Tom Sutton

I think the arm covers would be under A5.1 Permanent, loose and stretch covers and should meet Schedule 5, Part 1 of the regulations which is the match test and permanently labeled accordingly. Check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/furniture-and-furnishings-fire-safety-regulations-19881989-and-1993/ all the links are there except FIRA guide which is Fire safety of furniture and furnishings in the home - A Guide to the UK Regulations

You say it is a FD30s fire doors which would means you are limited to a threshold gap of 2/4mm any increased gap you would require to fit a smoke seal. Why do you require the toilet door to be FD30s is there a fire risk in any of the toilets? What standard is the door from the toilet lobby to the staircase?

Check out the internet and one example is http://envirograf.com/product/animal-door-flap/ which you fit to your fire door from the kitchen to the garage, then fit your existing cat flap to the metal frame, the cat flap from the garage to outside will be satisfactory.

Yes the common areas are subject to The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and part of this is you have to conduct a fire risk assessment of the common areas. Also you are subject to the Housing Act 2004 and if you are a HMO you may need to be registered, check out with the local council.

If you fancy your chance as a lawyer you could check out the legislation "The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988," paragraph 14 second-hand furniture and I read it as the regulations do not apply if regulation 4 excludes it and/or the person who sells it does so not for purposes of a business, dealing in furniture. This means to me that if a private person sells it and it is not on behalf of a business then the regulations do not apply. If you have a lawyer friend maybe he/she could interpreted it for you. Check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/furniture-and-furnishings-fire-safety-regulations-19881989-and-1993/ for more information. also check and contact http://www.fira.co.uk they may help.

Would you be trapped in any of the enclosure if a fire started in the main building, by the sound of it, the answer would be no, so why do you want to know if there is a fire in the main building it's the people in that building that needs to know. If a fire starts in one of the enclosures you would know immediately, shout fire and get out, their own fire protection would deal with the fire. What would be important is property protection, not legally required, but I would give it consideration and if a fire starts in one of the enclosures the panel in the main building should be alerted the enable those responsible to take the necessary action to ensure the fire does not spread to the main building.

It is usual for at least 3 hinges to be fitted on fire and escape route doors. With fire-resisting doors becoming heavier, there is a practice to fit two hinges at the top of the door with the third hinge at the bottom of the door. It is unsafe to alter the “as tested” position of a hinge on a fire door, without assessment from a suitably qualified authority. One reason for a third hinge is not only to support the door but to prevent warping. Check out http://firecode.org.uk/Code_of_Practice_hardware_for_fire_and_escape_doors.pdf

Check out the following although some of the links are out of date most of the information is relevant and you are correct to notify the correct authorities and control any secondary fires.

When the premises is occupied all doors required for means of escape, the handle shall release a door at all times in the direction of escape, when the premises are occupied, in less than 1s, by one single hand operation only and not require the use of a key or other similar object. It should enable immediate exit from the inside at all times regardless of any additional locking such as a deadbolt or outside access device. Check out http://firecode.org.uk/Code_of_Practice_hardware_for_fire_and_escape_doors.pdf

I am not sure about the type of lock you are proposing to install but as it is a fire exit it should comply with BS EN 179:2008. The standard says, the handle shall release a door at all times from the inside, when the premises are occupied, in less than 1s, by one single hand operation only and not require the use of a key or other similar object. It should enable immediate exit from the inside at all times and not be hindered by any additional locking such as a deadbolt or outside access device. There is a lot more in the standard but if it meets the above criteria then it should be satisfactory to any enforcing authority. heck out http://firecode.org.uk/Code_of_Practice_hardware_for_fire_and_escape_doors.pdf

A very useful website is the Furniture Industry Research Association (FIRA) which can be found at http://www.fira.co.uk/ they have many documents, guides relating to fire safety regarding furniture and furnishings that you will find very useful, you can register for free. Check out “Sign up to the newsletter” where non-members can register to access Standards, Technical Information and receive their Newsletter for Free Registration.

You are not subject to The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations because it is not a domestic situation but you are subject to The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 which requires you to conduct a fire risk assessment. Part of the risk assessment is to identify fire hazards and remove them or lessen the risk. This can be achieved by following the guidance in the Fire safety of furniture and furnishings in the contract and non-domestic sectors. This would work fine if you were procuring a number of pieces of upholstery furniture by ensuring they carried the low hazard label. In your case having a single chair re-upholstered is not covered therefore I would suggest you have the chair upholstered in accordance with the FFFSR which would I am sure meet the requirements of the contract sector. Check out Fire safety of furniture and furnishings in the home - A Guide to the UK Regulations

You must understand I cannot be held responsible for any action resulting from the contents of this advice as the ultimate interpretation of the Regulations rests with the Courts. The guide states “Persons who supply second-hand furniture in the course of business or trade (e.g. auctioneers, charities)” are subject to the regulations. In my opinion you are not in course of business or trade therefore not subject to the regulations. However I believe you have a moral duty to inform any purchaser that the item you are advertising does not meet the requirements of the regulations. Check out Fire safety of furniture and furnishings in the home - A Guide to the UK Regulations

You do not need a qualified electrician or engineer to carry out the tests/record the results, but the person you assign to the job must be a competent person which is defined as, “A person is to be regarded as competent where he has sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities to enable him properly carry out the role assigned to him/her” He could get his training from a course or the emergency lighting engineers who maintain the system, plus ongoing training as required. I do not understand the emergency lighting system you have; switching the lights off is not going to test the system unless you are talking about dedicated test (fan) switches installed for the purpose of testing the system. Also if you have to use the fuse board to test the other half system then it must be a very old system. I would suggest you bring in your service engineers to advise you and they could instruct your site service man.

