Hello

I have a refurbishment project involving the conversion of the 1st and 2nd stories of a 3 storey building to apartments.  For the 2nd floor apartments we have to provide a fire escape route horizontally across a stepped flat roof then vertically down a flank wall.  We own the flat roof, and there are no opening in the flank wall.  We will need to provide fire-resisting construction as well as edge protection to the flat roof.

Could anyone please point me in the direction of a specialist/supplier/manufacturer that could assist in the design and supply of the system, especially the vertical escape?

The project is based in Cornwall.

Thank you for any contributions.

Sorry, I missed an important point.  For the vertical escape, we can't have a permanent staircase.  It needs to be of a folding/sliding type.  This is due to the fact we don't own the land the stairs emerge on to

Hi Peter, Safelincs does supply two potential non-staircase escape solutions.

a) an externally fitted fold out escape ladder system, called Saffold

b) an evacuation chute that is located on the flat roof and is deployed over the edge of the parapet

Both are only deployed in an emergency.

Harry

The old answer was the last flight of external escape stairs was cantilevered and only lowered to ground when used:

 

You need to consult your Approved Inspector or Local Authority Building Control immediately with your issue - they may not accept certain solutions, the fold out ladder is unlikely to comply, chutes have been accepted but normally in very specific circumstances and not for the public.

You may find it more appropriate to seek a fire engineered solution to avoid the need for the alternative route - bigger projects than yours have avoided the need for entire stairs by use of domestic sprinklers and a enhanced smoke control solution.