Tom Sutton

It sound like these doors onto fire exit staircases are fire resisting fire doors and any glass used need to be fire resisting glass. Safety glass is something different and glass can be a fragile and potentially dangerous material, with the possibility of serious damage or injury if broken. Legislation dictates that glass in certain locations must be of a minimum safety standard, Safety glass works by ensuring that if glass breaks, it does so in a safe manner. If untreated or standard glazing breaks, the shards fall away from the frame creating an immediate and dangerous hazard. It’s a legal requirement that glass of a certain size and in certain locations needs to meet safety standards. The exact standard is set out in Building Regulations Approved Document K, (check out below). It has all ways been that any glazing in fire doors must be fire resisting glazing to the same standard as the fire door. Consequently any doors that need to be fire doors require to be fitted with fire resisting glazing. http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/buildingregulations/approveddocuments/partk/

Check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/fire-doors/ and there are links to TRADA Q-Mark fire door scheme and British Woodworking Federation Certifire fire door scheme they may be able to help. You could also try http://www.leaderflushshapland.co.uk/LeaderflushHome/MarketSector/Education/TypicalConfiguration/CorridorpairdoubleactionholdopenFD30.aspx they may also be able to help.

Article 9(6) of The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 states, As soon as practicable after the assessment is made or reviewed, the responsible person must record the information prescribed by paragraph (7) where- he employs five or more employees; a licence under an enactment is in force in relation to the premises; or an alterations notice requiring this is in force in relation to the premises. So if you do not employ five or more employees you do not have to record the prescribe information in paragraph 7 but you do need to conduct a fire risk assessment and if you choose you can record it. (7) The prescribed information is- the significant findings of the assessment, including the measures which have been or will be taken by the responsible person pursuant to this Order; and any group of persons identified by the assessment as being especially at risk. Record means to record the information by writing it down, typing on a typewriter or computer and any other recording means that provides a copy to be read. ​I am not going to argue with a solicitor but just point him to the above legislation.

Your responsibility ends at your front door and the commons area including the corridors are the responsibility and property of the housing association. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the housing association to conduct a fire risk assessment of the common area, which they have done and decided that door mats are a hazard, I suspect a tripping hazard therefore not allowed. I believe you do not have any right of challenge other than to speak to your housing association and try to change there mind. Have you considered having the door mat inside the flat, I do, I live in a house and if I had it outside is would not work.

I know they will be subject to the gas regulations but why would you think they need to be fire resistant? http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/index.htm

I see no problems fixing it to the fire door but the small glazed panel it depends on the reason for the glazed panel. It could be a vision panel for the safety of occupants and fixing a ceramic tile could reduce the vision.

There is no specific requirement that all furniture in offices should be fire retardant however, you are required to provide measures to reduce the risk of fire on the premises and ensuring your upholstered furniture meets BS 7176 or the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 would achieve this.

The hallway, staircase enclosure and stairs all form part of the common area therefore both of you are classed as the Responsible Persons (RP). The RP's are required to conduct a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) but because you do not employ five or more employees it does not require to be recorded. Any guidance you will find in http://www.cieh.org/...guidance_08.pdf and also the links above plus The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Anthony hasn't come back and I cannot find any information regarding fire ratings on clean agents. What I have found was the only acceptable replacement for Halon 1211 (BCF) appears to be FE-36 because it is the only one accepted in Europe, but even then it is not as efficient. The cup burner test method for BCF gives 4.1 % and for FE 36 gives 6.4%. Although the test is for total flooding it does show how efficient they are at extinguishing fires and as green-foam said you would need half as much more extinguishing agent to extinguisher the same fire. Check out http://www2.dupont.com/FE/en_US/assets/downloads/pdf/h77974_FE-36_PUSH.pdf also http://www.fire.tc.faa.gov/systems/handheld/handheld.asp it may give some more avenues of research like adiabatic expansion nozzles. It is American website but the research is international and may give you some ideas.

From AnthonyB he say's DuPont says that FE36 is almost effective as BCF but I would sooner hear it from an independent assessor and would err on the side of safety for green-foam's 1.5 times by going for a lager capacity extinguisher.