All interested parties should get together and decide the shortest acceptable time to carry out the aims why a delay is necessary. The signal should automatically change to an audible fire warning, in at least the relevant alarm zone, after a pre-set period, unless manual stopped at the control equipment. The period for the staff to investigate (the pre-set time) should not normally exceed six minutes then go into full alarm depending on the evacuation procedure.

Robinlo I am not a fire alarm engineer but I have looked at BS 5839 pt 1 and I believe you are correct if you are using radial circuits, you have to have a minimum of two zones with the first sounder in the vicinity of the CIE. BS 5839 in relation to clause 12.2.2 especially (j) which says “In the event of a single open circuit or short circuit fault on any circuit that serves the fire alarm sounders, at least one single fire alarm sounder, normally located in the vicinity of the CIE, should still sound correctly if a fire alarm condition occurs anywhere within the building.” My interpretation is, if there are more than two radial circuits, and two of the circuits have the first device, a sounder, located close to the CIE that would comply. Also if there is a dedicated sounder circuit and only one sounder is fitted close to the CIE, followed by as many radial circuits as you choose, that would comply. I am sure there are more configurations especially if you use ring circuits you could get away with a single circuit and use short circuit isolators but that is something you would need to discuss with an expert.

What do you mean by open and protected staircase, fire protected but open to the elements? What do you mean by travel distances are above maximum distances,single escape route or more than one and by how much? You say 75 occupants maximum on the second floor which is, 15 above the requirement to have an alternative MoE, what mitigating circumstance would you use to justify the extra? Check out https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-risk-assessment-educational-premises for more information. You do have options by reducing the numbers on the 2nd floor and increase the number on the other floors, you can reduce the travel distance by providing lobbies but you need to discuss this with you FR assessor, it cannot be done over the internet it's a hands on job.

Providing a satisfactory fire risk assessment has been conducted then the door in question should be considered satisfactory. I would suggest that people are unlikely to be injured in the stampede unless their egress is restricted which doesn't sound likely in the situation you have described. You would need to have a full understanding of the layout of the premises to give a definitive answer but if you have any doubts you should contact the local fire and rescue service.

Green-foam I was only stating what is in the BS and I do not have sufficient expertise to say how Robinlo could comply with the standard,whether two ring circuits or a combination of a ring circuit and a radial circuit would suffice.

The BS shows two circuits a radial sounder circuit and ring sounder circuit. The radial sounder circuit has one circuit with one sounder close to the panel and second circuit with the remainder of the sounders. The ring sounder circuit (e.g. addressable loops) has a combination of sounders and detector with one sounder close to the panel and protected by short circuit isolators. It appears that if there is a short circuit at least on sounder close to the CIE will be working. How this applies to your situation I do not have the expertise to help therefore I would suggest you contact the manufacturer of the CEI and get their advice, unless there is somebody on the forum who can help.

Fire safety legislation applies to all farm buildings where people work, including packing sheds, milking parlours, barns, holiday lets and farm houses used for providing bed and breakfast. Check out Cheshire FRS website for more information. http://www.cheshirefire.gov.uk/business-safety/fire-safety-guidance/farm-fire-safety/farms-fire-risk-assessment

I have no idea if your door meets the required fire resistance but if you have been told, that you only need to replace the rising butt hinges, then simply replace with fire door hinges and fit a closing device, see the links below. Check out http://www.safelincs.co.uk/fire-rated-hinges-set-of-3-product-1/?fGB=true http://www.safelincs.co.uk/door-closers/

There is no fire safety reason to using a fire exit but I can see a security problem, because how do you secure the fire exit door from the outside, especially if it is a push bar?

Without knowing the layout of the premises it is impossible to say if the situation is safe but there are many blocks of flats that only have only one door for access and exit and you need a fire risk assessor to check the premises out and give you an expert opinion. You could contact the local Fire and Rescue Service and get a fire safety inspection or an audit. Check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/uk-fire-rescue-services-details/

I found the manufacturing standard it is BS EN 60598-2-22:2014 Luminaires. Particular requirements. Luminaires for emergency lighting and it states " an indicator visible in normal use, for example a lamp, which shows the following conditions, the luminaire is connected and the charge of the battery is being maintained " so it seems your luminaire does not conform the BS. The lamp in most cases will be an LED and should show green if OK.