Tom Sutton

It appears he was a soldier, author and a man of means, his wife by all account. You need to check out the book below. In 1813 Manby invented the "Extincteur", the first portable pressurised fire extinguisher. This consisted of a copper vessel of 3 gallons of pearl ash (potassium carbonate) solution pressurised with compressed air. He also invented many life saving devices the one he appears to be most proud of was On 18 February 1807, as a helpless onlooker, he witnessed a Naval ship, the Snipe run aground 60 yards off Great Yarmouth during a storm, with (according to some accounts) a total of 214 people drowned, including French prisoners of war, women and children. Following this tragedy, Manby experimented with mortars, and so invented the manby mortar, later developed into the breeches buoy, that fired a thin rope from shore into the rigging of a ship in distress. A strong rope, attached to the thin one, could be pulled aboard the ship. "Walthew, Kenneth."; From Rock And Tempest. The Life Of Captain George William Manby http://theskipperslibrary.com/categoryview.php?categoryid=28&categoryname=Lighthouses Check out http://www.museums.n...phies/NCC082681 they could give more information.

Paul my confrontation with destiny has been cancelled so I have been able to do a bit more research. I still cannot find anything about the reform of the RR(FS)O itself but there has been new guidance on the enforcement of the order they are, the DCLG Guidance Note No. 1: Enforcement the CFOA Collected Perceived Insights Into and Application of The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 For the Benefit of Enforcing Authorities the FIA FIA Best Practice Guide - June 2011 The CAFO document could be the document you are thinking about and I would appreciate your feed back for clarification.

In accordance with BS 5266 pt 1:2011 it says, Toilet facilities Facilities for use by disabled people and/or any multiple closet facilities without borrowed light should have emergency escape illumination from at least one luminaire. I would say you do have to provide emergency escape lighting in each cubicle, if after the proposals there is no borrowed light or you could provide translucent material above the doors to ensure you do have borrowed light.

David do you have an up to date Fire Risk Assessment for the premises and is this why you say " We have 4 other fire exits which is already more than adequate." or do you have other reason for making this statement? Without a lot more information, like width, type and location of doors, type of construction use of premises and others questions it is impossible to give a definitive answer. Without detailed plans and a physical inspection you cannot be certain. You could check out the DCLG guides at http://www.communities.gov.uk/fire/firesafety/firesafetylaw/ and pick the one that corresponds with your premises.

David if you do not have a door between the open plan Living room/Kitchen and hall how do you get in or out of the living room or does the entrance door open into the Living room/Kitchen? Without a full understanding of the layout of your flat it is difficult to provide an answer.

Paul I will not be available for some time and not able to follow this up. I would suggest you register with FireNet forum and ask your question there and I am sure there will be somebody there who could help you.

Be careful NFPA 13 is an American Code and there can be a variance between there codes and European standards.

Maintained emergency lighting is required when a low level of light is required for safety reasons at all times the premises is in use. It remains on whether the normal lighting is on or off, like cinemas, theatres, clubs and other premises where this facility is desirable. Non-maintained emergency lighting is normally off when the normal lighting is on and only switches on if the normal lighting supply should fail like during a fire. (offices, shops factories, etc) http://www.firesafe.org.uk/emergency-lighting/

That is the average gap and is documented in British Standard BS 8214:2008 Code of practice for fire door assemblies. 9.5.2 Clearance gaps Failure of fire-resisting door assemblies under test is very often due to burn-through at the clearance gap between the door leaf edge and the door frame. Doors should be hung to give an equal gap across the head and down both jambs. A typical gap to achieve good fire performance is between 2 mm and 4 mm. NOTE Guidance on operating gaps for timber doorsets is given in BS 4787-1 and BS 5588-112).

I am not aware of any updates to the RR(FS)O 2005 but The Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 came into effect on 15 November 2010 which is the equivalent legislation for Northern Ireland. http://www.nifrs.org/firesafe/ I will ask around but I am fairly certain I would have heard about it.

Further to my above comments I wish to add that security and Means of Escape can come into conflict. If the aims are to prevent intruders from gaining access from the outside to the inside of the premises then there are plenty of solutions available. The problems arise when the aims are to prevent unauthorised persons from getting out of the premises by means designed for means of escape from fire only. For a long time the use of panic bars or manual overrides for locks have caused problems and in my experience there is no way of preventing these doors from being used for unauthorised purposes but you can provide a warning that these doors are being used and therefore you are able to respond immediately.

Hi Harry It seems a simple question but to give a full answer you would have to know very much more about the situation and I personally would need physical inspection to be certain, making assumptions is a dangerous thing. However there are usually parts you can give definitive response to, for example you can say if an escape door is fitted with a lock in the direction of escape, then it has to be operable from the escape side with out the need of a key and therefore needs a manual override. A green box is considered to be a manual override, there are others, and in some case this is not desirable but to find a solution is very difficult, mainly because it flies in the face of the principles of means of escape from fire. ​Coincidentally this applies to most online questions and most times to give a definitive answer is impossible but I find directing the enquirer to where the answer can be found like guides, standards and such is the best solution. Tom

Who ever conducted your last fire risk assessment they would be in the best situation to comment on your proposals. It is feasible but you need somebody who has all the facts to be able to make a definitive assessment.

