Fire Exits

Good Morning, I am hoping someone will be able to answer my question;- Our buildings fire escape opens out onto a side road that is used by people to as parking. What I am trying to establish is what distance there needs to be between my fire escape door and a car. Also, when cars are parked on the road I believe they could hinder escaping employees should the worse occurr. Is there any legislation/guidelines I can use to stop cars from been parked on this side road? Any help would be a great help. Many Thanks

Hello, We are dividing our shop into 2 smaller units. The "new" unit is 3.5m wide and 18m deep, it only has a front access of double front doors. I'm trying to find out if we need to install another exit as a fire escape or if there's a maximum depth of unit that doesn't require another exit. The only option I would have if we have to have one is for it to exit into my shop unit, which isn't really a great option. I have a Coffee shop that would like to rent with a seating of 40 persons. Many thanks, Mark.

Can anyone please explain where the 4.5m distance for means of escape past a void originates (with a reference if possible). Thanks

Good Morning, I am hoping for some advise please, My son is trying to buy his first home and we went to look at a Maisonette with him yesterday. It covers the 2nd 3rd and attic space of a converted house. it has its own front door and NO communal space. The front door is the only entrance in and out of this property, the windows in the rooms are able to open fully as a means or exit. I want to know please before he puts in an offer and pays for surveyors reports if there should be any other fire escape route and should his front door be of any fire proof rating with fire rated glass. I know in purpose built flats these rules apply but not certain in this ca…

Hi All, I've read through a lot of posts and guidelines but I'm not sure what the real answer is now and I'm hoping someone with better real world knowledge would be able to help. We have been told that we can only use one specific external area for breaks however this is area is directly in front of a fire exit. Would people standing\sitting on the external side of a fire exit constitute as obstruction? Any help or guidance would be much appreciated. :-) Thanks you

Is a hotel bedroom corridor with bedroom doors opening onto classed as a protected corridor? If it helps there are alternate means of escape and the entry to each escape stair is lobbied by virtue of the bedroom door and the door into the stair. I am still wrestling with advising on a coffee vending machine and consumables being located in the bedroom corridor. Most sleeping accommodation policies prohibit such items in protected routes and allows some tolerance in unprotected routes.

I need to fit an opening mechanism to our village hall fire door. There is currently a crash bar (mechanical) and I wish to have a version which allows the door to be opened from the inside by the crash bar BUT opended externally by an electric lock activated by a coded key pad. I have the coded key pad and I just need to crash bar and lock

Hi, Just a quick query. Admin/office in its own grounds ---on ground and open plan upper floor with final exit through the main lobby which has fire doors running off it. There is a small store room at rear of building on ground floor with fire door that leads to this lobby---inside there is another door that leads to outside--this door stays locked and is not a fire/final exit door. Should this door be replaced with a push bar final exit door?

We are selling our terraced house which has an access panel into and from next door which is a multi occupancy rented accommodation. As we are selling we informed the next door landlord that we will be bricking up the access (which is currently blocked with furniture on our side). He seems to believe we have to keep this panel open to allow his first floor tenants to escape during a fire! He was the previous owner of our house and said to me 'well you bought the house with am access panel'. I am assuming that for our security and fire safety this access panel should be bricked up. That this is something houses used to have and use many years ago but that legall…

I have a basement kitchen in my private home with an inward opening door and an outward opening security gate aswell. People constantly park their cars right up to the gate so I can't open it and I've put signs up and left notes asking them to stop but it hasn't worked. Can I got the police or the fire safety office involved and are they able to stop them parking there as I am worried that my children wouldn't be able to get out of the house if they were in the basement in the event of a fire.

hello we have a special educational needs group that uses a room with a push barrier fire exit and a fire rated entrance door, some children have been getting out of the fire rated entrance door as it is not locked this has happened 3 times. Are we ok to lock the fire door if staff members all have a key as our primary means of escape to outside is still our fire exit

Hi A residential block of flats which has connected halls and is ground to sixth floor. If riser cupboards on a communal hall/ exit routes has large Breaches on the floor and ceiling from grd to sixth, but has FD30s fitted also an AOV within the hall ways and a fire dectection system installed, is it recommended that all breaches are suitable sealed up or left as it is???

