Means of Escape in Charm Building - Term Paper Example

Running Header: Means of Escape in Charm Building Student’s Name: Tutor’s Name: Course Name: Date: Means of Escape in Charm Building The charm house like any other dwelling house requires proper installation, use, and maintenance of systems within the building. This is towards enhancing the escape means and reducing any fire risk. Some of the aspects that need to taken into consideration in order to achieve that include installation of fire alarms, smoke alarms, emergency egress windows, fire doors, and clear and well illustrated escape routes as stated by Billington, et el (2002). In ensuring that the means of escape are effective, the occupants of the charm house should get enough time, space, and means of escape. In addition, routes of escape must be visible and clear in the initial minutes after start of fire. Some of the considerations to be taken into consideration includes adequacy of structure to resist fire effects, provision of smoke control, standard of means of escape, early fire warning using automatic detection and warning system, enough means of fire prevention, and degree of containing fire. The charm house or any other dwelling house should be designed and constructed in such a way that they are appropriate provision of early warning of fire as well as suitable means of escape in cases of fire incidents in the building. In designing and evaluating fire escape means in the charm house, fire modelling and risk assessment are crucial tools that will be used in predicting and designing measures in ensuring minimized direct and indirect losses as a result of fire. CFAST model as a zone model is used in predicting temperature evolution, certain concentrations of species, and hot upper-cooler lower layer interface heights in a structure that multi-compartmented and is based on a particular fire source as argued by Bedford & Gelder (2003). This will be used in stimulating the impact of fire and smoke within the building environment hence assist in developing and designing the means of escape. CFAST will be used in making reasonably good predictions when designing the means of escape and spread of smoke as well as fire growth (National Fire Protection Association, 2004). Basic Principles of Designing Means of Escape They are several basic principles that should be used in designing the means of escape in the charm house. They should be alternative means of escape from numerous locations. In case it is not possible to get to a direct place of safety, then it should be at least possible to get into a place of relative safety including protected stairway that is on an exit route within an acceptable travel distance as illustrated by David (2008). It is vital to take into consideration the fact that ultimate place of safety is the open air place that is clear from any fire effects. In designing the means of escape within the charm house, portable ladders, throw-out ladders, lifts (other than those designed and installed with fire risks reduced), and manipulative appliances and equipments such as chutes and fold-down ladders are not accepted as means of escape under all circumstances. Protected and Unprotected Escape Routes The means of escape in the charm house should include unprotected and protected escape routes. The unprotected section of an escape route is that section whereby an individual has to traverse before getting into relative safety of an escape route that is protected or safety of a final exit. This includes a protected stairway or corridor. Unprotected routes should be restricted in terms of distance in order to avoid people moving for excessive distances hence increasing the risk and exposure to fire and smoke. On the other hand, the protected path should be designed and constructed in such a way that they have a limited distance to protected stairway or final place of exit because they do give protection for a short period. Protected areas should be designed in such a way that they provide fire protection leading to safety regions outside the building. Ground Storey In analysing the provisions for escape from the ground storey, they are several means of escape that need to be taken into consideration. All habitable rooms in the ground floor other than kitchen should open directly to a hall that directs into entrance or any appropriate exit. They should also have windows or doors that act as emergency means of escape. However, any window used for emergency purposes should have an obstructed area of 0.33m2 that is open-able. It should also be at-least 450mm high or 450mm wide while the bottom of open-able area should be less than 1100mm from the floor according to diagram 1 (Communities and Local Government 2006). The route through the window should not be straight but at an angle. Windows should be designed and put in such a way that they remain in an open position without necessary being held by any individual during the time of escape. Escape means for Upper Floors Less than 4.5m from ground level The increasing height of the building requires more complex designs and provisions of more safety factors. This is because the emergency egress through the windows becomes hazardous. All the habitable rooms in the upper storeys must have at least a stair serving it or an egress window or external door or a direct access to stairway that is protected. Two rooms can be served by a single window on condition they have their own access to the stairs (Norman 2002). It is also crucial to provide a communicating door between the rooms in order to enable an access to the window without necessary going