This is an old perennial and there are many threads on FireNet forum on this subject. If an escape door is fitted with a mag lock, linked to the fire alarm, then a manual override is required (green box) to comply with the British Standard. I understand that the fire alarm system can be configured so if a green box is actuated a fault will be indicated on the fire alarm panel. This may be a solution providing the fire alarm panel is monitored 24/7. Check out http://fire.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1839.0 and there re many other too.

Check out Section 5 Further guidance on emergency escape lighting (page 100) in the Fire Safety Risk Assessment - Offices and Shops, DCLG guide which can be downloaded from http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/fire/firesafetyrisk2 . Having read the above section and you have any further question do not hesitate to return with those queries.

I think there is a typo error and it should read blocks not locks, if this is the case then it does appear to be unacceptable. I would suggest you request a free home fire safety check from the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service on 0800 169 1234 or go to their website and register online. They will be able to resolve this matter.

Check out http://peakland-fire-safety.co.uk/ they appear to have the expertise to deal with your problem, Fire advice for architects and building designers and specialists in fire assessments for heritage buildings maybe worth a try.

Gordon I am afraid fire statistics are not detailed sufficiently enough to enable you to extract such information but there has been a small reduction in deaths/injuries in domestic premises but the reasons are open to opinion. Check out http://www.communities.gov.uk/fire/researchandstatistics/ more information. Mail me with your email address regarding a fire consultant.

Eva which labels are you talking about the display label or the permanent label the display label is only for retailers who are selling the upholstered furniture. The permanent label is securely fixed and should remain with the furniture also should be difficult to remove. Check out http://www.satra.co.uk/spotlight/article_view.php?id=254 which shows the two types of label.

Further results of my research on dry powder extinguishers for vehicles. If a company has ABC dry powder extinguishers, for use in company vehicles, it appears there are three variations available, factory sealed aerosol types, and factory sealed disposable types and traditional types. 1. Aerosol types such as Firemaster, First Alert, some Kidde models, Fireblitz and Jactone there are no servicing actions beyond user visual and user check weigh, with replacement at the end of the 5 year warranty. 2. Some of the other disposable/factory sealed types which in effect were non rechargeable versions of 'traditional' extinguishers such as those used in the past by Kidde & Guardian and gauged aerosols as used by Firemaster in the 80's/90's in theory can be subjected to the full Basic Service as you can remove pins and re-tag, gauge verify with a tool etc., The only difference being, should recharge be needed on the extended service is has to be replaced. 3. The tradition types need to be serviced fully in accordance with BS 5306 Pt 3 2008. Therefore I would suggest for the protection of a motor vehicle you would require a minimum 2Kg ABC class dry powder extinguisher. The advice on carrying fire extinguishers in motor vehicles is very sparse unless you are subject to the ADR, CDG Regulations and they require a minimum of one 2Kg ABC Dry powder and I cannot see any reasons to disagree with that. None of the aerosols types are suitable because they only cover class BC but the ABC disposable/factory sealed types are suitable. They would need commissioning test on installation, visual every month and a basic service every 12months and to be replaced at the extended service/overhaul. The traditional type should be serviced as indicated above.

Any final exit door required for escape in the event of a fire in the premises is classed as a fire exit door and if they are not regularly used on a day by day basis they must be indicated with a "Fire Exit" sign. Most final exit doors do not require to be fire resisting therefore do not require to be kept closed and if the doors you speak of are not fire resisting doors then there is no reason why they cannot be held open. The only reason why they are kept closed is for security reasons.

Question 1 there is a requirement to have 60 mins fire resistance between the two occupancies and two FD30 would achieve that. However this question requires the expertise of a building control officer and you should confirm my reply with a BCO.

The simple answer to question 2 is you can't it is all about risk assessment and you need to have experience in this field. There are clues that may help for instance, the thickness of the door, the weight, the number of hinges, usually three, are intumescent and smoke seals fitted, is there any fire resisting glazing fitted but the only certain way is to have some form of documentation, labels or plastic plugs. Check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/fire-doors/ for more information.

I would suggest, although vehicles are considered to be premises under the RR(FS)O, art 6(e) exempts them if they are used as transport or carry a vehicle exercise licence. HSE guidance still applies if they are working vehicles but fire extinguishers are not required unless a risk assessment requires them or if the vehcle is subject to ADR. The other problem is you can get 2Kg ABC dry powder extinguishers factory sealed and the only meaningful test you can do is part of commissioning and the visual inspection under BS 5306-3:2009 Commissioning and maintenance of portable fire extinguishers. There are five tests, commissioning, visual inspection, basic service, extended service, overhaul and because they are sealed then there is not a great deal can be done other than return or replace.

Are they sealed type extinguishers?