Tom Sutton

Yes you are required to complete a fire risk assessment for the common areas in accordance with The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 but if you do not employ five or more persons then it does not need to be recorded. Check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/regulatory-reform-fire-safety-order-2005/

All access and security controlled locking systems on doors used on escape routes, require an electromechanical or mechanical override in the direction of escape. However it depends on the type of lock and how it is configured also is a fire alarm fitted to be able to decide which is the best solution. Check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/security-and-fire-safety/ for more information.

I assume we are talking about final fire exit doors and as you have most probably passed through a number of fire resisting doors with self closer why not the final fire exit door but usually they are not required.

As far as The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (fire safety) is concerned the landlord is only responsible for the common areas, if there are any. The remained of your problems you need to study your tenant agreement to find out what the landlord's responsibilities are regarding maintenance. Check out http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/renting_and_leasehold/rights_and_responsibilities/landlords_responsibilities

This URL produces a word document Other means to escape - High Rise Escape Systems download it and enable editing then save it, the document shows a number of links that may be useful.

I have a response from a couple of colleagues which deals more with the duty of care. In this instance the householder has no duty of care to alert the neighbour and the housing provider is correct. A major problem would arise if the housing provider had told the householder to alert the neighbour, in which case if anything happened to the householder whilst they were carrying out this function the housing provider could be subject to litigation. What training did the householder receive to ensure they were safe to carry out this function etc? However the housing provider may have a duty of care to do more if they have housed an individual in premises that are unsuitable. If there was a stay put policy then probably it would be ok but if the person has been housed from the outset in premises which have some shortcomings and require a full evacuation strategy and that person cannot get out then I think the housing provider may have a duty to provide other measures. Difficult one, as if the person's health and mobility have declined since being housed there it is not reasonable to expect them to be rehoused for reasons of fire safety- is it? Having said the housing provider is correct, this would not prevent the householder alerting the neighbour if they so desired as a 'good citizen'. Do you know if the housing association has a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) for this person?

In sheltered housing the tenants are usually able to look after themselves, are active and are afforded a degree of independence therefore should be able to evacuate the premises in the event of a fire without assistance. If any of the tenants are unable to do this then you have to ask the question are they suited to sheltered housing maybe they should be in a residential care home. Duty of care is a legal matter and in my opinion providing the housing association has carry out their legal duties then they have met their duty of care but this is a solicitors field of expertise not mine. As far as fire safety is concerned, have they carried out fire risk assessment of the common areas which is suitable and sufficient. Why would your neighbour need to be told that the alarm is going off, because there could be a solution to this problem. What is the layout of the accommodation to determine if there are common areas? There are many questions that need to be asked, even a physical survey to determine if the fire safety measures are satisfactory sorry I cannot be more definitive.

Hi Harry check out Guild of Architectural Ironmongers or the Door & Hardware Federation if anybody can help I am sure its them.

I would suggest she is correct were sheltered housing is concerned, but I will research it further.

First you have established who the Responsible Person of the common area is, according to The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Article 3b applies and in this case it appears to be the managing agent who is required by law (RR(FS)O) to carry out a fire risk assessment. Who pays is not a fire safety matter but it should be detailed in your tenant agreement on the fees you pay to the managing agent. As FireRiskPro says I would suggest that you have your solicitor look at the wording & the arrangements for ownership of the common parts as this can differ depending on the wording/arrangements of the contract/lease.

I cannot see any reason why not, providing the door is wide enough to cater for all the occupants of the room and the single direction travel distance is acceptable, which it is. (a 760 mm door will accept 60 person escaping) Also all the fire risks are located as far from the door as possible and give due consideration for the location of the portable gas cylinders.

The correct system should be one control indicating equipment (CIE) AKA a fire panel which should work with the fire plan/procedure, alerting those occupants that need to be alerted and properly zoned. However if there are two CIE’s interlinked achieving the same aims without confusion then it is possible it could be acceptable, but this would be a matter for the fire alarm engineers/designer. I would suggest if you can convince the powers to be to accept one CIE then that would be the best option because these temporary arrangements can last for a long time, years in some cases.

I do not fully understand the situation, are you the landlord on behalf of the owner (freeholder) and the Responsible Person of the common area's. However the answer to your questions are, yes you do need a fire risk assessment and yes you can do it yourself, also it does not need to be recorded if you do not employ five or more people. You need to study the sleeping risks guidance and http://www.firesafe.org.uk to decide what fire provisions you require.

