Fire Prevention

Hello all, Hopefully I can get some help here as it is not something I am familiar with. Its a random one as I am trying to help one of my customers - My customer has 7 assisted living sites in Scotland, typically looking after a maximum of 4/5 users in Bungalows/Houses that have been converted. Most bedrooms have Ceiling Track Hoists, and the Sites all have a Specialist Hi Lo Bath which is electrically powered. One of their sites has recently been inspected by Scottish Fire and Rescue Service who are looking for an ordinary door to be replaced with a self closing fire door to the bathroom due to the increased electrical fire risk from the rise and fall bath and associa…

I have been asked to rectify some fire foam work that was carried out by another contractor. I have always been taught that any aperture over 50mm that foam should not be used and instead the use of a mineral fibre(batts) used in conjunction with intumescent mastic and an ablative paint. Is this information outdated ? as i know that various foam products are now available. also what is the life span of the older foam products (i know this is a hard question to answer not knowing the make or spec) Could you give some information on any products that would be a suitable product please thanks in advance

Hello, The fire door survey for our building has been done and tells us that all our riser cupboards and communal doors now have to be smoke doors now with smoke seals added and the gaps at the bottom reduced to 3mm. It is a 20 year old block and the doors have flat fire strips in them and gaps at the bottom of around 6-8mm. Why now, after all this time do they suddenly have to be smoke doors? They said Approved Document B of the Building Regs states all fire doors in residential blocks should be smoke doors, but I thought this document was for new builds or big changes to buildings - not repairing existing fire doors. Any thoughts would be appreciated! …

Good morning I wonder if you could help a confused soul. Our block of flats was built between 2002 and 2004. My understanding is to comply with building regulations at the time fd30 doors had to be fitted and they need to be tested as a door set. At this time there was no requirement to have labels on the doors etc. In 2005 new rules came in that required labels on doors. Since 2002 there is no longer the paper work to verify the fd30 door. The doors are steel with wooden frames with fire expanding strips. In a recent inspection the tests which were applied related to the the current standard so every door failed. While I can understand issues with gaps and pai…

A two-foot square timber fronted riser cupboard on a stairwell of a 5-storey residential block of flats contains three waste pipes and three electric supply cables running up through all floors. The hinges are not fire-rated, the door is 18mm thick with 10mm stops. No combined seals. Is there a need to better protect the escape route?

Hello, I am making cushion covers out of remnants of old fabrics/clothing to sell in the UK. The cushion inserts will be sourced from a manufacturer and meet fire safety regulations, but I am struggling to find information regarding what fire safety information I must include on any labelling for the cushion covers. The fabrics are all vintage/antique, with most fabric up-cycled from existing clothing (for example a 1940s blouse) which do not have any care/safety labels. Any information on fire retardancy with regards to this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I live in a block of 8 flats. 4 ground floor /4 first floor which share an unusable loft space . The management company have said that it is a new compulsory fire regulation that the loft space has to be divided into 4 using fire proof walls to stop any fire spreading at a cost of £12000. I have been told by a builder that these updates do not apply to flats built under old building regulations. Are these works compulsory?

Is there any products on the market that would assist a supported living resident with heavy smoking. I’m aware of smoking aprons but any other suggestions would be appreciated and welcome.

New build attached garage has a pitched roof with eaves meeting the flat roof of the adjacent kitchen. The eaves from the garage side are lined ned with fireline board and extended up to cover the osb decking (extended up the eaves as standard detail). Is there any other requirements to comply with part B? Also the end of the garage pitched roof turns towards the house formerly ng a gable which has been fully lined in fireline board. The roof is covered by marley moderns on battens. Can the space between the battens be filled with rockwool over the dividing wall?

Hello. I have a two story house plus a loft conversion which is currently only accessible via an external metal staircase. I’d like to have an internal staircase installed from the first floor up. As I understand it, with a third floor, all doors on the first and ground floor which lead to the exit (front door) need to be fire rated. Does that apply even though there is already a means of escape from the top floor? All the doors are Edwardian panelled doors and the prospect of them needing new hinges, intumescent strips and fire retardant paint is putting me off. Thanks for any advice.

Hi can anyone please advice on the best fire safety advice documents for a children's home. Children without mobility difficulties will share a typical two storey 4/5 bed house which has staff management/supervision 24/7. One child per bedroom. Many Thanks

I am converting a commercial space into two duplex flats above a ground floor commercial space. It's a three story terrace. The top floor ceilings have been plasterboarded with normal plasterboard and skimmed. I assume this offers 30mins FR. Does this meet the regs? There is a mains smoke alarm throughout the whole building, including the loft space above this ceiling. My former builder fitted plastic loft hatches with no FR. Do these need to be replaced with FR hatches? If so, 30 or 60? Many thanks in advance.