I think I would agree with you Simon before the retailer dispatched the chair to you it should have carried a display and permanent label, if label may easily become detached during the manufacturing process then it is not very permanent. The enforcing authority for the flammability regulations is the trading standards and the best guidance is The Furniture Industry Research Association(FIRA) http://www.fira.co.uk contact them, they should be able to give you authoritative guidance. http://www.firesafe.org.uk/furniture-and-furnishings-fire-safety-regulations-19881989-and-1993/ Guide to the Regulations

The guide to the regulations states, Mattress pads (toppers) BS 7177 defines a mattress pad (topper) as a product which comprises a cover and filling(s), or filling material(s) alone, designed to be used in conjunction with a mattress or upholstered bed base. Mattress pads (toppers) are mattresses, albeit secondary, as they are not intended to be used separately. Therefore the filling material (foam or non-foam) contained in a mattress pad (topper) must meet the Regulations. In addition the fire safety of the complete product is controlled via the General Product Safety Regulations hence the mattress pad (topper) must also comply with the low hazard category of BS 7177. Reading that I would say between the furniture regulation and the General Product Safety Regulations both the filling /cover need to conform to one or the other regulation. http://www.fira.co.uk/document/fira-flammability-guide-october-2011pdf.pdf

I do not understand the layout you are trying to describe but I can say not all doors required for means of escape have to be indicated by a fire exit sign, only MoE doors that are not in general constant use. Any MoE door can be locked providing it can be opened without the need of a key from the direction of escape side which can be in some cases from both sides but usually from the inside. I cannot give a definitive response without a physical survey or detailed plans, whether a means of escape route is satisfactory because there are many considerations that have to be considered.

Is the balcony in fresh air and where does the other escape route lead to. What is your normal route from your accommodation.

The flats do not require a fire risk assessment (FRA) they are domestic premises but the common area does and each flat owner needs to get together to conduct a FRA of the common area. It can be done by the owners/managing agents or you can use a fire risk assessor. Useful guidance can be found at http://www.firesafe.org.uk and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-risk-assessment-sleeping-accommodation and http://www.safelincs.co.uk/free-fire-risk-assessment-form/ and http://www.cieh.org/uploadedFiles/Core/Policy/Publications_and_information_services/Policy_publications/Publications/National_fire_safety_guidance_08.pdf for more information.

Hi Jill if you wouldn't mind keep us inform on future developments.

Tom this will need some researching and I have one person in mind who will certainly be able to help.

I agree fully but as a general rule, final exits doors usually do not need to be FR and there is bound to be other exceptions to the rule.

The make, model and details of the system would be needed but check out they are having similar problems to you.

Tony as I have said isolating cause of false alarms is notorious difficult exercise and unless you can create the same situation again it is impossible to be sure of the cause. Is your fire alarm system interconnect and if so how, because if they are not interconnect the only common connection is the mains supply then a spike or mains ripple is a possibility?

Green-foam I agree fully with what you say but the point I was trying to make was the two circuits in a smoke detector and a spike on the power supplies may have triggered the alarm circuit for a short period, then reset. I know it is likely there is circuitry to aid suppression of voltage transients and RF interference, to reduce the chances of false alarms but maybe it failed in this case.

You didn’t say if they are domestic smoke detector and are interconnected, I will assume they are domestic smoke detector connect to the mains, if so you first need to know how they work so check out http://www.explainthatstuff.com/smokedetector.html to give a basic understanding. As you can see there are two circuits the sensor circuit and the alarm circuit. If the sensor circuit had triggered the alarm any contaminate in the sensor chamber would most probably remain and the alarm would have gone into full alarm. However if the alarm circuit had been stimulated by such as a spike on the electricity supply this might operate the alarm for a short period of time. It may also apply if it is an A, B, or C category of fire alarm but do understand isolating cause of false alarms is notorious difficult exercise.

The planning committee is a group of amateurs (councilors) lead by a professional planning officer who will try to ensure you proposals meet the local planning laws and it will not detract from the look of the local area. If your premises is listed then you will involve heritage lot and may be followed by building regulations. You or your solicitor should be able to address the meeting and explain how important a means of escape and safety is for your son. You should emphasize that you would consider minor alterations to your proposals and hope there are some sympathetic councilors on the committee. The only legislation that may be involved is the Equality Act 2010 is designed to protect disabled persons, among others but I am not sure it will be of any use to you. The Building Regulation does require satisfactory means of escape from domestic dwellings including other requirements. Check out http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/wps/portal/portalhome also Approved Document B - Fire Safety: Volume 1 – Dwelling houses for more information.

As far as I am aware there is no legislation covering the construction of mobile homes only caravan sites. However there are two standards the UK one BS 3632:2005 and the European standard BS EN 1647:20121 and they both require adequate means of escape which can be doors, escape windows or knock out panels. It appears that you have a choice and also British standards are not legislation they are only recommendations but you need to study the standards to get the full understanding. The local reference library may be useful. What is most important is treating fire safety with a high priority check out Caravan Safety - Leaflet (new window PDF 225 kb)

Will each partition have a door leading to ultimate safety (outside the premises) if so, providing the curtain meet the appropriate standard BS 5867: Part 2: 2008 – Curtains, drapes and window blinds then there should be no problems. Check out Contract Flammability Guide for further information.