Fire Safety in General - Report Example

Fire Safety in General Fire is a great source of destruction. According to past statistics, every year around 500 fatalities and 13,000 injuries in over 52,000 dwelling fires take place in UK. This destruction need to control using fire safety measures. Fire safety concerns safety measures to prevent the effects of fires and is the result of proper use of fire protection measures. Fire Safety measures are installations or type of construction that have been incorporated into the building to ensure the safety within the building in the event of fire. The Report goes on to state that the factors to be taken into account are: 1. The anticipated probability of a fire occurring; 2. The anticipated fire severity; 3. The ability of a structure to resist the spread of fire and smoke; 4. The consequential danger to people in and around the building; The Report also states that a wide variety of measures could be considered and incorporated to a greater and lesser extent, as appropriate in the circumstances which include: 1. The adequacy of means to prevent fire; 2. Early fire warning by an automatic detection and warning system; 3. The standard of means of escape; 4. The provision of smoke control; 5. The control of the rate of growth of a fire; 6. The adequacy of a structure to resist the effects of a fire; 7. The degree of fire containment; 8. Fire separation between buildings and parts of buildings; 9. The standard of active measures for fire extinguishment or control; 10. Facilities to assist the fire and rescue service; 11. The availability of powers to require staff training in fire safety and fire routine; 12. Consideration of the availability of continuing control under other legislation that could ensure continued maintenance of such systems; and 13. Management. Requirements under B1 Means of Warning and Escape The requirement under means of warning and escape is that the building shall be constructed so that there are appropriate provisions for the early warning of fire, and appropriate means of escape in case of fire from the building to a place of safety outside the building capable of being safely and effectively used at all material times. In case, the direct escape to a place of safety is not possible, the means of escape should provide an unprotected escape route which should be limited in extend so that people do not have to travel excessive distances exposed to the immediate danger of fire and smoke and then lead to a protected escape route. Application to the Proposed House In order to meet the standard under the Report, it should be noted that the drawings and plans of the proposed house construction already include an exit at the rear of the ground floor of the house. This satisfies the requirement for a means of escape. This is a suitable means of escape since exit is located opposite the kitchen and dining area where the materials and furnishings have a higher degree and tendency of combustion due to the nearness and proximity of cooking appliances and other similar equipment. However, there is a need to provide a similar effective means of escape at the second storey of the proposed house since none is included in the drawings and plans. Our proposal is to attach a fire exit staircase from the terrace found at the front of the second floor. For the provision of early warning of fire, a fire detection and fire alarm system need to install in kitchen, dining and study/family room. Smoke alarm need to install in kitchen and dining room in the circulation space to pick up smoke in early stage of a fire and all need to be linked so that detection of smoke or heat by one unit operates the alarm signal in all of them. Addition to smoke alarm, you can also use heat detector or heat alarm in kitchen. Make sure smoke alarms should not be fitted next to or directly above heaters or air-conditioning outlets. They should also avoid bathrooms, showers, cooking areas or any other place where steam, condensation or fumes could give false alarms. According to the standard of the report, there should a fire detector or fire alarm system in master room on first floor as it has an inner room used as dressing room. Requirements under B2 Internal Fire Spread (Linings) The requirements under B2 Internal Fire Spread (Linings) are that: (1) To inhibit the spread of fire within the building, the internal linings shall: (a) Adequately resist the spread of flame over their surfaces; (b) Have, if ignited, a rate of heat release or a rate of fire growth, which is reasonable in the circumstances; (2) ‘Internal linings” mean the materials and products used in lining any partition, wall, ceiling or other internal structure; Requirements under B3 Internal Fire Spread (Structure) The requirements under B3 Internal Fire Spread (Structure) are, that: 1. The building shall be designed and constructed so that, in the event of fire, its stability will be maintained for a reasonable period; 2. A wall common to two or more buildings shall be designed and constructed so that it adequately resists the spread of fire between those buildings. For the purposes of this sub-paragraph a house in a terrace and a semi-detached house are each to be treated as a separate building; 3. When reasonably necessary to inhibit the spread of fire within the building, measures shall be taken, to an extent appropriate to the intended size and use of the building, comprising either or both of the following: (a) Sub-division of the building with fire resisting construction; (b) Installation of suitable automatic fire suppression systems; 