Fire Exits

Please can someone advise us - we have a car park under our office block which holds 20 cars when full. Only used by staff and visitors to the offices. Car park has natural ventilation (grills) but is enclosed with an electrical powered roller shutter which is also the fire exit designated in the car park. There is a manual fire call point next to the roller shutter. Also, the shutter can be manually operated from inside the car park area using a chain. There are no doors next to the shutter, but another door in the car park access’s the internal stairway to avoid car park users having to go outside before going upstairs. Questions are; a)…

Our Fire Safety Regulations (NI) 2010 do not permit the use of sliding doors as emergency escape doors. I understand statutory regulations elsewhere in the U.K. have similar stipulations. The requirement seems to be widely flouted. I note many designs/FRAs referring to the need for fail safe operation but the regulations don’t have caveats that would support their use in any situation. Any views?

hi there we are currently in the process of building a bar in an industrial unit and i'm trying do work out where to place things. would option 2(the second pic0 meet fire regs? both doors would be 870mm wide and open out into a private outdoor area. (the orange opening would be 870 wide and wouldn't have a door) other info - the unit is 15m deep and 8 meters wide,

Just trying to think through the requirement in ADB and 9999 to provide at least two MOE from a storey which has an area set out for the consumption of food and drink and which is ancillary to the main use of the storey. 2.16 of ADB additionally requires that the MOE should lead direct to a storey exit and not via a kitchen or area of high fire hazard 16.3.8 of 9999 is the same but insists that the MOE should not be via the rest of the storey. First off, why the special attention on consumption of food and drink which is ancillary to the main use of the building? Secondly, what is the interpretation of ‘lead direct to a storey exit”? Is that effecti…

I need some advice. I live in a a middle of a Victorian terrace in a maisonette on a which has ground floor entrance, first floor kitchen, side door leading to garden via external steps, dining room and living room, then small bedroom with bathroom on second floor and then another bedroom two bedrooms on the top floor. The flat has benefit of roof terrace and sole ground floor yard garden with gate exit. This is owned by my landlord ("leaseholder") The ground floor space occupies a restaurant (but does not share the garden as it's for sole purpose of the maisonette only). This is owned by the restaurants landlord ("the freeholder"). It seems as if the Freeh…

Hello, I was wondering if you could advise what are signage material requirements for protected fire lobbies which are part of the fire excape route? Are PVC foam signages would comply with regulations? Kind regards, Deimante

Are fire escape rooflights in the front slope of a roof considered to be a desirable feature in a 3 storey house with a loft conversion ? Would they be recommended by a fire safety officer if it is possible to install them as an alternative means of escape if the main stairway was impassable ? Thank you.

I was at work and my boss had locked the fire exit and said to me that it was fine to do so when I was working in the building at a petrol station. I have been suspended because I shut the site down and refused to work with it locked. How I report this?

Hi, exit capacity question... In a premises with 2 exits, does the larger exit have to be discounted from the capacity calculation? (to account for a fire). And if so, that leaves me with one usable door which limits capacity to 60. Am I right in thinking this? (I know that one escape restricts capacity to 60 people but I am unsure if this applies when you start with 2 but discount one). Thank you

Hi, I am trying to find legal documentation on the rules and regulations with placing a stairs to a fire exit outside a building. Thanks Chris

Hi, Just wondered if anyone can help. I am having some difficulty with negotiating rights over a secondary means of escape of my bar/restaurant so am looking into alternatives. Have had a fire safety officer down to take a look who was helpful but that was a little while back and the situation has changed since then. I'm struggling to find any definitive information as to whether putting in a 'fire corridor' would allow me to utilise the space at the back of my unit, therefore keeping the escape route down to 18 metres travel distance (the beginning of the corridor)? Or is the distance to a protected fire corridor irrelevant as it is still within t…

Hi There, we are in the middle of an office refurbishment and are wondering if fire exits need to be a certain colour. They are green at the moment but we would like them to be red.

I am a lone worker at my office. The office is situated on the ground floor of a 5 story apartment block and the block has cladding. My office is a very small L shaped office, and my desk is approximately 2 meters from the entrance. The toilet and kitchen are to the right of my desk, along a narrow corridor 1 meter apart, and corridor length 14meters (hence the Lshape, if it makes sense) if I was in the toilet or kitchen and there was a fire at my desk I would be trapped as we do not have a fire exit. Is there a legal requirement for my work to make this place safe and provide us with a fire exit? Please help.

