Portal (2006) Approved Document B (Fire safety) 2006 Edition: Volume 1: Dwellinghouses - Volume 2: Buildings other than dwellinghouses [online] available from < http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/professionals/en/4000000000084.html> [30 July 2008]. The Building Regulations 2000 (2006) Approved Document B Volume 1 [online] available from < http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_ADB1_2006.pdf> [30 July 2008]. THEFREEDICTIONARY (2008) fire [online] available from < http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fire> [30 July 2008]. Read More