Hi there - is compartmentation required in roof voids where there a supported living service where disabled residents require support to evacuate and it may take additional time at night to reduced staffing. I head landlords often say the building is compliant and it is down to care providers to fix the issue based on their customers. I am talking about small buildings with multiple rooms where residents live and share communal areas. I see in the ADB that 30 minutes of fire resistance can be spread throughout the home to 30 minutes fire resistance however does this allow for a PHE. It is also quite difficult to know whether dwellings or buildings other than dwellings app…

I have been asked to put a protective film onto glass to give it 30 minutes fire protection. The company is Envirograf but never heard of them of any film that is effective in stopping smoke and fire for 30 minutes. Has anybody used it and is it any good ?? Thanks.

In some of our care homes we are having fire stopping of breeches undertaken. The contractor is affixing labels on compted work and issuing a full report of where/what has been applied with photographic evidence. My question is, can we redocorate the areas and cover the labels as we have documentation to support what has been done? Similar to a 'golden thread system'. The labels do not look appealing in a setting that is akin to a homely atsmosphere! Thanks

Our Beko freezer went on fire overnight, about thirty years old. Apart from reporting to Beko, is there anything else we should do ? Unfortunately we haven't got the model no. as it has gone to the tip, my husband has visited tip and the follow- on place and explained to them but the freezer has already been disposed of.

I have a 1776 cottage (not listed),3 story holiday let,with open plan kitchen/living room. I'm in the process of fitting fire doors ( I will be sad to see the original doors go) they will have to be bespoke. My questions are= 1, There as never been a door at the foot of living room staircase, should there be one? 2, The three doors on the upper floors that are in place at the moment are going to be replaced with FD30s-rated doors. Do they need to be self closing ?

I live in small purpose built (60’s) block of flats - 2 gf + 2 x 1st floor. Entrance lobby/porch with two flat doors off, then single stairway to 1st floor with two flat doors off small landing. Height of 1st floor flats under 11m. Have read guides but confused whether all flats or only some, or none, need fire doors. G/f flats also have garden doors and one upper flat has balcony for escape purposes. Cannot see specifically where it says fire doors are definitely required! Currently, no fire doors.

I'm an architect, designing a timber frame annex building I'm looking for advice from someone who is familiar with interpreting B4, which states in 11.8: "Unprotected areas should meet the conditions in Diagram 11.5, and the rest of the wall should be fire resisting from both sides. External surface materials facing the boundary should be class B-s3, d2 or better." Where in the regulations can I find the requirement for the wall being fire resisting from both sides?

Lots of people have mirrors in gardens. I have one and would like to hang a couple more as my garden is very small. However, I am worried about triggering a wildfire. I don't understand the science - if one can use a mirror to light a fire from dry leaves etc when one is playing at survival, why don't mirrors in gardens cause problems? Thanks for any advice you can offer.

I have a question about hallway furniture for a B&B - this is a B&B that the host also lives in (not sure that makes any difference though). We have quite a large hall, which is part of the fire escape route for the two bedrooms that we want to use for B&B rooms. The hall is 2.45m x 3.25m, with the front door on one of the shorter edges and a coat cupboard, that is an alcove without a door at the other end. The stairs to the upstairs B&B room is to one side along one of the long walls (not included in my sizes) and the bottom of the stairs are next to the front door, so the upstairs guest doesn't have to escape through the hallway, just down the stairs and…

My client is converting an old stables block to provide event space on ground floor and two short term rental flats on the first floor. There is a single stairway that will have 60 minute fire protection from the flats, however the stair enclosure and final exit is shared by those using the event space. Although 2 purpose groups, during an event, the flats will either be unused or rented to people attending the event. BC are still not happy to approve as there are two purpose groups. Would an escape window in each of the flats be acceptable provided the opening was a minimum of 450mm, height from floor was between 800 and 1100mm, and external height from sill was no more …

Morning ,I want to start using mineral wool insulation for filling gaps between frame and wall. My question is can any type be used as long as it's non combustible? If anyone knows of a specific type to use I'd be very grateful. The one I've looked at is Knauf Dritherm 37. Has a Euro class 1 rating and states it's non combustible. Thankyou

Good evening, I want to know whether an AOV is strictly necessary in the stairwell of our victorian conversion flat. It's a tall 3 storey building with 5 flats. We have linked alarms and is not a 'stay put' flat. I read in a previous post on this forum that this meant an AOV is not necessary, but I wanted to check that the rules haven't since changed or there are circumstances where it is necessary. Thanks

Hello, I live in a communal development of flats which was built in 2004. There are 20 apartments with private entrance doors accessed via a shared hallway. There are also 25 communal doors (a combination of internal doors and storage/ riser cupboard doors). The apartments are split over three small low-rise blocks. A Fire Door Inspector recently assessed the fire doors as ‘Nominal’ as they are unlabelled. In his opinion, they are of good quality and in excellent condition. As these doors are serving a private development, with access via communal corridors, I understand that they should meet FD30S level (i.e. Fire AND Smoke). The Fire Inspector’s …