Aps48

If we are to class voluntary standards as legally mandatory then yes I would agree, but they aren't. The way it was explained to me by an local authority fire inspector during a Fire and Rescue fire safety inspection of a care home was; Safety Signs & Signals Regulations 1996 - lays out what you must do in law (mandatory) - the Reg's state that the signs shown in Schedule 1 of the Regulations are to be used when it is necessary to convey the relevant message(s) or information that is required, and signage should be easily understood by anyone in the area leaving no ambiguity. Signage is prescribed in the regulations for dimensions for the distances that they are to be viewed from, colours, and percentages of colours. British Standards \ EN Standards - are guidance and advice only with no legal requirement to take as entirely prescriptive, but to aid\assist in meeting compliance to the Regulations where it is necessary. So when the topic of directional arrows came up above final exit doors on the fire safety inspection, the local authority fire & rescue inspector stated that directional arrows are not mandatory above final exit doors because there is no ambiguity as to where you need to go to exit the building, as the final exit door is right in front of you, and directional arrows were only required when a change of direction occurred on the escape route to maintain the (easily understandable to anyone in the area leaving no ambiguity as to where to go to exit the building) aspect. Very similar to fire extinguishers, where chrome bodied units are becoming popular. British Standards say the extinguisher body shall be red with the appropriate 5 to 10% colour identification band relating to the contents, And that the markings on the extinguisher shall be contrasting colours to the background. Same again, the enforcing authority in my experience does not compel businesses to remove these and replace with red bodied units because British Standards are guidance only and that the extinguishers still comply with the easily identifiable criteria. I am not saying British Standards should not be followed, just that they are not prescriptively mandatory as so often gets stated, that's the regulations domain, and if you can satisfy the regulations requirement through another method, then that is often sufficient (depending on the aspect concerned and the technicalities of it of course).

I have read that line somewhere but I can't remember what document it was in, regarding the secure in the open position of inwards opening exits. Main question is, does the securing in the open position of an inwards opening door remove the (60 max) capacity and revert back to the doors width capacity. The document I read this in didn't actually explain. Anyone in the know please?

Fire door \ fire door set certification includes all the door furniture including locks, handle, closers etc in addition to the door \ door and frame in the test environment. Any changes to the door set would in my view remove the "certification" that may have come with the door\ door and set by the manufacturer, even if the lock is to a specific standard because the new arrangements are not how the door was and performed during the tests to gain the certification. I don't know the legal requirements regarding certification "certified fire doors" vs nominal fire doors and if ever certified doors are a must have or not, so someone else may be able to help on that bit.

If the emergency exit sign is over the final exit door then an arrow is not required on the sign. Emergency exit signs only require directional arrows when a change of direction on the means of escape route is required to reach the emergency exit the sign refers to. Pictogram only signs are acceptable, addition of text along with the pictogram is often used, just ensure no emergency exit signs are text only, so you comply with the Safety Signs & Signals Regulations 1996. One emergency exit sigh that will have an arrow on and located above a final exit door is the pictograms of a open door, an arrow pointing to the door on the sign to the right along with a running man going in the direction of the door on the sign.

A heat alarm would be better suited in a garage environment.

Hi I'm trying to find out if there is any guidance to reference on the proximity of ceiling fans adjacent to automatic smoke detection, and if there is the potential for either false activations or probably more importantly, the potential of the fan keeping smoke away from the detector. I have read the general rule of thumb (minimum 3 feet distance from the fan) but can anyone direct me to where this is stated please if possible. Thank you

Hi AnthonyB That's brilliant. We've now found exactly what we were looking for, a delay should not exceed 6 minutes. This establishment does not have sprinklers, very few do have them other-than Care homes, and I have not been to this site so I couldn't say if it's an L1 for sure, but given the occupants of the building I would say it most probably is. Thanks again.

Hi all I'm looking for advice and or information to evidence on any stipulations on timeframes that a fire alarm call point can be activated and the delay between that activation and the full system activation especially with monitored systems. Is there any UK guidance on acceptable delay timeframes such as this? Scenario is a special school where the students are activating call points multiple times a day in the worst cases. School has tried covers\screamers etc but that actually made the situation worse. I know some of our Care homes \ Day centres have key operated call points, but this school is quite big with over 80 staff and I think their worry is the amount of keys etc. When requesting information from the fire alarm company about the potential of setting a delay from call point activation to full alarm, the company are asking us for the guidance on setting such delays, which I would have thought they should really know as it's their products. So basically, is there any guidance available or is it a "where necessary" assessment. Thanks Adam

I find this aspect is greatly misunderstood on a regular basis. People read all the following (d)emergency doors must open in the direction of escape; (e)sliding or revolving doors must not be used for exits specifically intended as emergency exits; (f)emergency doors must not be so locked or fastened that they cannot be easily and immediately opened by any person who may require to use them in an emergency; (g)emergency routes and exits must be indicated by signs; and (h)emergency routes and exits requiring illumination must be provided with emergency lighting of adequate intensity in the case of failure of their normal lighting. and believe they are all a "MUST" and either don't read or they disregard the beginning bit "where necessary". If everything was just a "must" then a fire risk assessment wouldn't really be an assessment, it would just be a tick box exercise, either it is or it isn't compliant, where as the "where necessary", as has been stated, comes from an individuals assessment. Take (f)emergency doors must not be so locked or fastened that they cannot be easily and immediately opened by any person who may require to use them in an emergency, for instance. For the majority of buildings his would be true, but, for Care homes that have residents with Dementia or special schools where pupils have a high risk of flight OR schools that adjoin a busy road with no barrier from final exit doors, then having doors that can be opened by ANYONE at anytime can be very dangerous. All that information that has to be considered can only come from an individual assessment of the building and apply where it is necessary. That's why no 2 FRA's are the same, there is so much variance to take into consideration.