through the stair enclosure. Diagram 1 Means of escape Upper floor more than 4.5m above ground level (Communities and Local Government 2006) More than one internal stairway is recommendable in case the upper floors are more than 4.5m from the ground level. However, they must provide alternative means of escape and they should be separated physically from one another. The separation should be in form of fire resistance construction or several rooms; this means timber cannot be used as a means of separation (Rasbash et el 2004). The dwelling house upper floor should be designed and build in such a way that it has protected stairway or top floor separated and provided with its own means of escape. The protected stairway should lead to a final exit or give access to two escape routes within the ground levels each going to a final exit according to diagram 2. The storeys must be protective by construction materials that are fire resistance such as concrete and not timber. Diagram 2 Alternative arrangements for final exits (Communities and Local Government 2006) In order for an escape route to become acceptable into a garden or open field, the depth of back filed should be more than height of the house from the ground level (X) and where the back extension is given, the height of extension Y according to diagram 3. Diagram 3 Ground exits into open enclosed area (Communities and Local Government 2006) Inner rooms, Flat roofs, and Balconies The inner rooms of the Charm house will be taken as those rooms through which an individual uses another room to escape. This has a high risk of fire in case fire starts in that other rooms. This arrangement can only be accepted when inner room is a dressing room, bathroom or shower room, laundry or utility room, or kitchen. In case an inner room is less than 4.5m from the ground, it should be fitted with an egress window (Rasbash et el 2004). Balconies and flat roofs should as well be taken into consideration. In case a flat roof acts as a means of escape, then it should be within the same building where escape is being made. The escape route on the roof must lead to an external escape route or storey exit. The roof part that acts as a means of escape route as well as its support must be able to provide fire resistance for 30minutes. Galleries Galleries design should be such that it has an alternative exit and in case it is less than 4.5m from the ground, it should be provided with an emergency egress window. In case, the gallery floor does not have an alternative escape window or exit, then it should overlook at least half the area of room below as illustrated in diagram 4. However, this does not apply in case the gallery has alternative means of escape or it has an egress window. The length from the door to the room having the gallery and gallery’s access stair should not be more than 3m as stated by Nelson (1989). The length from the any point of the gallery and head of stair should be less than 7.5m. In case there is any coking facility within the room having the gallery, then it must be enclosed by fire resistance materials or construction. In case of external escape stairs, they should be provided with doors that are fire resistance and which give access to the stair. However, a fire resistance door should not be put at the head of stair that leads downwards where there is only one exit from the building to top landing. Diagram 4 gallery floors with no alternative exit (Communities and Local Government 2006) In cases of air circulation, it is important to take several precautions in ensuring air circulation does not increase the risk of smoke or fire spread in the protected stairway. Doors, ceiling, wall, or floor enclosing a protected stairway should not have transfer grills. In case there is a duct that passes through enclosures to a protected entrance or stairway, then it should be made of rigid steel materials with all its joints between the enclosure and the duct work being fire resistance (Great Britain 2006). In situations where they are ventilation ducts serving protected stairway by supplying or extracting air, such should not at any point serve any other area. All the installation of mechanical ventilations that re-circulate air within the building and stairway should be such that they shut down on detecting the smoke within the building. This is to avoid the spread of smoke in the building that can disrupt the escape. References Bedford, T & Gelder, P 2003, Safety and reliability: proceedings of the ESREL 2003 European safety and reliability conference, Taylor & Francis, London. Billington, M. et el 2002, Means of escape from fire, Blackwell Science Ltd, Oxford. Communities and Local Government 2006, Building Regulations 2000; Fire safety, Approved Document B-Volume 1; Dwelling Houses, Viewed 20 May 2011, from http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_ADB1_2006.pdf David, T 2008, Principles of fire risk assessment in buildings, John Wiley & Sons, New York. Great Britain: Department for Communities and local Government 2006, Fire safety risk assessment: factories and warehouses, The stationery Office, London. National Fire Protection Association 2004, National fire codes: a complilation of NFPA codes, standards, recommended practices and guides, volume 6, NFPA, Virginia. Nelson, J 1989, Means of escape from fire in buildings: a design guide to the statutory requirements (England and Wales), Charles Knight Publishing, California. Norman, T 2002, Fire hazards in industry, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. Rasbash, D et el 2004, Evaluation of fire safety, John Wiley and Sons, New York. Read More