Fire exit signs supplementary text did adhere to BS5499-1 and the first letters should be in capitals and the remainder should be lower case. This is because people with dyslexia and other reading problems may struggle to understand signs where the lettering is all capitals. BS 5499 part 1 2002 has now been withdrawn and replaced by BS ISO 3864-1:2011 but the new standard doesn’t deal with the style of text to be used so I would use the guidance provided by BS 5499 part 1 although it has been withdrawn.

You do not require qualified health and safety professional to deliver fire safety training, you can do it in house and a starting point is http://www.firesafe.org.uk where all the information you require can be found there. Your syllabus is the fire plan/procedure for each school which includes fire drills. Practical.training can be expensive especially fire extinguishing training because you need training equipment to be able to conduct it, a fire training rig is essential, a number of training extinguishers, and protective clothing. Also the person delivering the training should attend the appropriate courses, quite often provided by the local fire and rescue service, to ensure he/she knows what is expected on them. You need to cost your plans against the existing situation detailing the pro's and con's and decide if it is feasible. http://envirofire.webs.com/productrange.htm

Check out " Fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats " is the appropriate guide for your premises.

Thanks CWEENG I missed it completely you are absolutely correct.

I have checked BS 3859 -1- 2013 and cannot find any recommendation that require manual call point need to be the same design. There are many recommendations height from the floor, must be easily distinguishable, unobstructed but nothing about the same design. Fire escape signs do state you must not mix different designs but not manual call boxes, ask the contractor to quote the section that require this.

Download http://www.firesafe.org.uk/regulatory-reform-fire-safety-order-2005/ study it, then conduct a fire assessment or have a third party to do it for you using the office and shops guide. Another download may be of use http://www.firesafe.org.uk/fire-risk-assessment/ also checkout Safelincs website http://www.firesafe.org.uk/ many usful pages.

I was all ways told fire safety is 80% common sense and your solution will improve matters providing your fire procedures ensue there will always be sufficient adults available to open these doors in an emergency. The legislation and guidance only talks about all doors needed for means of escape must be easily opened and direction of opening, but not by whom. There are two guides for education premises https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-risk-assessment-educational-premises https://www.education.gov.uk/consultations/downloadableDocs/BB100%20July%2005%20-%20Complete.pdf

Emergency route plans are not officially required as part of an Emergency fire escape plan/procedure, unless you consider that floor plans are a useful tool, consequently I am not aware of any BS/EN standards other than BS 1635 for Graphical Symbols and Abbreviations for Fire Protection Drawings. There are many styles and the one you decide to use is up to you and by surfing the web you can see what other people have done. Checkout http://www.firesafe.org.uk/graphical-symbols-and-abbreviations-for-fire-protection-drawings/ Note. The emergency fire escape signs you use to indicate the means of escape on site, including illuminated fire escape signs is now an international standard. The current standard for the design of fire escape signs is BS EN ISO 7010 1912 and BSEN 1838:2013 requires all illuminated exit signs should conform to 7010.

I assume you have been studying the Approve Document B (fire Safety) which discusses unprotected staircases and protected staircases from a basement. If you use unprotected staircase then you need an alternative means of escape which could be cellar door or escape window or another staircase leading to an alternative final exit on the ground floor. If you use a protected staircase leading to a final exit, you only need one staircase. You will also need a 60 minute fire separation between the basement and the ground floor and I am not sure about the head height in the basement whether or not building control would accept it. Also the travel distances could be a problem but without measurements or a plan I cannot say. If you are doing refurbishment, subject to building regulation then you should talk to building control, if not, then you are using the wrong guidance and should be using the DCLG guidance "Offices and Shops" which can be downloaded from http://www.firesafe.org.uk/regulatory-reform-fire-safety-order-2005/

The only guidance I am aware of, for windows, is if they are escape windows or for ventilation, then they needs to be openable also of a certain size. Only if they form part of a compartment wall would they require being fire resistant. The figures you quote do not make any sense and you would need to provide me with further details of the source to enable me to research this more. The guidance for anybody building or refurbishing building in England and Wales is the Approved Documents and fire fire safety it is Approved Document B (Fire Safety) download from http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/buildingregulations/approveddocuments/partb/bcapproveddocumentsb/

The weekly test only applies to manual call points (MCP) and is usually carried out by the the occupants of the premises. Each week a different MCP is tested, using a special tool that operates the MCP without the need to break the glass. A person located at the control panel silences the alarm, after he/she has ensured it has worked correctly and then resets the system. If any of the occupants doesn't hear the alarm, then the reason needs to be investigated. I cannot see any reasons why the tenants couldn't be trained in this procedure.

Do you and the other tenants hold the freehold of your flats and if so how do you provide for the upkeep of the common areas?