Fire Safety in Schools

looking at ABD only storerooms in residential care premises require enclosing in fire resisting materials; however, the times I see storerooms in schools, offices etc. (that do not contain a special fire hazard) that have fire door sets, signage and even S/Cs. Is everybody of the opinion that in general, storerooms are not required to be enclosed in FR? Apart from sleeping accommodation & resi care, there is no mention of storerooms being enclosed in the GLG guides or other recognised guidance that can be applied to schools - even BB100. Your thoughts will be appreciated, thanks AB.

A school built Circa 1969, has a common cavity above a false ceiling that is 580mm in height (from the top of the false ceiling tile to the underside of the original roof). The cavity spans the whole school (classrooms + corridors). The HM Education Guide is useless regarding guidance on cavity barriers and I understand the issues with applying BB100 retrospectively; however, BB100 does state the maximum dimensions of a cavity in any direction as 20 metres, which I intend to use for reference purposes - has anybody else used BB100 retrospectively? Also, I cannot find any reference regarding the cavity height i.e. is there any recognised guidance that takes account of…

Hi I'm looking at potential properties for a daytime toddler group. I have a few properties I have found most of which are units within a leisure centre. Can you please tell me how many fire exits are required for such premises? I would expect to have no more than 20 people (mainly children) on site at aany one time. Thank you very much. Paula

I am currently working in a building which is being converted from a former office block into a school. No expense has been spared - brand new fire doors, completely new compartmentation, comprehensive fire alarm system etc. etc. This a complete overhaul. I am wondering if the fitting of a sprinkler system (which there is) will mean that fire extinguishers will not be required?

Hi, I was wondering if you could advise me please- we had a fire at our nursery setting, soot and smoke damage was in the ground floor where the kitchen was pretty much completely burnt out. My question is can we clean toys and resources for the children or should we just renew? I read bleach is the best thing but I am also aware it's not safe for younfg childrne who put everything in their mouth. Thank you in advance.

Should a dormitory sleeping 54 students be fitted with a fire door or will a new plain internal door be sufficient. Thanks

I have a school with manual call points only and for a number of years they have been advised via FRA to upgrade to and L3 system? I have refer to CLG guidance and BB100 and the observations in the FRA. Anything else can I persuade them to do this? To note they are very small school over two floors they use various two escape routes including through window escapes on to metal/balcony stairs in some classrooms and they have smoke detectors they have installed themselves on escape corridors. Situated in multiple occupancy building with brick walls wood ceilings. Flats and offices as other tenants and a very old and functioning alarm panel within the main building. A li…

In a local school hall there is a gallery overlooking the hall with a single, timber, dog-legged staircase leading into a lobby, protected from the hall and a tea point by FD30S doors and with an exit from the lobby. The building is 140 years old with only a manual fire alarm system (I'm dealing with that). The gallery has seating for 60 to 80 people, but the stair width is 630mm at its narrowest point (at the top) but doesn't get any bigger than 670mm, so I need to limit the number of people who can use it - but I can only find required standards occupancy calculations, not calculations for an existing stair width. Where should I look, please? My gut feeling …

Dear Safelinks, I recently visited a school, within the boiler room there is a carbon monoxide detector built into the system which is installed at a low level around 900 from floor level. My understanding is (CO) is slightly lighter than air, so carbon monoxide alarms are effective when placed on the ceiling or high up on a wall. I would appreciate your advice on this point ? The other point I noted there was no fire detection in the boiler areas. In the vast majority of the school there is no fire detection , there are call points throughout the school, there are some detectors but these are domestic. There are in the region of 280 pupils and 35 staff. …

Hi, I have been advised by our fire risk assessor to provide evacuation chairs at out stair landings. At present, we do not have any persons who will need to use these chairs and are able to evacuate safely on their own. We have procedures in place for staff and students in the event they cannot evacuate i.e. injury, pregnant, etc, which are assessor is happy with. However, their concern is for when visitors are in our building. We have three floors and lifts are available for persons to reach the upper floors. Evacuation chairs are expensive and we have not budgeted for these chairs and will not be able to assign money until the new tax year. Our assessor wil…

Hello I'm looking for a bit of advice. I recently visited a school and their evacuation chair was mounted high on the wall which would make it difficult to remove if required. I realise fire extinguishers have a mounting height and was wondering if there is a recommending mounting height from finished floor level for Evac Chairs Any assistance will be gratefully received. Kind regards Rory

Not sure what section to post this but i work in a care home and was wondering the if and what the regulations are on have gas shut off i.e. in kitchen/ bolier rooms if the fire alarm is activated. Anyhelp or a point in right direction would be apprectiated. Regards Tom

Hi, I guess I already know the answer, but would you consider it reasonable for an Employers Fire procedure to include a member of staff to remain in the building to operate the switchboard when the fire alarm sounds? 'If it is safe to do so'. The site has multiple buildings but who would make the judgement that it was safe once the alarm is sounded? How would a change in circumstance be shared? It strikes me as risky to propose such a procedure. Thanks for your time guys.

