Means of Detection and Warning System - Case Study Example

Running Head: Fire Safety Considerations Fire Safety Considerations [Name] [Institution] Table of Contents Means of Detection and Warning System ……………………………… Provisions of Means of Escape ………………………………………….. Provisions of Means of Fire Fighting …………………………………... Stability of Structure …………………………………………………….. Access for Fire Fighting and Fire Fighting Facilities for Fire Service ….. Internal and External Fire Spread ……………………………………… Conclusion …………………………………………………………………. The Jones’ house is a large house in context of the definition provided by Document B Volume 2 although it does not exceed 200m2 of floor area for one floor since it has two floors in it. This implies that fire safety considerations presented in this document will be based on the fire safety requirements for big houses detailed in the FSO 2005 Document. B.1 Means of Detection and Warning System The house design already has provisions for light fixtures, consumer unit boxes, and telephone access points but there is no indication for self-operating smoke detectors. It is highly recommended that the Jones should install photoelectric detectors rather than ionization detectors because photoelectric detectors are less likely to sound an alarm due to normal cooking compared to the ionization detectors. In accordance to the specifications detailed in Document B, smoke and heat detectors will be placed on circulation areas within 7.5 meters from doorways and will be installed away from air conditioning and heating systems. Smoke and heat detectors will be mounted in a way that would have easy access for maintenance. The floor plan of the Jones’ house plan requires five photoelectric smoke detectors and one heat detector to be placed in strategic areas around the house which will be in between the lounge and the kitchen (1), the hallway right at the middle of the dining room, study room, and the stairs leading to the store room (2), masters bedroom near the dressing room (3), in between bedroom 2 and bedroom 4 (4), and in between bedroom 3 and bedroom 5 (5). Heat detector will be placed on the kitchen only as stated in Section B 1.13. Fire alarm systems will be placed in the same areas as well with provisions for fire alarm system and fire detectors on the roof access. The fire alarm system should be networked in such a way that a fire in one area will trigger an alarm in the rest of the area as well as reflect the area under fire in the control panel as specified in Section 1.14 of Document B. Although a fire alarm control panel is not necessary for a building this large, it is highly recommended that one is placed in the vest area of the house for relative ease in detecting fire inside the dwelling house. B.2 Provisions of Means of Escape FSO 2000 is very strict with its requirements for fire egress in dwelling houses as well as for buildings other than dwelling houses. All rooms in the dwelling house needs to have direct access to protected stairway or to emergency egresses that opens directly to an open area safe from fire. While the design of the house does not include a 30-minute fire resistant walling (as the design uses stud partitions), the Jones house already has provisions for emergency egress which are located in all habitable rooms and the kitchen, excepting the bathroom and so far as means of escape is the issue, the design of the Jones’ house is complete and coherent with the standards set by FSO. Stud partitions are partitions that can easily be removed if the use of the particular area(s) changes (DIYdata, 2009). In case of fire, stud partitions can easily catch flames and will give serious difficulties to the Jones who would be coming from the second floor in any event of emergency as the fire will block off exit to the staircase, making the staircase unprotected. Another point of concern is the cavity barrier in roof space. To prevent the rapid spread of fire inside the dwelling place, it is necessary that the materials used for the ceiling must conform to the material standard set up by FSO which means that materials for the ceiling must be 30-minute fire resistant. Conveniently, there are adequate emergency egresses in the house design in accordance to Section 2.7. As one can expect, the placement and the construction of these emergency egresses are within the dimensional range specified by the fire safety document. For example, emergency egress is being provided in the kitchen via window 5 while emergency exit is provided in the lounge by windows 7, 8, and 10. emergency egress windows on the second floor is within 4.5 meter limit set by the document since the height from the window to the ground is only about 3.6 meters, providing relative safety in case one needs to jump from the second floor in case of emergency and fire. B.3 Provisions of Means of Fire Fighting Due to the relatively small size of the proposed Jones house, fire fighting is not very much of an issue. In accordance to FSO standard, it is expected that the Jones house will be fitted with sprinklers whose main switching is directly connected to the smoke/heat detectors and fire alarm systems. In other words, the number of sprinklers inside the house must not be less than the number of smoke detectors. Preferably, there should be a on-to-one correspondence between automatic sprinklers and smoke detectors/fire alarms. Since the blueprint does not show any external source of water to be used in fighting fire, the water source for sprinklers will be the same as the source of water from the shower. With the number of sprinklers spread over the whole house, it should theoretically take a little more effort to contain and control the fire that will start at any point in the house. Nonetheless, the Jones house will still be fitted with water fire extinguishers (to control flame spreading on combustible household items) and dry fire extinguishers (for lighting fixtures and live wires on fire). The requirements for ventilation have also been met in the Jones house design since ventilation system does not have ventilation ducts (because ventilation