Modern Building Fire Safety Analysis - Case Study Example

UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE SCHOOL OF FORENSIC AND INVESTIGATIVE SCIENCES NAME OF STUDENT STUDENT NUMBER COURSE TITLE: ENGINEERING DESIGN PRACTICE COURSE NUMBER: FV1202 ACADEMIC YEAR: 2008-2009 FIRE SAFETY REPORT A FIRE SAFETY REPORT FOR MR. AND MRS JONES I declare that this is my original work and has never before been submitted for any award in any university or college or published in any journal or magazine Signature of student Date of submission Module tutor: TRACY BRADFORD Table of contents FIRE SAFETY REPORT 1 A FIRE SAFETY REPORT FOR MR. AND MRS JONES 1 FIRE SAFETY REPORT FOR MR. AND MRS. JONES 2 Introduction 2 Modern building Fire safety 3 Means of fire warning and detection 4 Means of escape from the building 5 Restriction of Internal spread of fire 6 Combating internal spread of the fire 7 External spread of the fire 9 The automatic fire suppression 10 Access and facilities for fire rescue service 10 References 11 FIRE SAFETY REPORT FOR MR. AND MRS. JONES Introduction The building should have proof for compliance with regulation 7 of building regulations 2000 (Crown 2007:6). The construction materials should bear marking CE with respect to construction products directive 89/106/EEC1, comply with low voltage directive on fire alarms 73/23/EEC and amendment 93/68/EEC2 and EMC directive 89/336/EEC3 as amended by EC marking directive 93/68/EEC4 or any product that complies with British standards (BS) or alternative national technical specification of member state of the European Union or Turkey5 or other state signatory to the Agreement on European Economic Area (EEA) that provides equivalent level of safety and protection (Crown 2007:6). If the building will have cleaners or care takers, it should comply with construction (design and management regulation 2006 that offers guidance on fire safety requirements for completed buildings and regulatory reform (fire safety) order 2005 (Crown 2007:7). The building should also satisfy ‘Houses in multiple Occupations’ (HMOs) as required by housing Act 20046. Modern building Fire safety The building should provide passive and active fire protection in the event of fire. The design of the building should be a product of fire engineering approach and should be such that the users are able to safely get out of the building without assistance of fire rescue service (Crown 2007:13) by conforming to BS 7974:2001 on application of fire safety principles to the design of the building. The building should be equipped with fire alarms to warn users of outbreak of fire. It should have operable windows for emergency egress. The building should have risk analysis to determine structural integrity, potential of spread of fire through the building and location of means of escape and fire suppression facilities, probability of fire starting, expected outcomes of the fire and potential of the building to resist spread of fire, heat and smoke (Crown 2007:13). The building should have measures in place to control smoke and toxic gases that may restrict escape rates of the users. The building should have a well determined unprotected area, calculated notional distances and access to fire fighting facilities. Means of fire warning and detection The building should be equipped with fire detectors that should satisfy British Standards BS 5839-6:2004 at least a Grade D category LD3 standard (Crown 2007:17). The smoke and heat detectors should be conform to BS 5446-1:2000 for the smoke detectors and BS 5446-2:2003 for the heat detectors. The fire alarms should have a standby power supply that should be delivered by a battery that is rechargeable or non-rechargeable or should use a capacitor as laid down by clause 15 of BS 5839-6:2004 (Crown 2007:17). The smoke alarms that should be used should either be optical smoke detectors or ionization chamber smoke detectors according to guidelines of BS 5446-1. Optical smoke detectors should be installed in store room, kitchen room, family/breakfast room, lounge room and dining room where probability of a false alarm arising from alarm activation by small smoke particles is not likely to occur. Ionization chamber smoke detectors should be installed in master bedroom, bedroom two, bedroom three, bedroom four and bedroom five, study/family room, the staircases from ground floor to first floor and lounge in ground floor and first floor. Position of the fire alarms should conform to BS 5839-6:2004. The fire alarms should be installed in circulation space between bedrooms and areas where there is likelihood of outbreak of fire. Interlinked heat detectors should be installed in the kitchen and the staircase and should serve family/breakfast room, study/family room in the ground floor and lounge in the ground floor. Crown (2007:17) argues that the alarms should be 7.5 meters apart and should be 300mm from