We have an Access Control door in a local School The Emergency Green Break Glass unit is being miss used by students. Can the unit be removed as the Door is connected to the Fire Alarm and the Magnetic lock fails open. Thanks for your assistance

Hi All, I'm after a bit of advice regarding PVC Door Curtains. I've been asked to install them over a large number of external classroom doors, unfortunately they are fire exits so I'm extremely reluctant to do so. I've always worked to the principal the nothing goes on a fire exit but if they need blinds for instance is should be attached to the door so is out the way in the event of an emergency. I've spent some time on google regarding this, I've even managed to find one installation company with a picture on their site of a fire exit with a door curtain. I emailed them for a quote and advice but they never replied. With so much knowledge on t…

Can i paint my art room door with water based emulsion paints, (replicating Van Gogh's 'Starry Night') without impacting on fire safety?

I work in a school and I do the displays. Iam doing a display atm and I ask the care taker to fit a piece of ply wood to go across the top of the fire doors which are use every day for children to go through to their classes. The wood doesn't touch the fire doors and the hinges. There is a gap of 60cm from the door and the ceiling. He has inform me that he not able to before of fire safety laws. I look on line and it only say things should not in front or at the side. Can you help please

My ten year old has been charged with damaging a fire door at school, they claim he damaged the door by simplify pushing it out of anger is this really possible. i need help for they are charging a lot of money

I'm aware of our school's legal responsibilities with regards fire wardens during my school's normal operation. We are looking into letting out our pool in evenings, weekends and school holidays to external companies and groups (no access to rest of the school building). What legal responsibilities do we have? Does there have to be a fire warden? If yes, does it have to be a school member of staff, or can it be someone from the external company? Can we simply state in the letting agreement that the external company is responsible for all fire safety. Does that indemnify us? What about school-operated after school clubs and holiday clubs? Does a school fire ward…

Just done an FRA on my first primary school where understandably a lot of the doors didn't have self-closers fitted, presumably to prevent the little ones being knocked over etc. Finger Guards were also in place. But it got me thinking as these doors were opening onto escape routes is there any dispensation given anywhere for such establishments?I have had a quick look at the Government Guidance Doc but can't find any reference.

Hi, I am a Business Manager at a school and I have a responsibility to manage health and safety and fire. I have been speaking to the headteacher about reviewing the fire management policy. Within the policy highlights who the responsible person is. Our headteacher has stated that my name should be detailed at the responsible person. However, shouldn't this be the headteacher or the Trust, as the employer? or can you have more than one responsible person - headteacher, care taker, business mananger, Trust?

Hi, I have recently purchased a 4 bed student property and am currently doing some refurbishment work . I would prefer to let it to a group of student ( single AST) , and in that case I believe it many not need firedoor as its low risk , but if I rent it room by room (multiple AST) then it may need to comply with FSO. It already has hardwired smoke detector on both floors. I have attached the floor plan. I wanted to know, which doors should be fire doors and will they need closer . Door 1 is the main entrance and door8 opens in Garden, I was planning to remove door 3 and 6 completely .

Good afternoon I have a few burning queries that seem to play on my mind regarding upgrading and repairing of existing fire doors. Speaking to many people in passing, it appears people interpret what should or shouldn't be done differently. Query 1: Upgrading a fire door where gaps to the bottom of the door is more than 8mm. We get asked to install hardwood lipping to the base or sides of doors where gaps exceed the allowance stated in the regulations. I always understood that it is very difficult or hard to gather any test evidence for "retro fitting" lipping to an existing Fire Door, unless you are aware of the manufacturer of door and can get writ…

Hi, I work at a school where there have been a number of fire alarms set off deliberately by students. This has led to a lacklustre response to alarms from students and staff. I wonder if anyone knows if there are any legal ramifications for setting off alarms deliberately? Thanks, P

Hi, we have a child that has special needs and often escapes through one of our fire emergency exits which has a push bar. To stop this from happening can we install a simple thumb turn or single action bolt at the top to prevent this from happening.