Fire Safety Engineering for a Multi-Occupied Building - Term Paper Example

Name: Course: College: Course Tutor: Date: 26th March 2008 Building materials and construction methods Building and construction structures for fire protection are the insulation materials, coatings, they are the structures used to prevent or even hindrance to fire-induced heat rise in structural members. Among some of the materials or some of the forms the fire protection materials come in as typical spray-applied fire resistive materials, intumescing/mastic coatings not forgetting the concrete and masonry gypsum board. Building and construction methods and the use of various materials for fire protection can be classified in the passive fire protection. There are several classes of fire and it is through the understanding of the classes that normally acts as an enhancement for the active protection. In order to suppress fire, the classes of fire which is always categorized according to the cause of the fire once this is done fire can be suppressed using different extinguishing agents and materials ranging from i.) automatic sprinklers, ii.) smoke and fire detectors and alarms, iii.) human fire(fighters) suppression intervention this is as t s required by the building codes of legislation Stability of the structure Crown (2007:79) indicates that the structure should be made of fire resistive materials to prevent the structure from collapsing (load bearing capacity), have resistance from fire penetration (integrity) and be resistant to transfer of heat (insulation)1.There should be fire stopping that should be extended into all eaves to prevent spread of the fire. There should also be fire stopping that should cover the walls to reduce ease of ignition and rate of release of heat hence dampen the fire growth. Crown (2007:69) indicates that the walls should be fire resistive to restrict spread of fire. There should be installed fire suppression systems and measures should be in place to inhibit invisible fires from spreading within concealed spaces. Crown (2007:70) argues that the load bearing elements of the structure should have adequate ability to withstand effects of fire in order to prevent the structure from collapsing. The openings which include doors and windows should have potential to restrict spread of fire. Crown (2007:78) suggests there should be fire resistive doors and adequate ventilation ducts and atria that satisfy BS-5588-7:1997 requirements. Strategies and design Fire strategy is a very important function in fire safety. The fire strategy serves the function of explaining how a building functions, that is the preparedness of the building for an event of fire in terms of fire safety. The strategy is generally used to fulfill the provisions that are available in respect of fire safety; this also supports the building approval process. A building of this kind requires an integrated design/regulatory approach which will be aimed at addressing the life and property hazards in buildings. In accordance to the regulatory codes, fire safety is expressed in three components: The means of escape. Controlling the spread of fire this is in both the internal and the external to the building. Accessing to and out of the building and to the facilities for fire fighting. A fire safety strategy aims to examine all variables in detail bringing them together in order to have a cost-effective solution. The building should be equipped with active fire protection that includes fire alarms and automatic water sprinklers. These will be of help to warning and alerting the occupants of the building the event of fire. The fire alarms these should include smoke detectors and heat detectors. Optical smoke detectors should be installed in the youth room, lobby area, the hall, the staging room, and entrance lounge and lobby area. Non-optical smoke detectors should be installed in the kitchen and bathrooms. Heat detectors with high sensitivity should be installed in the infants’ room, youth room, store, entrance lounge and future room and future store. Heat detectors should not be installed in the bathrooms if the bathrooms are going to be equipped with hot water taps. The smoke alarms should comply with BS-5839-6:2004 requirements. The alarms should have standby power supply that is either rechargeable or non-rechargeable or use capacitors and either should conform to BS-5839-6 clause 15. The infants’ room should be equipped with optical or photo-electric smoke detectors that should meet requirements of BS-5446-1. The smoke alarms should be installed at a distance of 7.5 meters in every circulation space. There should be an alarm for catering for persons with audio or visual disabilities that should conform to BS-5839-1:2002. A vibrating paging system should be installed for persons with visual disabilities. Vibrating paging system should be installed at a distance of 7.5 meters in the hall, the chapel, youth room, and infants’ room, lobby area and entrance lounge. The fire alarm should be able to make an automatic call to fire rescue service department and nominated ambulance agencies. This should be followed by a manual call to the same agencies to confirm the fire outbreak incident. Use of water via wet and dry pipes The building should be installed with wet and dry standpipes. This will ensure the fire fighters are able to deliver water to the affected areas. The fire fighters and rescue teams are able to use oxygen delivered via the standpipes to prevent them from suffocating. Installation of wet and dry pipes is crucial when the water tanks in the automatic water sprinklers get exhausted before the fire is extinguished. Access building and fire fighting facilities As part of the fire safety strategy, the building should have at least five fire fighting enactment areas. The stages location should be at the balcony, lobby room, entrance lounges, future room and the office room areas of this building. These areas need to be fully fitted with all facilities for fire fighting as these areas act as the bases of suppressing the fire. In the event of outbreak of fire resulting from oil explosion in the oil storage room, the building requires to be