the wall and lighting fittings (Crown 2007:18). The sensors in the ceiling should be 25mm to 150mm from the heat detectors (crown 2007:18). The electrical installation procedures and processes should satisfy Approved Document P on electrical safety (crown 2007:18) or comply with BS 5839-6:2004 on fire resistive cables either grade A or grade B or conform to BS 5839-1:2002 and a certificate for installation of the fire alarms should be issued. According to regulations and requirements, Mr. and Mrs. Jones manufacturer’s instruction manual on operation and maintenance of the alarm system and this should be in line with BS 5839-1 and BS 5839-6 requirements. Means of escape from the building The building should have an exit channel or means of escape that should lead into the entrance or exit. The means of escape should be a protected area of safety and should a reasonable travel distance from circulation space (Crown 2007:19). The first floor should have a protected stairway that should extend to the emergency exit. The first floor should have access to at least two escape routes in the event of emergency (crown 2007:18-19). One of the protected stairways should extend to the rear door and the other should extend to the front door in the ground floor. The emergency doors opening to the emergency exits should be fire resistive. The doors should meet BS 476-22:1987 and satisfy Commission decision 2000/367/EC and implementing council directive 89/106/EEC on classification of fire performance of construction products. The doors should have self closing device that should ensure no external ventilation that can fan spread of fire either vertically or horizontally. This should conform to BS EN 1634-1:2000 and comply with minimum fire resistance in terms of integrity specified by BS 8214:1990 on design, specification, construction, installation and maintenance of fire resistive doors. Construction of fire resistive doors with non-metallic components should have cavity barrier and comply with BS 476-22:1987 subset FD 30 (national classes) or E30 (European classes) if the doors are between dwellings should satisfy FD30s (national classes) or E30Sa (European classes) or if within other fire resisting construction should comply with FD20 (national classes) or E20 (European classes) or generally BS 476-8:1972 (Crown 2007:68-70). Restriction of Internal spread of fire The building should be able to resist spread of fire through the wall linings. The materials should be resistant to ignition of heat; their rate of release of heat should be minimal (crown 2007:27). These materials should conform to BS 476 requirements that include fire tests on building internal structure according to BS 476-6:1989, methods for fire propagation for products laid down by requirements BS 476-7:1997 and classification of surface spread of flames of products (Crown 2007:27). They should conform with European classification BS EN 13501:2002 on fire classification of construction products and building elements and satisfy four European test methods that are governed by ISO standards namely BS EN ISO 1182:2002 on reaction to fire tests for building products –non-combustibility tests, BS EN 1716:2002 on reaction to fire tests for building products, BS EN ISO 13823:2002 on reaction to fire tests for building products and BS EN ISO 11925-2:2002 on reaction to fire tests for building products , part two on ignitability when subjected to direct the building should be equipped with suspended ceilings and have cavity barriers to restrict spread of flames and smoke that can restrict users of the building from safe exit (Crown 2007:28). The linings should satisfy national class 3 or European class D-s3 or d2 (Crown 2007:28). Other rooms should conform to National class 1 or European Class C-s3 or d2 (Crown 2007:28). The wall should be equipped with thermoplastic products that satisfy classification TP(a) for rigid products (Crown 2007:29-31). Combating internal spread of the fire The building should have potential to maintain sufficient stability (Crown 2007:31). It should have fire containment features like automatic water sprinklers to extinguish the fire before it becomes a health and safety hazard. Fire compartments should be able to prevent spread of the fire horizontally and vertically. The building should be able to control spread of invisible fire and smoke within concealed spaces (Crown 2007:31). Hidden voids in the construction should be subdivided to reduce spread of fire and also to ensure there is minimal risk of structural failure (Crown 2007:32). The building load bearing elements should have potential to withstand the effects of fire for appropriate time without losing its stability (Crown 2007:31). The building openings into fire separating elements should be protected with aim of maintaining and sustaining integrity of the elements fire separation goals. The elements should at least