Means of Fire Detection and Escape in Mr and Mrs Jones Building - Case Study Example

University name Department/school of.. Name of student Student number Course title Course number Academic year FIRE SAFETY REPORT A FIRE SAFETY REPORT FOR THE PROPOSED BUILDING FOR MR. AND MRS JONES I declare that this is my original work and has never been submitted before for award of any degree or diploma certificate. The work has never been published in any journal or magazine. Signature of the student Date of submission Name of supervisor Table of contents FIRE SAFETY REPORT 1 A FIRE SAFETY REPORT FOR THE PROPOSED BUILDING FOR MR. AND MRS JONES 1 Table of contents 1 FIRE SAFETY REPORT 2 FIRE SAFETY REPORT FOR THE PROPOSED BUILDING OF MR. AND MRS. JONES 2 BACKGROUND 2 Means of fire detection and escape 3 Emergency means of escape 5 Control of internal spread of fire (linings) 7 Control of internal spread of fire (structure) 8 Fire extinguishing apparatus 10 Managing external spread of the fire 10 Access and facilities for fire rescue service 11 References 12 FIRE SAFETY REPORT FIRE SAFETY REPORT FOR THE PROPOSED BUILDING OF MR. AND MRS. JONES BACKGROUND Mr. and Mrs. Jones proposed building should have fire safety measures that should provide sustainable level of safety and protect their health and safety for unspecified period of occupancy. The safety measures for the building should conform to regulation 7 of building regulation 2000 (Crown 2007:6). The materials for construction should bear marking CE with respect to Construction Products Directive 89/106/EEC. Electrical products present in the building should comply with Low Voltage Directive 73/23/EEC and amendment 93/68/EEC and EMC directive 89/336/EEC (amended by the CE marking directive 93/68/EEC). The building should conform to Construction (Design and Management) Regulation 2006 and Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The fire safety should meet recommended environmental protection under Pollution Prevention Guidelines (PPG18)1. The fire safety measures should satisfy other property protection stakeholders like insurance firms. Means of fire detection and escape Mr and Mrs. Jones building should have fire alarm systems for detecting outbreak of fire. The fire detection apparatus should warn users of fire outbreak in order to start moving towards the protected areas if they are in circulation spaces or other rooms. Stimulation of fire alarms occurs in response to rise in temperature (heat) or presence of detectable smoke particles. Fire detection apparatus provides active fire protection for buildings and should comply with British Standards BS 5839-6:2004 at least Grade D category LD3 standards. Smoke detectors should comply with BS 5446-1:2000 and heat detectors should comply with BS 5446-2:2003 standards. Clause 15 of British Standards BS 5839-6:2004 requires fire detectors to have standby power supply. The standby power supply should be derived from a rechargeable battery, non-rechargeable battery or a capacitor. According to BS 5446-1 standards, the smoke alarms should either be ionization chamber smoke detectors or optical (photo-electric) smoke detectors. Invisible smoke particles in some rooms can trigger false alarms and therefore optical smoke detectors should be installed in rooms like the lounge in ground floor and first floor, kitchen, family/breakfast room, family/study room, dining room and all circulation spaces (appendix 1 and 2). In rooms where they are installed, position of the smoke alarm should comply with BS 5839-6:2004. On the other hand, installation of photo-electric smoke alarms should occur in all circulation spaces linking to bedrooms in the first floor, store, cloak room in ground floor and first floor and all circulation spaces in the ground floor. Smoke alarms inter-distance should be 7.5 meters (Crown 2007:17) (appendix 1 and 2). The building should have inter-linked heat alarms in the kitchen and circulation space serving the kitchen (Crown 2007:17). Smoke alarms that are mounted on the ceiling should be 300 millimeters from the wall and lighting fitting. This ensures heat from the lighting appliance does not trigger a false alarm. Sensors that are mounted on the ceiling should be positioned 25-600 millimeters below the ceiling and also at distance of between 25-150 millimeters from the heat detectors. Installation of fire detector apparatus should comply with Approved Document P (Electrical safety). The cables used for installation of fire detector apparatus should comply with British Standards BS 5839-6:20042 or BS 5839-1:2002 (Crown 2007:18). After the fire detection system is installed, Mr. and Mrs. Jones should be issued with certificate of fire alarm installation. Mr. and Mrs. Jones should be provided with fire detector manufacturer’s instruction manual3 on operation and maintenance of the fire alarm system which should satisfy British Standards BS 5838-1 and BS 5839-6 requirements. Emergency