Tom Sutton

Article 20 states, Provision of information to employers and the self-employed from outside undertakings 20. (1) the responsible person must ensure that the employer of any employees from an outside undertaking who are working in or on the premises is provided with comprehensible and relevant information on · The risks to those employees; and · The preventive and protective measures taken by the responsible person. (2) The responsible person must ensure that any person working in his undertaking who is not his employee is provided with appropriate instructions and comprehensible and relevant information regarding any risks to that person. (3) The responsible person must · ensure that the employer of any employees from an outside undertaking who are working in or on the premises is provided with sufficient information to enable that employer to identify any person nominated by the responsible person in accordance with article 15 to implement evacuation procedures as far as those employees are concerned; and · take all reasonable steps to ensure that any person from an outside undertaking who is working in or on the premises receives sufficient information to enable that person to identify any person nominated by the responsible person in accordance with article 15 to implement evacuation procedures as far as they are concerned. All up to you I am afraid. Check out http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1541/article/20/made

Building landlords, occupiers and employers are obliged by law under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order that emergency routes and exits requiring illumination must be provided with emergency lighting of adequate intensity in the case of failure of their normal lighting. BS 5266: Part 8 states that the ‘Responsible Person’ concerned must test emergency lighting systems regularly and record the results. He or she may be asked to prove, possibly in a court of law, that the required duty of care has been met. The simplest ‘self-test’ emergency lighting systems are ‘stand-alone’ types not connected to any other device. Test results are typically shown by a single bi-colour LED on luminaires, but results still have to be entered manually into a logbook. To avoid manual recording of test results, more comprehensive automatic test emergency lighting systems are available that connect to a control panel typically using data cabling or wireless links - where the results are collected. More complex systems allow the programming of tests from the control panel, or from a PC on which visual representation of the installation can be displayed. I do not know which self-test system you have but the short answer is all system has to record the results of the test manually or automatically. Log book (Reporting) A log book shall be kept on the premises in the care of a responsible person appointed by the occupier/owner and shall be readily available for examination by any duly authorized person. The log book shall be used to record at least the following information: · date of commissioning of the system including any certificate relating to alterations; · date of each periodic inspection and test; · date and brief details of each service, inspection or test carried out; · dates and brief details of any defects and of remedial action taken; · date and brief details of any alteration to the emergency lighting installation; · if any automatic testing device is employed, the main characteristic and the mode of operation of that device shall be described. NOTE 1. The logbook may also include pages relating to other safety records, e.g. fire alarms. Details of replacement components of luminaires such as lamp type, battery and fusing may also be recorded in the logbook. NOTE 2. An appropriate print out of data from an automatic testing device meets the requirements of this clause. Servicing and testing. General When automatic testing devices are used, the information shall be recorded monthly and the results recorded. Regular servicing is essential. The occupier/owner of the premises shall appoint a competent person to supervise servicing of the system. This person shall be given sufficient authority to ensure the carrying out of any work necessary to maintain the system in correct operation.

