Tom Sutton

You do not say where the premises are I will assume it is in England or Wales. What you propose is a material alteration and will be subject to the Building Regulations which uses Approved Document B (fire safety) volume 1: Dwellinghouses as one of its guidance documents. Your proposal is creating an inner room situation which is only acceptable where the inner room has access to a emergency egress window which is not acceptable above 4.5 m and your new study would be above 4.5 m above the ground. I would suggest you contact your local building control and outline your proposals to them.

Assuming your premises is located in England or Wales then the legislation you are subject to, in the common areas, is The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the fire safety guidance is FIRE SAFETY Guidance on fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing you will find a summary on page 48.

You say "She works alone as a sort of general assistant (cleaning, doing odd-jobs), so she is not often in classrooms" how many different location is she likely to be alone? People who are deaf and hard of hearing should be taken into account in the design of fire alarm systems and evacuation management plans. The use of flashing beacons, vibrating pagers or pillows, and similar alert devices should be considered, appropriately located and backed up by an integrated fire management plan. Where an individual PEEP can be produced, the use of a buddy system should be considered. Have you considered a PEEP and buddy system?

Smoke detectors in all habitable rooms will not stop a fire spreading so you may still require fire doors. As to the amount you can trim off a fire door will depend on the construction and the thickness of the lippings so you will need to contact the retailer or manufacturer to establish the amount that it is safe to remove, it could be 6mm or more.

If the shared corridor is a protected route then all the doors will be FD30s doors, self closing and if you prop these doors open then it is certainly against the regulations. There should be a mandatory, white lettering on a blue circle sign stating "FIRE DOOR KEEP SHUT" and it is not there to decorate the door.

Check out http://www.safelincs.co.uk/deafgard-portable-and-wirefree-smoke-alarm-for-the-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing/ it could be possible to carry it in a shoulder bag with the vibration pad in a pocket or other such arrangement. Find out who the manufacturer is and they may have a more suitable portable device.

Assuming your front opens to open air and not a common area, then there is no need for it to be fire resistant and it is also important that you are able to disperse away from the building.

Also check out http://firealarmengineers.com/1 they may be able to help.

Check out http://psfirefighter.proboards.com/thread/112/fixed-extinguishing-systems?page=1 they may be able to help.

You need to get together with the fire risk assessor and a fire alarm designer to design the system you require for example what categories do you require. Do you require only a manual system (M) or combined with life system (L) or including a property protection system (P) to costs will vary considerably. For example Offices: 3 Floored Victorian Building 12 x Optical Smoke Detectors 2 x Heat Detectors 7 x Manual Call Points 5 x Sounders Alarm System Used: Apollo non addressable Supplied, fitted, commissioned and certificated £4644 plus Vat Once you you know what is required then you can get some estimates.

It could be a fault has developed with the luminaire you should contact the person who installed it and have him/her to check it out.

BS 9990:2015 Non automatic fire-fighting systems in buildings.

You can contact the local Fire and Rescue Service who are the enforcing authority but you should try the union first. Contact details for local Fire and Rescue Services

Passing through a fire exit will not operate the fire alarm but security devices can be fitted that will alert those in charge, if considered necessary.

First of all I think Elizabeth meant 132 cm not MM and a corridor of 145 cm, the doors will be inward opening doors, there was no calculation, if you read the guidance you will find a room with inward opening doors is limited to less than sixty persons.

There is no legal requirement as far as The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is concerned but there could be other legislation which I am not aware of.

The whole building is subject to The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the RP or RP's have to implement articles 8 to 22. simples The guidance will vary, the Firecode will apply to the healthcare premises, the shops will use the DCLG guide and the common areas the Fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats . The building will be considered a multi occupied building with three premises.

Find out if a fire risk assessment (FRA) has been carried out. If it has, ask to see a copy, because this document should identify any fire related risks for that building. If there's no FRA advise your client to get one done by a suitably qualified person. You need to follow the instructions of the Responsible Person and if you have any concerns let him/her know.

My interpretation is that there is is no change and a padlock and strap applies to isolation valves on wet risers for maintenance, obviously not required on dry risers. Some fire and rescue services permit the use of secured solid fronted boxes (to BS) to prevent theft of outlet valves or inlet collection boxes, if required, on both systems.

Richard check out Post War Building Studies 20, 28 and 29 at http://www.mace.manchester.ac.uk/project/research/structures/strucfire/DataBase/References/defaultOther.htm and Human Behaviour in Fires at http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20070507012938/http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1125555 you may find them interesting.

I wouldn't get to hung up on the figures, most have no scientific foundation, I believe these figures were arrived at by comparing other codes and adding their penny worth. Take for instance to number allowed for an inward opening door, the factories act was 10 , post war studies was 40, the blue guide for the FPA was 50 and now it is generally accepted as 60. Under part E of Scottish technical standards (1993) version it quotes: The intention of the requirements for means of escape is that everyone within a building may reach either a place of safety or, in certain circumstances a protected zone within 2.5 minutes of becoming aware of an outbreak of fire. The requirements for the number and width of exits assume a unit width of 530mm per person and a rate of discharge of 40 persons a minute. The allowable travel distance (the distance which it is assumed one can travel along an unprotected escape route within the time specified) varies according to the purpose group and situation. However in the more up to date tech standards in Scotland (2001) amendment's, it says at the introduction to part E, "The intention of the requirements for means of escape is that everyone within a building may reach either a place of safety or, in certain circumstances, a protected zone within a reasonable travel distance. This also applies to the very latest Scottish Building Standards. I think you are back to risk assessment, just use the figures as a benchmark, because most of them have stood the test of time. Also it is necessary to have good reasons for you decisions, i.e. high ceilings, the escape route will remain tenable for longer therefore more people can escape, low ceilings the opposite.

In a building that is in use 24/7 there is no perfect time to do the test, there will always be a risk, but you must reduce that risk to the lowest level. As I explained above the risk is reasonable low, taking all the factors into account, by doing the test in the daylight hours, reduces that risk to the lowest level, consequently I cannot see anybody pointing the finger if that perfect storm should arise, which I believe is most unlikely. A fire - the electricity supply has to fail - and it has to occur on one day in 365, pretty unlikely I would think.

This is up to the Responsible Person (the owner/managing company) it depend what effect it will have on a fire evacuation it could cause a tripping hazard, some are prepared to accept it other want a sterile area.

I got this information from another website. This is relatively common in public spaces they are often known as EDNE (Emergency Do Not Enter) Signs. Check out http://www.kentec.co.uk/warning-signs.html they need careful consideration and planning, battery backed and sized correctly to ensure visibility from appropriate distance. I would also strongly recommend including the signage in inductance talks and Fire Drills. I do not know how you provide the inputs from the fire alarm but if you contact the company I am sure they will help.

Assuming your flats are purpose built flats and meet the standards of Approved Document B (fire Safety) volume 2: Premises other than Dwelling Houses then there will be 30 minutes separation between the first floor flats and the ground floor flats. One layer skimmed will give you 30 mins and two layers skimmed will give you 60 mins but as the first floor is less than 5 metres above the ground floor it only requires 30 mins. The whole building including the flats are subject to the Housing Act and the Building Regulations but the commons areas are subject to the The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005