means of escape Mr and Mrs. Jones building should have a protected means of escape that should protect their health and safety when there is a fire incident. The building should have protected exterior stairways linking circulation spaces in the ground floor and first floor. The building should have galleries that should provide a 50% view of the ground floor. The building’s protected exit channels should have directional signs and signals. The directional signals should comply with health and safety (safety signs and signals) regulation 1996. The travel distance from circulation space to the protected area should be sufficient enough to ensure Mr and Mrs. Jones or their visitors have fast access to the protected stairway. The means of escape should be resistant to fire or flame and smoke penetration by being equipped with cavity barriers. The doors serving the means of escape should be fire resistive and should comply with BS 476-22:1987 and Construction Decision 2000/367/EC of May 3rd 2000 and implementing council directive 89/106/EEC that defines classification of fire resistance of construction products. The fire resistive doors should comply with European Standards BS EN 1634-1:2000 on fire resistive tests for doors and shutter assembly (Fire doors and shutters) and BS EN 1634-2:xxxx on fire resistance tests for door and shutter (fire door hardware and BS EN 1634-3:2001 on smoke control doors. The fire doors should comply with British standards requirements BS 8214:1990 on recommendation for specification, design, construction, installation and maintenance of non-metallic fire doors (Crown 2007:68). Fire doors should meet requirements for reference to construction decision 2000/367/EC of May 3rd 2000 implementing Council Directive 89/106/EEC on classification of resistance to fire performance of construction products. The fire resistive doors should comply with European classification BS EN 13501-2:2003 on fire classification of construction products and building elements-classification using data from fire resistance tests, excluding ventilation services (Crown 2007:68). The fire resistive doors should have cavity barriers and potential to maintain integrity as required by British Standards BS 476-22:1987 and satisfy criteria FD 30 (National class) or E30 (European class) if between dwellings in the first floor and garage (ground floor) and satisfy requirements of FD 20 (National class) or requirement E20 (European class) or BS 476-8:1972 and 1970. The fire resistive doors should be equipped with automatic release mechanism4 (Crown 2007:69-70). Control of internal spread of fire (linings) Walls and ceiling requirements of Mr and Mrs Jones building should comply with class 0 recommendations. The building should have low Fire Load Density (crown 2007:57) in order to ensure there is reduced amount of combustible materials per unit room or floor. The building should be equipped with non-combustible materials that comply with National classes when tested to BS 476-4:1970 or European classes tested to BS EN 13501-1:2002. The construction materials should meet national classes BS 476-11:1982 or European classes in terms of performance class A2-s3, d2 or BS EN 13501-1:2002 (Crown 2007:58). Any thermoplastic materials used in the building should comply with BS EN ISO 306:20045. Building linings should conform to requirements for inhibiting surface spread of flame under BS 476-7:19976 or (1987 0r 1971) Crown 2007:60) or they should comply with reference criteria for European classification BS EN 13501-1:20027. Use of easily ignitable materials that release heat at high rates should be tackled with through restrictive measures by complying with BS 476-6:1989 or 1981. The materials should satisfy class 1on fire growth index (I) of no more than 12 or sub-index (i1) of no more than 6 (Crown 2007:60). Notional performance rating should conform to BS 476-6:1989 and BS 476-7:1997 or satisfy BS EN 13501-1:2002 standards. Use of thermoplastic should satisfy BS EN ISO 306:20048 and should meet classification 0-3 under BS 476-6:1989 and BS 4786-7:1997. Compliance with TP(a) should be provided for where product shouldn’t be more than 1mm thick and ought to comply with Type C requirements of BS 5867-2:1980. Curtains and drapers flammability should be minimal and should satisfy BS 5438:19899. The rate of burning of other combustible materials should not exceed 50mm per min and should meet criteria BS 2782:1970 (Amended 1974) (Crown 2007:61). Control of internal spread of fire (structure) Surface spread of fire (ground floor and first floor) or vertically or downwards (from ground floor to first floor and vice versa) (Crown 2007:27) should be restricted. Construction materials used should be fire resistant subject to low fire ignition rate and low rate of release of heat (Crown 2007:27). Construction materials should satisfy criteria required by National class BS 476 regarding fire tests on building material