Fire Exits

Hello. This enquiry is split into 2 issues involving separate final exit doors. 1. An exit door incorporates a manual push bar and also a mag lock with a push-to-open door button (on the adjacent wall). You normally have to push the button and then the bar to open the door. During a fire drill, it was found that mag lock did not go into fail-open ie you still had to push the button then the push bar to get out. This area is potentially used by more than 60 people although there is another safe exit on the other side of the building. 2. Another final exit door, opens inwards as otherwise the door would open into an external corridor. I have suggested m…

Can cold smoke seals- brushes- be fixed to both the door and the frame on the same door. have tried this but the brushes grip each other and make the door difficult to open. should seals be fitted to the door only. Do the regulations prevent fitting of brushes and strips to the frame.

Hi What height do the 'Refuge Keep Clear' signs have to be. I know the EVC system is 900 to 1200 form FFL but not sure of sign height.

In an office building with an L1 alarm system (everywhere) is it mandatory to provide manual call points by Fire Exits? If so, can you explain why?

Hello, We have a fire exit door with a push bar which is the main door for our offices. This door is also controlled by a keypad enabling access to staff, and visitors can be buzzed in. To complicate matters, we also then have a second fire exit door which doesn't have any security, but is the final fire exit door as this leads outside. This door doesn't have a bolt or catch, and can be pushed and pulled open freely. Between these two doors is a very small lobby area which we encourage the general public to enter to help themselves to free leaflets. When the office is unoccupied, we lock this final door using a chubb key. We would like to be able to lock the final…

Hi. My neighbour at work has had the rear fire door of his factory unit enclosed off with fencing by his neighbours, who have now put goats and geese to graze there. This door is the only rear fire door that he has. Also the ground belongs to him. The neighbours that have done this are gypsies that live in a house so obviously he wants to resolve this as amicably as possible especially as he s an elderly gentleman. Any advice please?

Hi there, We have a fairly old building (built 1890). The back stairs / back corridor is the means of escape for a (rented flat) and office (5 occupants) and a small bar (60 occupants), the exit is via our back fire door, it opens out directly onto the street. (there is an alternative means of escape over the roof for the flat). For the bar, there is also the front door of the bar as an escape route, but these are old fashioned Victorian pub doors that open inwards) For the back fire exit, which i view as our main fire exit we have a conundrum. The width of the opening is 120cm. It opens directly onto the pavement and has 2 old narrow (55cm), outward opening doo…

Hi everyone, I work for a small 16+ college in Manchester. We rent our building from a large high school that is behind our building. We are completely separate from them and cannot access their grounds. However, there are three fire exits that open into their grounds but they have told us that we are not allowed to use them as it is a safeguarding issue for their students. This means currently students and staff have to walk away from their nearest exits and into a potentially burning building to access ones at the front. Our premises isn’t large so this would take a matter of seconds but it means that during drills the …

Hi I have a 3 storey Victorian terrace in Rhyl which has an old fire escape through to next doors property which is borded up. My neighbour has advised me that his kids have been trying to get through and they have broken the bording a little. I want to know whether I am OK to brick it up and plaster it over now with the advent of smoke alarms etc. Thank you

Hi, could some one please give some advise I have tried to check with approved document B but cant seem to find anything in relation to are situation , we have 2 separate toilets on the 1st floor above are proposed restaurant the toilets are situated along the passageway of the fire exit and need to know if we are required to install fire doors to the toilet entrance. when we purchased the building the doors to the toilets had been damaged so have to be replaced thankyou

This is a theoretical query as I'm doing some training and high rise blocks of flats has come up (not specific to Grenfell as the paper was written before the tragedy in 2017). The paper tells me to read ADB and BS9999 as well as the DCLG/GOV.COM guide for purpose built flats. I have been told by someone else in the industry (which is why i am querying this) that Grenfell complied with current building regs...I am a novice in the industry but find it hard to get my head around why a building which is 30m+ high would only have one means of escape (even with a stay put policy)?!?!? So, I have read what I thought would be the building regs (ADB 2010) to see what…

We have a fire alarm installed in a multi occupancy office block. Each individual office has a electronic lock. I am aware these may need to release on activation of fire alarm. But where does this lie in the event of security protection. I.E if the alarm is falsely activated then all office and building become accessible Much appreciate your response kind regards Steven

Hi I've had a look on the safelincs website and I'm just wondering where the source of the information was about final fire exits being locked when a building is unoccupied and using a red board to store padlocks, chains, bolts etc when the premises is in use. Is this official advice given from like the government or health and safety in a document or advice from yourselves? Thanks

Morning, im managing a block of 13 flats over 3 floors. Ground, one and two. On the second floor there’s a step up to a small patio door that opens out onto a communal small terrace. It has the build walls on two sides and glass panels on the other two, about 3 ft high. No exit off the terrace. You could get over it by jumping into the flat roof of the 1st floor. Would this be classed as a fire door and exit?