4. The building shall be designed and constructed so that the unseen spread of fire and smoke within concealed spaces in its structure and fabric are inhibited; Application to the Proposed House There is no inference that can be drawn from the attached drawings as to whether or not there are buildings and/or houses immediately adjacent to the proposed house construction. Be that as it may, and anticipating the construction of such immediately adjacent buildings if not in now then in the future, we propose that a firewall be constructed between the proposed house and the adjacent buildings. In particular, these fire walls shall be designed and constructed on both sides of the proposed house as well as at the rear of the house. In addition, sprinklers shall be designed and constructed near the edge of the top of these proposed firewalls around the house. These sprinklers shall be designed and constructed in such a way that, when fire breaks out, the sprinklers will be automatically turned on. Furthermore, the sprinklers shall be designed and constructed in such a way that, when turned on and operational, the trajectory of the water from the sprinklers will form a three-fold direction: a) the first direction would be to fill in the canal at the top of the firewall so as to serve as a defense against the fire’s potential to spread to other buildings; (b) the second direction would be to sprinkle water against the walls of the house itself so as to contain the spread of the fire through wind or other exacerbating factors; and (c) the third direction would be downwards so that water would flow from the top of the firewalls to keep the walls wet and thus inhibit the spread of fire from the ground upwards. Furthermore, use fire resistance ceiling which provides at least 30 minutes of fire resistances like Cavity or thermoplastic. All doors which gives access to external escape stairs on first floor should be fire-resisting and also fitted with escape lighting. Requirements under B4 External Fire Spread The requirements under B4 are that: 1. The external walls of the building shall adequately resist the spread of fire over the walls and from one building to another, having regard to the height, use and position of the building; 2. The roof of the building shall adequately resist the spread of fire over the roof and from one building to another, having regard to the use and position of the building; Application to the Proposed House In compliance with the requirement under B4 sub-paragraph (1), we propose that sprinklers be designed and constructed surrounding the perimeter of the house and located under the roof and around the eaves of the house. These sprinklers shall be designed and constructed in such a way that when fire breaks out, the sprinklers will automatically be turned on. The sprinklers will then spray water downwards the concrete walls. The water from the sprinklers flowing downwards on the external structure of the concrete walls shall then function to adequately resist the spread of the fire over the roof and onto the other buildings. In order to meet requirement B4 sub-paragraph (2), we propose that similar sprinklers be designed and constructed around the roof of the house. These sprinklers shall be designed and constructed in such a way that when fire breaks out, the sprinklers will automatically be turned on. The sprinklers will then fill the canals to be designed and constructed around the roofing materials. These canals, once filled with water, shall function as a defense against the spread of the fire over the roof and onto the other neighboring buildings. Requirements under B5 Access and Facilities for the Fire Services The requirements under B5 are that: 1. The building shall be designed and constructed as to provide reasonable facilities to assist firefighters in the protection of life; 2. Reasonable provision shall be made within the site of the building to enable fire appliances to gain access to the building; Application to the Proposed House There are no inferences that can be drawn from the attached drawings and plans as to the availability and location of facilities that would assist firefighters in the protection of life. However, we propose that a fire hydrant pumping outlet be designed and constructed near the front door entrance of the house. The rationale for this is that the street fronting the house is the most accessible place for fire trucks to be parked in case of fire in the building. In addition, we would also propose that the terrace found at the center of the front of the second floor of the house be constructed in such a way as to be able to accommodate placements of gang planks and ladders used as standard equipment during fire fighting operations. The other thing, we can propose to install Fire Extinguisher on ground floor as well as on first floor which is used to extinguish or control small fires. One can be mounted in the kitchen on ground floor and one in outside the master room on first floor. And also give proper ventilation facility like use roof mounted exhaust ventilators of suitable size because ventilation of heat and smoke plays an important role in fire-fighting operations. It may also be possible to provide Intel air from adjacent smoke reservoir or by means of external windows or door. Facilities for ventilation of heat and smoke for fighting purposes are not generally operate automatically. References 1. Building regulation 2000 Fire safety - Document B, Communities and Local Government, UK. 2. Website: www.ezinearticles.com 3. Website: www.en.wikipedia.org Read More