In England and Wales the person who has the duty to comply with the Fire Safety Order (RRFSO) is called the Responsible Person (RP). If it is a workplace then the employer is the RP if it is not a workplace then the owner or a managing company working for the owner is the RP. There can be multiple RP’s in a building when more than one premises exist in a building or when there is more than one owner/freeholder in a building of flats/maisonettes. It is important when discussing the RR(FS)O, with regards to flats/maisonettes, you can establish who the RP or RP’s are. Leaseholders Leaseholders are customers who have taken up the option to purchase their property, or they may have bought their flat on the open market from former tenants who have sold their flat on. As a leaseholder you have bought the right to live in your property for a fixed number of years and the flat can be sold during that time. The ownership of the flat usually relates to everything within the four walls of the flat including floorboards, plaster to walls and ceilings and windows, but it does not include the external structural walls. The owner owns the structure and common parts of the building and the land it stands on. The owner or managing company is responsible for looking after the structure and common areas. As a leaseholder, however you may have to pay for your share of the owner’s costs of maintaining and providing these services to the block including a fire risk assessment, check your lease for a service charge. A Lease When you purchase flat you sign a contract called a lease. The lease explains your rights and responsibilities and the rights and responsibilities of your landlord. You are the Leaseholder and the owner is the landlord. The lease is a relationship between a landlord and a tenant or a leaseholder (the individual). It deals with the legal rights and obligations that arise between two people when they enter into an agreement (the lease), which relates to land or property, or both. It is a legally binding document between the two parties. Most leases are held for a term of 125 years. You should get a solicitor to look at this and explain what it says when you buy the property, and ask to keep a copy. If you have a mortgage then your lender will keep the original lease. Not all leases are the same. Your own lease will give you details that apply to you and your home. Leaseholder’s Covenants are the terms of your Lease that you have agreed to. You should refer to your Lease for full details or consult your solicitor. If you have purchased your flat the terms of your Lease should not be confused with tenancy agreement that you may have had prior to your home purchase. If you have a share of the freehold you may collectively be able achieve savings when repairs or maintenance are needed by having a say in obtaining quotes, choice of contractor etc. Acquiring the freehold gives the majority of leaseholders much more control over the block, as they decide how your property should be managed and by whom, be that 'in house' or utilising a professional managing agent of their choice rather than one who is often imposed upon flat owners by external Landlords. Being a freeholder Even though you will have purchased the freehold of your building, your leases of your flats will remain in place. You will be a leaseholder of your flat and a joint freeholder of the building. As a joint freeholder you will have responsibility, together with the other freeholders, for performing the landlord’s covenants in the leases of the flats in the building. The usual responsibilities on the part of the landlord are to insure the building and to keep the structure of the building and any common parts of the building in good repair and condition including a fire risk assessment. If there are several flats in the building it is a good idea to maintain the collection of service charges even though ground rent will no longer be collected. This will enable you to build up a fund for repairs and maintenance which may be required in the future. You will need to appoint people to be responsible for such things as organising insurance and repairs. Bear in mind that if you decide to form a company to hold the freehold you will need to appoint Company Directors and a Company Secretary and you must ensure that annual accounts are prepared and appropriate returns are filed with Companies House. This can be quite onerous and you may decide to appoint an accountant to deal with these matters on your behalf. If it is a big building you may decide to delegate the full running and management of the building to managing agents although you will have to pay for this kind of service. How it applies to the RR(FS)O It is important to know what your legal status is because it will dictate your duties under the RR(FS)O. If you are an owner/freeholder then you have duties under article 8 to 24. If you are a leaseholder then your flat is exempt from the order but the common areas, the responsibility of the owners/freeholders, are subject to the order. I would imagine the costs of implementing the FRA would form part of the service charge which should be detailed in the lease. Note. Treat the above information with caution and if you intend acting upon it, take qualified legal advice.

The common areas of all blocks of flats have to have fire risk assessment, in accordance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 to ensure the residents of the building are safe if there is a fire. If there is a 60 minutes separation between flats there is no need for a fire alarm in the common areas but smoke detectors, in accordance with BS 5839 part 6, are required, in each flat, by law. Also if a 60 minute compartmentation exists the Responsible Person can elect to have, whats known as a stay put policy, which means if there is a fire, residents can stay in their flat providing they feel it is safe to do so. This is important, if anybody feels unsafe they should evacuate the premises and don't need anybody's approval.

You may need emergency escape lighting, depending on the lighting levels during the time the premises is occupied and if the normal electric lighting supply fails. If you do you would need a full emergency lighting system that could include illuminate fire exit signs. You most probably would not require standby lighting unless you wish to carry on working in the event of a power failure. Check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/emergency-lighting/which may help you to understand more about EL which by the sound of it you do. Have you conducted a fire risk assessment which is required by law, the results will determine if you need emergency escape lighting. Download the appropriate guide http://www.firesafe.org.uk/department-of-communities-and-local-government-guides/

Is this office part of a larger building? You need to consider the building if you consider a fire alarm is necessary. The type and number of fire extinguishers will depend on the fire risk in the office. The means of escape should be satisfactory considering the size of the office. You should also conduct a fire risk assessment. Download the guide for office at http://www.firesafe.org.uk/department-of-communities-and-local-government-guides/ Check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/fire-risk-assessment/ http://www.firesafe.org.uk