My daughter has a student flat which is on the sea front and below ground. Due to flooding the other week they boarded up her outside door, so only has one exit. There is no windows apart from the one above the boarded door. Can you tell me the law on this as we are looking at moving her out but not sure about breach of contract. The only part of being unfit for purpose. thanks

I have been contacted by a primary school with regard to pupils with additional support needs who regularly abscond from the school, sometimes reaching busy roads. They have requested that an external gate be padlocked to prevent this; this gate is situated between the final exit from the school and the fire assembly point. My view is that while not ideal, the real risk of a child escaping and being run over makes it acceptable to lock this gate during the school day, as long as the school manages this in the event of an evacuation ie ensuring that keys are always available and the padlock is monitored and maintained to ensure it's correct operation. T…

I am currently refurbishing a shop unit. I have a set of worn out aluminium double fire doors and would like to change them to a single fire door minimum width 750mm. Is this ok ?

On a building entrance that has auto sliding doors and which open on fire alarm activation and mains failure with also a staff key override is a green box manual emergency override required. I see some premises with them and others not. In this particular the main entrance doors opened on approach. The rear staff entrance doors do not as it is only accessed by staff fob key. Neither had a green box installed on the escape side. Thanks.

Hi I have a converted attic room which I feel may need an escape route such as a roof ladder and would like some advice, also the block of 3 flats which is a converted house many years ago, the lower flat alarm is not connected to the upper two and I wanted to get advice on this because we believe perhaps it should be Mary

I wish to enquire about door locks for the above application. I presently manage a 24/7 care team for my aunt with dementia in her own home. I have noticed that she becomes agitated and anxious when carers are changing shifts and with doors being unlocked and relocked and even the jangling of keys. Therefore I am considering a keypad/fob based system for carer entry. Entry is not the problem of course but exit is. For obvious reasons there cannot be a typical crash to exit lever or push to exit button so exit also has to be somewhat secure. However there is an obvious conflict with fire safety in this situation. How is this normally handled - presumably the door lock is l…

I live in a small block of flats with 5 floors. We can't seem to get our contractors to set the correct timing for lighting in communal hallways and stairs. In the summer the lighting came on at 6pm and it has just changed to after 8pm + for the winter. When I came home at 8pm the hallways were dark and the emergency lighting wasn't bright enough to light the stairs. It's a mixed building with children, retirees etc What times should lighting be set at in summer and winter in the London area? No one seems to know the correct timingo. We get charged for each visit. With regards emergency lighting - isn't this enough to guide you safely if there's no lightin…

My flat is in a Victorian building. 4 floors over shops. At the rear there is a fire door which leads to the bottom of a Victorian fire escape. Down steps to a small yard leading to a large yard. This has been in use many times a day for all the 20 years I have owned the flat to access the bin area at the rear and it is a route out of the building in an emergency. This was in place long before I owned the flat and probably over 100 years in some form. We have recently had all the rear barricaded and a gate with padlock erected with warnings that if we dare to access the large area the full force of the law will be used against us for trespassing by order of the ow…

Hi All. Just looking for a bit of advice regarding steps on escape routes. The premises is a small shop, on the ground floor only. Maximum number of people on site at a given time (staff and customers) is approximately 10. There are 2 designated fire exits - the main entrance which leads directly into the shop and a rear fire exit which you access through the storage area (the number of exits is adequate given the travel distances and number of people). To get to the rear fire exit you have to walk up 4 steps. Currently there aren't any employees with mobility impairments who require a wheelchair, but members of the public with mobility impairments do ac…

Hi My daughter is a student and has rented a shared student house. I am concerned as she has got the top loft bedroom with only one varilux window which is about 4ft of the floor and is on the third floor. If there was a house fire, she has no means of escape except that through that window onto a sloping grey slate roof. What is your advice on this situation please. Thank you

Hello.. i need some advice about the number of doors you are allowed in a fire exit route. I have a ground floor shop 77msq .. there is an exit at the front and one at the rear through the kitchen. Am I able to partition off the kitchen .. meaning if you wanted to use the rear fire escape you would first have to go through the door to the kitchen? How many doors is it ok to have to go through?