and structure, BS 476-6:1989 (method of test for fire propagation for products) and BS 476-7:1997 (method of test to determine the classification of surface spread of flame of products). Materials used should conform to requirements of class 010 of national classification namely BS 476-4:1970 (non combustibility test for materials and requirement) and BS 476-11:1982 (method for assessing heat emission from building products). Class 0 requirements should be satisfied through appropriate ratings especially three rating under BS 476: part 7 namely TP (a) rigid and TP (a) Flexible and TP (b) (Crown 2007:27). Construction materials should also satisfy European classification BS EN 13501:2002 (fire classification of construction products and building elements). In order to restrict spread of fire, construction materials should comply with four European test methods that are BS EN ISO 1182:200211, BS EN ISO 1716:200212, BS EN 13823:200213 and BS EN ISO 11925-2:200214 (Crown 2007:27). Internal spread of fire should be managed by ensuring building’s stability is guaranteed for a reasonable time (Crown 2007:31). Stability is attained through fire compartments that contain fire at source. Fire containment of the building should be achieved via load bearing of elements that can tolerate impacts of fire without loss of integrity. Spread of invisible flames and smoke within concealed spaces should be restricted (Crown 2007:31). Openings in the fire separating elements should be protected to sustain integrity of the elements fire separation (Crown 2007:32). Protection of concealed spaces and cavities should be carried out to restrict spread of fire or smoke. Edges of cavities like window and door openings should be fire protected with cavity barriers. Joints between fire separating elements should be equipped with fire stopping materials (Crown 2007:42). Fire extinguishing apparatus Automatic water sprinkler systems should be installed to assist in putting off fire hence reducing possible resultant costs of fire15. Sprinkler system should comply with BS 925116 and satisfy criteria DD 252:200217 regarding components for residential sprinkler systems. The sprinkler system should be installed in the kitchen in ground floor (appendix 1) and circulation spaces both in ground floor and first floor (appendix 1 and 2. Fire extinguisher should be present in the kitchen (appendix 1), family/study room (appendix 1) family/breakfast room (appendix 1), dining room (appendix 1) and lounge in the ground floor and all bedrooms in first floor (appendix 2) Managing external spread of the fire External spread of fire in the Mr and Mrs. Jones building should be restricted to inhibit possible external fire spread to the internal structure (Crown 2007:43). Roof covering should be fire resistant and not succumb to external fire ignition. The wall External surfaces should meet class 0 (national class) or class B-s3 or d2 (European standards). Notional boundary should be adequate to prevent building-to-building spread of fire. Roof covering should comply with BS 476-3:200418 standards and should be able to resist exposure to external fire by conforming to BS EN 13501-5:2005 standards. Roof covering materials should comply with Commission Decision 2000/553/EC of 6th September 2000 and implementing council directive 89/106/EEC. Use of plastic roof-lights should comply with class 3 (national class) or class D-s3, d2 (European class)(Crown 2007:51). The recommended area for the roof-lights is 5m2 (Crown 2007:51). Rigid thermoplastic sheet for the building should be made of polycarbonate or any other accepted material that complies with class 1 (national classes) when tested to BS 476-7:1997 or 1987 or 1971 or class C-s3 or d2 (European class) that has AA (national class) designation or BROOF (t4) (European class) classification. Wood and thatch shingles for the building should comply with AD/BD/CD designation (national classes) or EROOF (t4) European classes or comply with BS 476-3:2004 or 1958. Rafters for the building should have 30 minutes fire resistance (Crown 2007:51-53). Access and facilities for fire rescue service Mr. and Mrs. Jones building should have fire fighting facilities. The building should have a fire staging area that should be equipped with appliances for fire fighting. It should be located on one side of the hall room that is safely accessible. Small fire appliances should be put in a fire tool kit cabinet. This should be in the ground floor. The fire staging area should also be assessable to the fire brigade in the event of fire (Crown 2007:54). The building should have an external access by fire service vehicles. It should make it possible for fire rescue services to effectively use high reach appliances, for instance, turntable ladders and hydraulic platform pump appliances that can help to supply water and other supplies to fire fighters and other rescuers (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