The electrician is correct you do need a test switch to test the system, BS 5266 says, 8.3.3. Test facility Each emergency lighting system should have suitable -means for simulating failure of the normal supply for test purposes (i.e. without interruption of the normal supply) NOTE. An automatic test system for battery powered emergency lighting is specified in BS EN 62034. Which means you could have one or a number of switches to test the system depending on the number of sub circuits you have. The single trip switch in a fuse box would switch off all the mains supply to all your emergency lights, however, because you have to switch off the mains supply to a number or one luminaire for up to 3 hours to test the system would this not interfere with your normal lighting?

It all depends on the two stage alarm procedure and how it operates. Usually when a call point is operated it is investigated and depending on what is found the appropriate action is taken. There is usually a time limit and if no actions are taken within that time, the fire alarm will go into automatic evacuation.

I do not know if it is normal but providing those doors are available in a fire emergency, then it is not going to effect the fire safety of the premises therefore not a problem as far as I am concerned.

The EEC Directive (EEC/92/58) is outdated and been superseded by BS EN ISO 7010:2012. The problem is the UK acted upon the directive and produced the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 which I believe is still in force and has not been repealed or amended. This means the so called euro sign is still legal and many illuminated boxes still carry that sign. I think the manufacturer are reluctant to change because they would be left with lots of stock on their hands, cynical I know. Check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/fire-safety-signs/ .

You can purchase bespoke fire doors check out http://www.safelincs.co.uk/fire-doors-with-30-minutes-protection-fd30/ .

What you are proposing no matter how you fix the lippings, you would have a nominal FD 30 door but not a certified FD 30 door this is because the design has not been tested to BS 476 part 22. If you were using this door in a building project then you would have no documentation to prove its fire resistance to the building control officer. You would have to argue your case that in your opinion the nominal FD 30 door would hold a fire in check for thirty minutes, which would not be easy. You can have the door checked by a fire door assessor but it is much easier to have a piece of paper that states it’s the capabilities from a specialist. In my opinion if you are installing new fire doors you should use certified door sets. If they are existing doors and are solid, well-fitting, you could consider keeping them, maybe upgrade them with some modifications. If you need to modify a fire door it will depend on the degree of modification small alteration could be within the scope of a good joiner more extensive changes need to be done by a specialist joiner. The problem with nominal fire doors is convincing the enforcing officers they are fit for purpose without proper documentation.

The standard that should be used is BS EN ISO 7010:2012 but a signs conforming to BS 5499 are identical in my opinion would be acceptable. To get signs conforming to the latest standard would difficult as there is many of the BS 5499 signs still available and the changeover will take some time to complete. Check out the icons below and ignore the colours in reality they are the same. BS 7010 Sign BS 5499 sign

The legal obligation is that all the employee's and relevant persons resorting in the premises are able to find there way out of the premises quickly/easily. If fire exit signs enable all persons to escape from the premises quickly and easily without confusion then they are legally required. You are correct with your description of a fire exit sign and it is recommended they should be in accordance with BS EN ISO 7010:2012 and BS 5499 in most cases would be acceptable.

You should consider, when conducting a fire risk assessment, preventing fires and the control measures to prevent this. The risks in fork lift truck charging procedures is not a major fire hazard but is a fire risk and any fire should be contained. The guidance on the HSE website is quite vague, or is just stating "designated area kept free of combustibles, only trained staff to operate/maintain it, and well ventilated. Select an area, free of combustibles, to prevent fire spread in the event of a fire starting. Hydrogen gases can be given off and being lighter than air accumulates higher up and forms explosive mixture with air. Therefore the correct ventilation (high & low level) should be considered. There is a formula to calculate the volume of hydrogen gas evolved in charging that dictates the ventilation required, check out the HSE guidance. Also signage, no smoking, no naked lights should be considered. With battery charging, you should consider all the electrical the apparatus, switches, plugs. Consider electrical safety because the apparatus pass huge currents in charging and cables are always becoming crushed and grommets wrenched out of the chargers therefore regular test and inspection is essential. Also mount the chargers permanently in racks with mains power in armoured and fixed cables. For first aid firefighting a 5 kg CO2 should be sufficient for the electrical risk. There are other health and safety item to consider, i.e. be prepared for acid spillage and first aid eyewash stations. There a whole host of manual handling issues as well. Check out http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg139.pdf