I am studying architecture and fire safety is an element of that. I am wondering what is the difference between a protected lobby and a protected corridor? I think it is that a lobby has 2 fire door separation from the corridor, 1 of which can be an internal Fire door within an inner hallway of a flat and the other being the flat entrance door, and a corridor is only 1 door between the apartments (say an open plan apartment) Also once in a protected stair, does the stair need to exit direct to fresh air or can it be via a protected lobby or corridor? And my final question is in the small buildings requirement – is there anything that can say that the p…

Hi, I have a 3 floor town house and am just about to confirm my order for double glazing windows. I will be letting rooms out on the first and second floors as such the property will be a HMO. I have just realised that I may have overlooked a fire safety requirement on the second floor landing. At the second floor landing there is a small window (895mm w x 1100mm h) which sits on the fire escape route. I have not specified this as a fire escape window. Does it need to be? Many Thanks, Lee .

Good afternoon, How do I request an inspection to my workplace for fire safety? We have no fire exits onsite. Have been told to go onto the flat roof and wait to be brought down or jump to the ground floor Thanks Dannielle

Hi, I have just bought a 3 floor town house and am planning to rent out the rooms on the upper levels as a HMO. A lot of work re HMO and fire safety was completed at the property in 1985. The kitchen is on the first floor and its door has been upgraded to 30m FR. The kitchen door and one of its walls are along the fire escape route. I would like to put in a fixed (non opening) window along the wall that sits on the fire escape route. Would there be any fire rating requirements for this window? Many Thanks, Lee

Hello Could someone clarify if magnetic locks are or aren't acceptable on final exit doors in licensed premises? BS 7273-4:2015 suggests not but HM Governments Fire Risk Assessment - Large places of Assembly suggests that these are acceptable if risk assessed and that the revert to failsafe if the alarm is activated, a fault occurs or the manual release if activated. Any direction? British Standard 7273-4:2015 "Code of practice for the operation of fire protection measures – Part 4: Actuation of release mechanism for doors" prescribes that in premises "involving public entertainment or sale of alcohol, the use of electronically operated doors on means …

My girlfriend lives in a flat which shares an entrance/exit to the street with 3 other flats. One of the other tenants ensures that the front shared door is locked by a key which is hard to open, down low and the door is warping, there is also a latch operated internal lock. I have made him aware of the requirement not to have a key lock on this door (Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005) but he still puts a sign up on the door saying everyone must lock the door with a key. I really feel unsafe when I stay (I don't have a key, so would be trapped if my girlfriend was out) What are our options? Can we arrange someone to discuss this with him who has authority a…

Can you help. I live in a modern five storey block of flats with a basement garage. There is a fire exit from the garage that opens into a small area approx 5ft wide with 2 stairwells leading to the street level. There is a commercial unit at the underground level. The managent agent want to but in high (non scalable) gates at the basement level before the stairs so the fire exit would then open into a lock yard. I think this is a fire safety issue. Please advise

Hi - I have a small opticians practice and the consulting room is upstairs, to comply with NHS regs I need to be able to get disabled/infirm patients upstairs. I was wondering if a stair lift would be the answer? The stairs are narrow (88cm approx. width) and have a bend at the bottom but they provide the only access to the first floor and therefore would be our fire exit. I would be grateful for some advice before I start looking for new premises! Kate

Hi I don't know if anyone can help but I wondered if it is written anywhere what the maximum height of a step would be through a fire exit? I can't find any info on this if anyone can help me I would be grateful

Dear Sir/Madam I would be most grateful if you could advise me on the law regarding the need for a fire escape as a second exit for a flat located on the third floor of a building from the time that I took out the tenancy in 1996 onward. Somebody has told me that the law was changed a number of years ago and the requirement for efficient smoke detectors has replaced the requirement for fire escapes as a requirement for flats on the third floor of a building. However,if this is the case then I need to know what were the requirements prior to this change in the law. I would be grateful for any advice that you may be able to offer on this matter. Kind regards G…

Hi, I need to secure my front door and am fitting an audio access control unit which be locked until i release the lock. Because I have jewellery on site i do not wish to have a "push to exit" button or a Break Glass unit by the front door, because it obviously defeats the object of security. I do however intend to have a on/off key switch in the back office (about 3m away) which will have the key in constantly which disables the bolt. Please advise if I will be compliant with regs?

Please can you give me some advice - we would like to replace a couple of emergency exits in our health centre. The doors are only used in the case of an emergency and are not access points to the building. In obtaining quotes from various suppliers we have been given conflicting information - please can you advise if we are able to install UPVC, composite or aluminium doors? Is this a matter of preference or would there be one preferred from a safety perspective. Many thanks

Our three sets of metal stairs are going to be repainted where paint has worn off and I have been instructed to have the nose of the steps painted in a white fluorescent paint as an aid for a visually impaired employee. I have yet been unable to find a white fluorescent paint, only green or yellow, but my question is does it need to be fire retardant?