provide a stability ranging from 30 minutes to inhibit collapse of the structure, provide fire penetration resistivity and also minimize and restrict heat transfer (Crown 2007:33). Fire stopping should be carried over thickness of the wall and extended into the eaves. Cavity barriers on window and door opening should be present (Crown 2007:40). The cavity barriers should also be present at junction between external cavity wall and compartment wall that separates the buildings (Crown 2007:41).the joints between fire separating elements should have fire stopping properties (Crown 2007:42). The fire stopping should be done with cement mortar, gypsum-based plaster or intumescent mastics. The fire load density or amount of combustible materials per every floor should be minimal to inhibit spread of fire (Crown 2007:57). The height of the ground floor should not restrict ease of user escape to safety or inhibit fire fighting operation and the structural stability should be high to avoid large scale collapse of the building when evacuation or firefighting operations are on (Crown 2007:57-58). The non-combustible materials should satisfy national classes BS 476-4:1970 or European classes BS EN 13501-1:2002 (Crown 2007:58). External spread of the fire The external wall should have potential to resist spread of fire from one building to another (Crown 2007:43). The roof of the building should resist ignition of fire and eventual fire growth by being able to release heat at a reasonable slow rate (Crown 2007:43). There should be potential of the roof and wall to have minimal ability to be ignited from external source. Roof fire penetration should be inhibited through use of materials with potential for limited combustibility according to National class guidelines BS 476-11:1982 or European classes in terms of performance A2-s3, d2 and satisfy BS EN 13501-1:2002 (Crown 2007:58). This should be implemented by ensuring the wall complies with class 0 that includes national class or Class B-s3 or d2 or any other recommended European standard (Crown 2007:45). The roof covering should satisfy fire safety test methods laid down by BS 476-3:2004 on fire tests on building material and structure (Classification and methods of tests for external fire exposure to roofs or BS EN 13501-5:2005. Roof cover product should meet Commission Decision 2000/553/EC and implementing council directive as required by 89/106/EEC (Crown 2007:50-51). Plastic rooflights should satisfy Class 3 (National Class) or Class D-s3 or d2 (European class). The rooflights maximum area should be 5m2 (Crown 2007:51). According to Crown (2007:50-53), the roof should have rigid thermoplastic sheet that is made of polycarbonate or unplasticiced PVC that satisfies Class 1 (National Class) rating for surface spread of flames when tested to BS 476-7:1997 conformance or BS 476-7:1987 or BS 476-7:1971 or Class C-s3 or d2 for European class that has AA (National class) designation or BROOF(t4) (European Class) classification. The thatch and wood shingles have AD/BD/CD designation or EROOF (t4) (European class) classification performance under BS 476-3:2004 and 1958 (Crown 2007:51-53). The rafters should have a potential to resist fire for 30minutes (Crown 2007:52). The building should satisfy notional distances if another building is to be set up depending on position of separation factors for the building (Crown 2007:48). The automatic fire suppression The building should be equipped with automatic water sprinkler systems that should satisfy recommendations of BS 9251:2005 sprinkler systems for residential and domestic occupancies (Crown 2007:48-49). Crown (2007:12) indicates residential sprinklers reduce risks to life and also lower possible damage by the fire. Access and facilities for fire rescue service The structure should have reasonable fire fighting facilities that should be used to extinguish the fire (Crown 2007:54). The building should have a fire staging area at the entrance on the front door. Fire extinguishers should be installed at a distance of 7.5 metres both in ground floor and first floor. The building should provide access to fire fighting and fire rescue service including evacuators (Crown 2007:54). External access by vehicles should be factored like high reach appliances like turntable ladders and hydraulic platform that make it possible for pump appliances to supply water to firefighter, search and rescue team. Vehicle access for pump appliances should be within 45 metres for all parts of the building (Crown 2007:56). References Crown (2007):The building regulations 2000 - Fire safety-Approved Document B 2007; Volume 1-Dwellinghouses. Publisher: NBS (for department of communities and local government (ISBN: 978 1859 46261 4). Appendix 1: the first floor fire safety accessories (active and passive fire protection) Appendix 2: the ground floor (active and passive fire protection) Read More