The 6 sq m per person from the document in the above submission is an arbitrary figure based on estimation and is not a requirement of any legislation. But you are controlled by the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 which controls room dimensions and space. This requires each person to have a minimum of 11 cu m space, consequently limits the number of employees in the workplace. Depending on the height of the office and the width of the doors it may increase the number you are allowed. Therefore check out page three of http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg244.pdf and the regulation if necessary to see if you can increase the numbers. Check out http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/3004/contents/made for more information.

Check out Occupancy Figures for Simple Single Storey Premises (91.55kb) and run the exercise, it should give you your answer.

I am not sure what you mean by internal fixings of an emergency light fitting, if it is the fixing of the luminaires to the ceiling/wall then I would say it needs to be non combustible. (metal) All wiring in escape routes need to be supported with non combustible clips to prevent them from collapsing in a fire, the latest IEE regulations now require it, which includes wiring used in escape lighting (BS 5266 part 1). Therefore common sense dictates the luminaires need to be as well except in domestic premises which is not covered by legislation.

It depends on what you are making, if it falls within the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations then it would have to meet the requirements of the regulations. Check out Guide to the Regulations and decide if you need to comply with the regulations but most furnishings in the home fall under the regulation. This means, Filling materials must meet specified ignition requirements. Upholstery composites must be cigarette resistant. Covers must be match resistant (with certain exceptions as outlined in Section 8.2 and Appendix A5). A permanent label must be fitted to every item of new furniture (with the exception of mattresses and bed-bases). A display label must be fitted to every item of new furniture at the point of sale (with the exception of mattresses, bed-bases, pillows, scatter cushions, seat pads, loose covers sold separately from the furniture and stretch covers). The first supplier of domestic upholstered furniture in the UK must maintain records for five years to prove compliance.

Hi Elliott This is a legal matter and who is responsible for the common areas, is the freehold a shared responsibility or is there a freeholder of the building and does he/she charge an annual fee of the maintenance of the common areas. The appropriate guide is HOUSING – FIRE SAFETY Guidance on fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing which is accepted by all the enforcing authorities. By studying this document you should be able to decide what is required and estimate the approximate costs.

Hi PMBR As you all share the freehold of the building you all share the maintenance of the common areas and consequently you are all require to conduct a fire risk assessment. Do you have a tenants committee that organizes the common areas or does the building employs a management company who then will take that responsibility. The appropriate guide is HOUSING – FIRE SAFETY Guidance on fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing which is accepted by all the enforcing authorities. There is no way I could give advice without a physical survey but with the use of the above document you could do your own or employ a fire risk assessor .

Are you conducting a fire risk assessment?

The fire test is a destruction test and little is left of the door afterwards which would be of little use to you. The manufacturer designs a fire door then has three tested using a special furnace to see how long they would hold back a fire. The test company provides the manufacturer with a test report on how the doors behaved in the test and how long it held back the fire. Then it is assumed all doors constructed to that specification would behave similarly in a fire. The only way to prove the fire resistance of a fire door is the documentation provided by the manufacturer. You can get a fire door assessor who could give you a report on his/her opinion how the door would behave in a fire which could be acceptable to an enforcement officer. http://www.firesafe.org.uk/fire-doors/

Hanging a fire door is well within the remit of a half decent chippy but when it comes to modifying a fire door I think its for the specialist joiner who fully understands the construction and has the necessary training to prove it. I would be surprised if the building control officer accepted your proposals, they would require written proof which you would not be able to provide.

Some fire and rescue services recommend the removal of fire extinguishers from common areas and if the residents feel the need for them to protect their own accommodation, they will have to provide them for themselves. The reason seems to be that if the management company provides fire extinguisher they will have a duty of care and have to train the residents in there use. Also the risk in the common areas is relatively low but the risk in the flats is much higher. If you have any doubts you should contact the local Fire and Rescue Service.