fans are directly mounted on the wall to vent air directly outside the house) thus no serious threats of spreading fire and smoke from one location to any place in the house from ventilation. B.4 Stability of Structure The blueprint indicates that the external structure of the house is safe enough from collapse in any even of fire since the external walls are made of brick with supporting block walls from the inside. There was no explicit indication in the blueprint about the materials that will be used for trusses and rafters so it is generally assumed that the materials conform to the 30-minute fire resistance set by FSO 2005. For example, since Jones structure uses concrete tiles for roofing, it is necessary that the roofing materials be reinforced with BROOF class of materials using timber rafters for support with wood-wool slabs or fiber insulating boards in accordance to the standard set by FSO to ensure strength of the roof for a specific period of time to allow fire fighters access inside the dwelling place in case of fire. As presented in the blueprint, the stud partition that separates one room from the other on the second floor must be modified or reinforced with fire-resistant materials so that it would not immediately collapse and trap people inside them in case of fire. This does not go well with the requirements put forward in Section 4.4 of the Document B. The roofing materials must also be stabilized as mentioned above. B.5 Access for Fire Fighting and Fire Fighting Facilities for Fire Service The concerns raised in the previous discussion holds true for this section particularly because the issues mentioned will have a high tendency to restrain the firefighters to enter the house and the house dwellers from exiting it. Aside from the water sprinklers and the fire extinguishers, there is no other means to fight fire inside the house partly because of the lack of a fire hydrant nearby (there is no indication of such in the top view of the structure in the blueprint). Thus, the major means of fighting fire in the Jones house is through water sprinklers and fire extinguishers unless nearby fire hydrants can accommodate fire hoses inside the house where fire fighting effort from the outside fails. The main access point from the ground floor to the second floor is through the unprotected stairs discussed above. However, the emergency egresses found on each room in the second level can allow firefighters to enter the second level using ladders. B.6 Internal and External Fire Spread As has been mentioned in the earlier discussion, the risk for the external spread of fire (or the influence of fire from the external environment) is relatively low because of the external walling of the Jones structure which is mainly fire resistant bricks. The external wall is reinforced by solid wall from the inside which further insulates the structure from possible spread of fire outside its domain, or conversely, being affected by fire from outside the house. The main problem with the design rests on the internal structures. The fire hazards identified for the Jones house are cooking equipments from the kitchen, electrical wirings and light fittings, naked flames that may be left unattended by any of the dwelling occupants, and faulty and misused electrical wirings anywhere in the building premise. If any of these fire hazards starts a fire, the internal structure of the house, particularly the choice of materials for wall partitions found on the second floor will hasten the spread of fire throughout the house. With the present design, the internal lining of the second floor of the Jones house failed to meet the strictures of Section B2.i and Section 3.6. More information about the following areas should appear in the blueprint: (a) materials used for the ceiling and roofing support, (b) the materials used in roof-sheeting particularly the insulation capability of the materials chosen and (c) detailed information about the distance of the house to its nearest structures. A full analysis of the ability of the project proposal to meet the requirements set by the FSO document can only be provided once all the information about the fire safety of the Jones house, particularly the internal and external fire spread, is provided. Conclusion The safety of the individuals dwelling in private houses is the main concern of Volume 1 of the Approved Document B. Any building that fails to conform to the standard set by this document will only increase the risk of the lives of the individuals in case fire breaks within the house. While the design of the Jones house is beautiful, some fire safety consideration requires minor modification on the internal lining of the second floor in order for the whole structure to achieve approval from the Board of Regulations. Allowing the building of the plan will place the Jones’ in grave situation particularly if the fire breaks in. As of now, the minor redesign highlighted in the paper must be given strong emphasis in order for the building of this structure to move ahead. REFERENCES DIYData. The Basic Stud Partition Framework. 2009. Accessed from http://www.diydata.com/projects/partition/partition_framework.php Communities and Local Government. The Building Regulations 2000. Approved Document B. Volume 1. 2006 Edition. Butcher, E.G. & Parnell, A.C. (1983). Designing for Fire Safety. John Wiley, Chichester. Derek, J. (1986). Fire Prevention Handbook. Butterworth & Co. Ltd., London. FSE (Fire Safety Engineering). (1995). A Research for the Fire Safety Engineering Design of Buildings. BRE Publications, Watford. GLC (Greater London Council). (1976). Code of Practice Means of Escape in Case of Fire. Greater London Council, London. Langdon-Thomas, G.J. (1972). Fire Safety in Buildings: Principles & Practice. A & C Black Limited, London. Read, R.E.H. & Morris, W.A. (1983). Aspects of Fire Precautions in Buildings. BRE Publications, Watford. Shields, T.J. & Silcock, G.W.H. (1987). Buildings and Fire. Longman Scientific & Technical, New York. The Aqua Group (1984). Fire and Building. Granada Publishing Ltd., London. Read More