Fire Exits

fire door width is 710mm. two escape routes. discount the largest which is 720mm. Maximum fire protection measures in place roof over 3m but under 4m, no more that 77 persons occupancy as confirmed by the client. is this acceptable or not based on the variations 20% principal. it is not a new build.

Hi I have a customer that operates an indoor tourist attraction that has an ongoing issue with a certain element of his tourists using a double glass fire exit doors as a short cut as it is near to the car park as opposed to walking an extra 50 yards to the actual site exit. Although we have installed battery operated alarm, when it goes off the staff are so busy they cant respond quick enough to catch them in the act. Adjacent to these doors just around a corner there is another set of fire exit doors (approx 5 meters away) and we were hoping that we could lock the set of doors that are being used as a short cut as there is another fire exit so close. Is this doable…

We have moved into a ground floor retail space, the shop was once a large wine bar/restaurant which has since been divided into three shop. The third of the shop we now occupy contains a fire door (top left next to loo on attached plan) leading onto a courtyard at the back of the shop with a path leading down the side and to the street at the front, this served as the only fire escape for the whole restaurant, what is now our front door was always locked. The courtyard and path belong to the flat above and we have a right of access only. We would like to block up the fire door as we do not expect to ever have large quantities of people in the shop, our frontage is f…

We are in the process of buying four flats that are in poor repair. They were converted to flats prior to 1988 and we are being told they have a one hour fire time down the main stair case. They do have an integrated fire system which has been regularly tested and their is fire boarding between the flats. There is no secondary route to escape the property and it would be difficult to add in an external fire escape. We want to upgrade the property to modern building regulations but we are concerned that we will be required to put in a secondary fire route - which is likely to cause major problems with neighbours. Can anyone advise whether a secondary …

Hi We have just been told in my office by our Health and safety person that it is illegal (and we could be fined) for leaving our fire exit door open (we do this for ventelation) now it is not a 'fire door' as far as im aware as no sticker on it!? could you help us to solve this issue as we are missing out fresh air! Thanks Vicky

I have a client and the local building control want two windows as Fire escape windows on a ground floor premises. Maximum travel distance is under seven metres. with a fire door in between. So to a place of relative safety is 4m with 7m total to final exit. Is there a need for this? I don't see it but he's the bain of my life stating that because they are 'inner rooms' that they need it. They are just rooms that lead off a corridor 3m long. Its used as a clinic with a maximum 4 people on site at any one time. I seem to remember that windows cannot be used as escape routes. Perhaps I'm wrong?

Hello. I'm fitting fire doors in a house I'm converting to an HMO. The frames are new and have been routed (by the supplier) for combined smoke/heat strips. I'm a plumber by trade but have hung a few doors before but need some advice on these please. I fitted the frame and got everything looking fine and hung the first door with an equal gap of no more than 3mm around the edge. However when I fitted the strips the door wouldn't close easily because of the smoke brush being too proud. To enable it to close smoothly to meet the regs I'd have to plane the door back by 2-3mm. Not only is this going to look very unsightly (a gap of 5-6mm) it then actually exceeds the r…

I'm wondering if it would be safe to introduce a lock to an internal door which would serve as one route of exit in an emergency? Locking this door would essentially turn the space (currently being used as an office) into a dead end, in doing so the only way of exiting the room (& building) in an emergency would be out of the door you came in, turning right, and then going through a laundry room to a set of final exit doors. The lock would would be operated from the other side of the care office, so those in the room in question wouldn't be able to open the door at all. Please see attached. I think the door being used as it currently is as the route of …

I live in a housing association bungalow with 1 door as entry/exit. I am a wheelchair user. Is One (1) entry/exit allowed or does the law require two(2)?

hi need some information. i live nextdoor to a cutway that leads all the way round the back of terraced houses the man two doors down has brought the cutway and plans to build a garage on it we have been told that is is fire acess land for houses any information on this is it worth asking the fire service to look at the cutway to say it should be used for fire acess only no parking of cars the neighbor was given the cutway then sold it to the new owner who is putting a bollard in place to stop cars

Hello, i have a question regarding fire doors and exits. in my establishment i live above my job in a live in accommodation. It has two fire exits, leading from the balcony of the building. and one leading onto a landing downstairs which leads through the staff room and out of the building. Our boss has insisted on locking the fire exit next to the staff room, which only leaves one fire exit available to leave through. Is locking this lower level fire exit illegal and dangerous?

