Tom Sutton

Assuming the front door does open onto the common areas and the fire risk assessment requires the door to be a 30FD self closing door, to protect your neighbours from a fire in your flat, then the law does require the self closer. However there are possible solutions have you discussed with the association a Wireless Free Swing Door Closer which could be triggered by your domestic fire alarm in your flat?

Signage for a gas/electrical cupboard in accordance with Health & Safety (Signs & Signals) Regs 1996 you will need to be be more specific ask the FR assessor? Check out http://www.firesafe....e-safety-signs/ and there is a link to the HS(SS)R and schedule 1 displays all the signs.

In cinemas and theatres all the doors with push bars was secured with padlocks and chains when the premises was close for the night. To ensure the chains had been removed the next day there was a board called a chain board in the manager’s office and each chain had a hook so it was easy to check if all the chains had been removed first thing next day. If the keepers on the barrel bolts are removed this would allow the bolt to be withdrawn and you could use a board similar to a chain board for the bolts.

The Disability Discrimination Act and the the Equality Act 2010 are the are the two pieces of legislation that apply to you regarding your situation. It appears the only only part that applies to your landlord is they must consider, any application from you, to modify the premises. As you are about have your house adapted for wheel chair use then this permission must have been given. There is no way I could comment on the means of escape without a lot more information and a survey. However you could contact your local Fire and Rescue Service for a home check and they would be able to advise you accordingly. Check out http://www.direct.go...tions/index.htm for more information on adapting your home, also http://www.foundations.uk.com/what-we-do/

Terry you say "Engineer came to service 2 extinguishers(1 co2 and 1 water)" which one are you talking about the CO2 or the water and which one has the fault? Or are you talking about a water extinguisher with a small CO2 cylinder inside the water extinguisher? Check out http://www.safelincs.co.uk/Ultrafire-Redline-9ltr-Water-Fire-Extinguisher/ is an example of a water extinguisher and the link above is an example of a CO2 extinguisher.

I very much doubt that plasterboard would be acceptable, its fine for partition walls and ceilings but that is as far as it goes. Slight warping could be remedied using intumescent strip but I do not fully understand the 10mm gap you spoke of. Does the door require extending 10mm if so you could use hardwood lippings, screwed and glued. There are companies that specialise in upgrading fire doors and some claim to provide a certificate for building control, try a Google. You could speak to your building control officer and s/he should be able to advise you what is acceptable. Check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/fire-doors/ there are some useful links and the leading companies for intumescent products are http://www.envirogra...index.html and http://www.mannmcgowan.co.uk/

Thanks for getting back Dave and it does look that you should be fine all you need to do is to review you Fire Risk Assessment and consider your proposals in the review. It should be recorded if more than five persons are employed and be ready, if the Fire service comes a calling. :angry:

There is no legal requirement for the extraction hood and the gas interlock value to close if the fire alarm is activated, as far as I am aware. Fire Safety Legislation's ( RR(FS)O) principle requirement is that a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) must be conducted and the Responsible Person (RP) would decide if the fire alarm actuated then should the extraction hood and the gas interlock valve close, and this will be based on recommendation/ best practice. Some points to consider when making that decision, 1. When the ansul fire system is installed it will require the gas supply to be isolated when it actuates, not sure about the ventilation. 2. If there was a fire in the kitchen or anywhere in the building how will all the appliances be switched off, before evacuating the kitchen. 3. How many kitchen are there. 4. What is the fire evacuation strategy. (Fire Procedure) 5. Location of the kitchen and passive fire protection. Like Health and safety it is all based on risk assessment.

Is this a furnished or unfurnished flat? If it is a furnished flat then the landlord has a responsibility to ensure that all the upholstered furniture and mattress's complies with the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988/1989, 1993 and 2010. If its unfurnished then that is your responsibility and I would advise you to ensure all upholsted furniture and mattress's also comply for you and your families safety.

The front door has to be a fire door to protect all your neighbours from a fire in your flat but your side of the door is not subject to The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 however the common areas are. This means the method of escape in case of fire from your flat is your responsibility and the means of escape from the common areas to outside the building is the association’s responsibility. So in the common areas all the emergency doors must not be so locked or fastened that they cannot be easily and immediately opened by any person who may require using them in an emergency without resorting to the need for a key. There is no such requirement on you in your flat but I would suggest you do make them easily operable from the inside without the needs of a key for you and your family’s sake. I would imagine who has to foot the bill will be contained in your tenant agreement.

Check out The Fire Safety (Employees’ Capabilities) (England) Regulations 2010 its a SI that is relevant to RR(FS)O.

Chris same as Harry you need to give more information is it a a private domestic dwelling, is it a house, flat or House in Multiple Occupation? Are you, your family or friends the only people that will use the door?

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.