Daniel Bennett

Hi Brian. Thank you for your question. In general, P50s are absolutely legal and compliant. They carry the CE mark for the Pressure Equipment Directive, comply with BS EN 3-7 for the manufacture of portable fire extinguishers, and are certified by BSI so carry the globally recognised Kitemark. More information can be found here: https://www.safelincs.co.uk/are-p50-service-free-extinguishers-legal/ However, your mention of these being fitted in 11 kV sub-stations could be an issue. If they are installed in storage rooms, offices, or other similar locations, then there should be no issue - as long as they satisfy the fire risks present and are maintained per the manufacturer's instructions. If they are installed for use on anything operating above 1,000 V, then they are not suitable for that. Portable extinguishers to BS EN 3-7 bearing the lightning bolt symbol are safe to use around live electrical equipment up to 1,000 V but should not be specified for anything above that; specialist solutions should be sought for such applications. The facility should have a suitable suppression system in place to mitigate or tackle fires without relying on humans to do so with handheld units, depending on original design and subsequent Fire Risk Assessments conducted by competent persons with knowledge and experience with sub-stations and LV / HV equipment. CO2 extinguishers are likely the best to have installed supplementary to a suppression system to allow trained persons to tackle smaller fires in the vicinity, as it is the safest agent to use around live electricity, but that is purely a supposition on my part and may not be suitable in practice - I have found several resources online recommending their use in this situation, but it is not something covered by BS EN 3-7 for portable extinguishers. Unless something has been specifically arranged and documented for the facility, with appropriately trained staff, the focus for anyone on site during a fire should be to escape, not to tackle the fire. Portable extinguishers are primarily there to aid escape where fire is blocking the escape route, and P50s (depending on the fire Class) would be fine for this purpose as long as they are not discharged near anything above 1,000 V.

According to the definitions in Approved Document B, a "dwelling" is a single residential unit for a single person, single family, or up to 6 non-family persons living together, while a "dwellinghouse" is specifically where the entire premises is a single "dwelling". If there were flats, then neither the individual flats nor the overall building would be considered a "dwellinghouse". That advice does seem to be in-line with the guidance in Approved Document B; though while the number of storeys is important, so is their height above ground level. The diagram in question shows a 4-storey property (excluding loft if unoccupied) with two storeys beginning within 4.5m of ground level, and the fourth storey beginning above 7.5m: The third storey being above 4.5m means paragraph 2.5 applies, so you should have either a protected stairway (a) or an alternative escape route via a protected top storey (b). Having multiple storeys above 4.5m means paragraph 2.6 also applies, so all storeys above 7.5m should have access to an alternative escape route (a) or a sprinkler system in accordance with BS 9251 (b). There are more details and caveats to these paragraphs which I strongly advise you to familiarise yourself with. You can click on green words in the PDF to jump down to their definition. For example, a protected stairway is defined as: "A stair that leads to a final exit to a place of safety and that is adequately enclosed with fire resisting construction. Included in the definition is any exit passageway between the foot of the stair and the final exit."

Hello Heidi. Thanks for reaching out with this excellent question! Unfortunately, I don't believe the situation you have described would be deemed suitable under the scope of any legislation or guidance for fire doors or fire safety in blocks of flats. If the door was non-latching and you were simply fitting handles to the surface then you may have been fine, depending on the door's certificate and the installation method, but even that isn't guaranteed. However, the mechanism for a latch is fitted inside the door leaf and the associated handles attach to it through the leaf, which thoroughly compromises its integrity. This is also unlikely to be accepted. Modification to a fire door leaf / set must be done by a competent person (i.e. knowledgeable, skilled, and / or experienced with working on certified fire doors) and only in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions and the certificate for that particular door leaf. Fitting a fire rated latch and handles in accordance with such is fine, but fitting a non-rated mechanism would not be in line with the certificate or instructions, and replacing such a thing with a fire rated mechanism could require removal of more material and back-filling previously removed material, unless the mechanisms are identical in size and shape, which would further deviate from the original certificate and further compromise the door's integrity.

Good morning, These DETA models are quite old now and have been discontinued. It is likely that they have exceeded their 10 year lifespan and have either developed a fault or the smoke detection chamber is too contaminated to be safe. Over time the alarm's sensor will degrade and its performance will be affected as dust and even small insects collect inside the chamber making it harder to detect actual smoke if there is a real fire. Because of this most manufacturers give an estimated lifespan of 10 years for domestic alarms, which should be shown as a replacement or expiry date on a sticker on the alarm - in the case of these DETA models it will be on the back where the power connector is. Gently cleaning the alarms with your vacuum cleaner and its soft brush attachment may temporarily resolve the issue if it is caused by contamination. However, if the replacement date has been exceeded then we strongly recommend replacing the alarms even if vacuuming them seems to resolve the red light problem. The sticker on the back will also show you the exact model number and type of alarm you have, to help you find the most suitable replacement. While that particular range from DETA is no longer available, they were actually made by BRK who still make compatible alarms which you should be able to simply swap out on your existing base plates without having to change any wiring. You can find these replacement alarms here: https://www.safelincs.co.uk/search.php?q=deta+replacement Daniel Bennett