Hello, We have recently refurbished a building which is used for residential guests and student accommodation. We would like to place a cabinet in the entrance hall to the building to make the entrance more welcoming. The cabinet is 156cm wide and 54cm deep. Either side of the cabinet is a corridor leading up to the sets of staircases. We have measured that there is more than 90cm of space on either side of the cabinet in the corridor. The building never has more than 40 people inside at a time. Would this be considered an obstruction?

Hello - new to the forum Could anybody tell me what warrants and external fire staircase. We have a bar for around 30 people and have secured planning for the upstairs (one flight) for a bar that will hold 25 people. Access and egress is via the normal stairwell at the moment. Do we I need to build an external fire escape stairwell ?

We live in a mid terrace house which is private rented the next door is end terrace, that property is bought. We fell out and they put a bolt on the street access gate but also put a chain and padlock on the gate joining the two houses .my partner has kidney failure and is blind and i thought this was a communal access gate for using to take bins out and escaping if there was a fire but i was wrong .phoned the council they couldn't do anything as its private rented and the neighbours were in bought property so phoned anti social behaviour taskforce they couldnt do anything then citizens advice they couldnt do anything then i went to neil gray msp same crap couldnt do any…

When the fd30s door closes it fails to latch I think it’s a positive/ negative air pressure between the room and outside I will try fin intumescent instead of brush any other ideas

I would appreciate some advice or a recommendation as to where I can get further assistance. My insurance company is insisting that all ground floor windows have key operated locks. We have double glazed windows fitted approx 3 years ago and they have said that they do not supply key operated locks for fire safety reasons, ie. fire exit. Who is correct? Thanks

Hi. The kitchen is in the basement, which has it own door leading to the outside,the basement stair is separate from the main staircase, does it require a fire door top or bottom. it a domestic two storey with a basement at the rear. Thanks Trev

I have a 1st floor exit from a commercial building and a single flight of metal stairs, they are blocking a pathway so I’d like to move them in a different direction and I wondered if anyone knew if I can have these constructed out of timber. We are in the UK. Cheers.

We have a corridor which goes nowhere and has the company timeline on the wall. At the end of the corridor is a fire exit and two doors into offices which are never used. We want to put display items down the corridor, but can't due to the fire exit at the end. Both of the offices either side of the corridor have multiple fire exit doors so I'm not concerned about escape from the offices. Can the door at the end of the corridor be a normal exit or, as it goes to the outside, does it have to be a fire exit? If it has to be a fire exit can we just board up the door and have a dead end corridor?

I work in a pub which is set over 2 floors. Main bar and customer area down stairs and then customer toilets, kitchen and staff areas up stairs. The only way up to the 2nd floor is via the main staircase. There is no other way to get out the building from upstairs should there be a fire other than the main staircase. If a fire should start on the stairs or at the bottom of the stairs all people upstairs would be trapped. Is this legal? Should there be more than fire escape from the second floor?

Hi, do I need any permission knock a hole in wall to install a fire exit door that opens out onto a private road.

I own both leasehold and share of freehold on a Victorian conversion (converted in 70s) where both of the bedrooms are inner rooms (means of escape via lounge as front door to flat opens directly onto lounge). The flat is partially lower ground, and the bedroom windows are too high to meet escape guidelines (around 1300mm to bottom of opening). I’m getting the windows replaced, but can’t widen the opening due to the lower ground nature. From what I’ve read, alternative options would be installing a fixed step beneath the windows, or installing a suppression system to the access room (have been considering AutoMist). I’d be grateful for any advice on a) how to ensure I mee…

Can you use external fire exits to increase ventilation in a room?

Can you please advise me if fire door seals should be fitted to a final exit fire door, as logic tells me no, because if the seals swell in heat the door would not open and trap people in a fire. Also could you please advise me if there is a minimum width of an final escape door. Regards Barry

At this final exit, from small place of assembly, there are no steps or ramp. Less than 60 people use premises and rear escape is at end of protected route. It's 80cm from step to the ground. Will building control or fire service insist on steps or ramp? I can't find in guidance where it explicitly states that the exit requires steps or ramp? Anyone encountered this before?