Just wanted to check, where the front door of a property is the exit point for a three storey protected stairwell, is it a requirement that the door opens to a full 90 degrees?

Hi I wonder whether you could give me some advice, we have recently opened a new business and we are based in an office with dimensions of 7.7m x 3.95m. There is a short dividing wall 2/3 of the way down the space. We have 5 employees. Please could you let me know how many fire escapes we need as we currently have 2 but are hoping to be able to block one off with a cupboard. Many thanks.

Hi there. I am after some advice. I own a pub and I have been asked by licensing how many people I will have in the pub. They directed me to the Government website. I have 3 exits one 1050mm and two 750mm exits when I read the places of assembly guide it says I must discount the largest. this leaves me with two 750mm doors which gives me 120 each so 240 customers. but I am confused that elsewhere it says if doors open inwards you can only have 60. My big door opens outwards but my two other doors open inwards. so I want to know does this mean I can only have 60 people as this won’t work as I have more than that at the weekend.

we are in a unique position where we are a dental practice and the fire door adjoins a nursery. the noise that comes through is unbearable can anyone suggest a solution?

Hi, we are proposing changes to our warehouse and have had a few companies that have been in and all have different opinions on the fire design aspect and cost and we are conscious of naturally the price but also the risk of being non compliant. Ive not been able to find anything specific on the forum and I've spent a good day scrolling through the building regs and I can't say Im 100% clear on what is required for fire door ratings and wall construction Ive attached a diagram to aide my request. -Building is a Distribution warehouse of automotive parts - Approx area 5000sq m 50m x 100m mostly a single ground floor with and an existing upstairs o…

Hello, I have concerns over a neighbouring property that has been renovated and rented out as a holiday let. The building has not been inspected or signed off by building control. I have attached a sketch of the layouts before and after the works. The cottage is a circa 200-year-old 2-up 2-down, but is not listed. The original layout was less than ideal as the entrance door was in the kitchen, but it did have a fire door on the kitchen and on the stairs so that occupants in the bedroom could escape from either the first floor or ground floor windows if the kitchen caught fire. The cottage was completely refurbished and extended with a new stair inserted in a d…

Hi, I need to know if there is any regualtions around distance between fire exits. I am having a cold store room installed into our factory which will have a fire exit at the rear which then goes stright into the rear fire exit of the building, about 1000mm. In order to gain access to the fire exit, you need to enter into the cold store and then proceed to rear of cold store and then exit into street. I have attached plans below. Any advice on this would be very welcome.

i work in a food production facility.in my workplace i have a chilled high risk room that is 30ft by 30ft it has 3 sliding doors.one leads to a lowrisk corridor which is padlocked shut and the other two lead to a corridor inside the high-risk department that lead to two different fire exits. the door that is padlocked shut is only ever used to move machinery in and out of the area. can this door be construed as a possible fire exit and is having it padlocked illegal?

Hi I have recently come across a protected staircase, which the school has recently lined with carpet (they are unaware if its fire retardant) I am aware that protected staircase, should be of a fire resisting construction but obviously have concerns on the floor covering. I have looked in BS9999 and ADB, but cant see anything relating to floor coverings in a protected staircase Appreciate any it if anyone could advise or detail any relevant details I can quote Thank you

Can you please advise on any regulations pertaining to a Factory final door emergency exit opening out onto a public footpath alongside a highway. Also a sliding door opening onto an external fire escape that would be used by persons exiting from a fire exit above.

Hi all, OK so small block of flats, stay put policy, single stair, single exit. The exit door has recently been upgraded to a 'intercom' system. Residents leaving the building press a 'press to exit' button. The door fails safe if electricity goes down. No communal alarm system. My question is does this need a 'green box' manual override? Thanks,

I have a query about fire doors. I work in a public library. Back in March 2021, I raised a concern about one of our fire doors which leads from the public library area to the staff area. To get through this fire door, staff have to first punch in a four-digit number into a keypad. I was told at the time that this did not comply with fire regulations as a fire door should have no impediments in order to ensure ease of egress. Can you confirm this? Needless to say, nothing has been done about this door since March and it is now not closing properly at all. I'm attaching photographs of the door.