installed with exterior ladders and rails which would be used by fire fighters and evacuators. The building requires to be installed with wet and dry standpipes for delivering oxygen and water to the fire fighters and evacuators. Delivery of oxygen and water supplies through wet and dry pipes would increase the rate of extinguishing the fire and evacuating users instead of delivering manually water and oxygen which can easily put rescue team at risk. Controlling smoke movement in this building The need to control smoke in the event of fire in this storey building is very important. Smoke in most cases is a hindrance to fire safety and at many times make it hard for the first responders, fire fighters and also the occupants of the building move/act fast in this event. In order to have the fire safety and control work efficiently there is need to have the smoke control system for easy, visual expediency for first responder, the smoke control system is an easily read panel which includes floor layouts, diagrams and is ideal for emergency responders to manually override and control remote air handling equipment - quickly controlling smoke during an emergency situation. Means of escape The building should have adequate access to fire exits. The exits should be well lit. the lighting system of the lighting system There should be a total of six exits points in the event of fire namely a. Infant room exit facing shops b. Exit route via balcony c. Exit route via the lobby area d. Exit via the chapel e. Two exits to the car park f. An exit towards future room (though it will depend on the use of the future room) Width of the exits Width of exits via the car park This will serve persons using the hall and the staging room. It should be a minimum of 1.5 metres Width of exit via the future room This exit should serve persons in the future store, kitchen, entrance lounge and store. It should be a minimum of 1.5 metres. Width of exit via chapel This exit should serve person in the chapel and the office. It should be a minimum of 1.2 metres. Width of exit via the balcony The balcony exit should be used when other exits are not accessible and its width should be a minimum of 1.5 metres Width of exit via the infant room The infant room exit should serve infants in the infant room, entrance lounge, lobby room, youth room, store, kitchen and the hall depending on their travel distances and location of the fire. It should have a minimum width of 2.0 metres. Limitations on travel distances Travel distance is the shortest route to the exit from the building in the event of fire. Travel distance is affected by a. Fixed seating as in the hall and chapel b. Width of the exit door when open c. Width of the escape route d. Presence or absence of stairs e. Presence or absence of fire in the exit or means of escape Fire extinguishing agents Several fire extinguishing agent are required in the building in order to suppress fire/fight fire incase of an outbreak. Fire extinguishing agents used on fire vary depending on the class of fire for every class of fire has its own extinguishing agent. Carbon dioxide (B, C) is a fire extinguishing agent required for this building; carbon dioxide is an agent whose use is usually on contamination-sensitive places which include computer rooms which in this case represents the offices in this storey building the best agent for that matter is the carbon dioxide, food storage areas is the other, for this case there are hotels in this building and for the reason of contamination carbon dioxide is best for this building. Disadvantages: i.) This gas is 35% concentration by volume required for total flooding system ii.) Carbon dioxide is toxic to human beings at 4% by volume iii) It is not the best agent for smoldering deep-seated fires which last a maintained concentration for more than 20 minutes. iv) Has a cooling/chilling effect on some electronic components Vapor density = 1.5 which collects in pits and low areas. Multipurpose Dry chemical (A, B, C) This fire extinguishing agent is ideal for the offices in this building; it has been approved for computer rooms for and the telecommunications areas. This is because it leaves no residue which will require to be cleaned after the event of fire. This chemical is non-conductive too. Disadvantages a) This chemical however is said to obscures vision where people don’t see properly upon its use. b) additionally the chemical is more irritating o the eyes than ordinary dry chemical c) due to the high nozzle pressure, the gas may cause burning liquids to splash posing another threat on the nearby buildings Reducing the risks in the building The buildings halls and every other part of it should be kept clean; this is to disable this hazard which is posed by this dirt. There should be no combustible materials that can lead into start or propagate growth of fire in this building. There should be no smoking in the premise and “no smoking” posters should be pinned in different visible parts of this building all the way from the hotel lounges to the kitchen up to the office premises. For the part of the hotel, equipments like the boiler should be well maintained to check its risks to safety. This is because from the boiler can emanate a great risk. The oil storage should be free of any lighting or sparks that could ignite the oil Electrical connections in the kitchen should be checked weekly for any damages or repair to avoid short circuits Conclusion and Recommendation All the users of the premise should be able to know the means of escape in the premise in the outbreak of fire incident. The users should be trained on the emergency plans of the premise and should have practiced them before hand. Means of escape should have directional signals showing the way out of the premise to a safe area. The means of escape should have independent lighting system. There should means of escape for persons on wheel chair, this to help the persons with disabilities get their way out of the building. Bibliography Hughes Associates, Inc. "Structural fire protection." 2009. Ed. Nestor Iwankiw. 26th March 2009 . Stroup, David W. "Smoke control." may 2006. PDH Engineer.com. 26th March 2009 . Read More