AnthonyB

Full rated discharge, if it's a 3 hour system it should be tested to 3 hours. The lighting standards do still refer to certain building types only needing one hour (despite it being decades since 1 hour fittings were discontinued) however the same standard says that the annual test must be to the full rated duration (inevitably 3 hours). Note that there is a difference between escape lighting, emergency, lighting, standby lighting etc so whilst 1 hour may meet escape requirements your installation may be intended for other purposes in addition where 3 hours is needed.

The only reference to seal width I can find is purely based on door fire resistance and nothing to do with size. The recommended seal size for most modern 30 minute doors, other than doorsets, is 15mm X 4mm. The recommended seal size for most modern 60 minute fire doors is 20mm X 4mm, or 2 No. 10mmX4mm. This is from BWF-CERTIFIRE who are the fire door industries' Scheme to ensure the correct standards are used in relation to fire doors and their installation

Water Mist is pricey, but the best all round action as the others have disadvantages: Water or CO2 gas: Not even worth considering, too many disadvantages Foam: Great for solids and liquids, but no good on cooking oils and only 1 manufacturer approves them for electrical fires Wet Chemical: Great for solids, liquids and cooking oils, not for direct electrical use, slightly messy Powder: Good performance on solids and liquids, safe for electrical equipment but not the most effective, Not suitable for cooking oils, no longer recommended for indoor use as the powder will obscure vision, affect breathing and is very damaging to surfaces and equipment Water Mist covers the primary domestic risks to a high standard (solids, cooking oils and electrical) with no mess or damage or adverse effect to the user. It's also safe on liquid fires, just can only deal with very, very small ones, but as this is for the house not the garage that isn't an issue

You can't use an electromechanical lock on an exit route where the release of the keep is required for exit and electromagnetic locks are not normally allowed on doors from places of assembly (such as your hall) where panic proof (push bar) exit is required. You need to buy a panic bolt with compatible outside access device - if you prefer code access to keys then Briton Panic Furniture has a coded version: http://www.safelincs.co.uk/briton-digital-code-lock-outside-access-device/?fGB=true&gclid=CM_Q_bOr99ECFcLGGwodT-MHkQ

The official guidance states: " In order to provide a facility for extinguishing small fires in their early stages, a simple multi-purpose extinguisher is recommended on each floor in the common parts of HMOs and buildings containing flats. It will not usually be practical to train tenants in the use of these, but basic advice should be offered at the start of each new tenancy. Fire blankets are recommended as good practice in kitchens of all premises covered by this guide, including single household occupation and bedsit rooms." Traditionally that would have meant dry powder extinguishers, but since the publication of this guidance the use of powder has fallen out of favour and newer standards depricate it's use indoors due to the health & safety risks from inhalation & loss of vision as well as the fact it's exceeding damaging. So the use of Water Mist or Britannia Triclass extinguishers (foam extinguishers marked for direct electrical use, both in traditional steel variants and Kevlar P50) would be better options - a powder extinguisher would be cheaper......until it gets set off!

Not all brands of twinwire system operate the same way - which is why installers & maintainers who are not competent in fire alarms wonder why they can't get twinwire devices of different makes to work on the same system. Many twin wire systems use reverse polarity but Apollo Alarmsense uses voltage changes, in a quiescent state 12V runs through the system, device activation causes the panel to raise the voltage to 24V to activate the sounders. Polarity is unchanged. I think a competent fire alarm engineer is required for this situation.

The same as any potential ignition source - liklihood of ignition, proximity to other combustibles, effect of a fire on escape, etc, etc. Spontaneous fires in parked vehicles do occur, but are relatively rare and a complete ban is not always necessary or practicable

If it's part of a domestic electrical installation then it would be the householders responsibility with a 10 year recommended test interval. But in rental accommodation the landlord retains responsibility, the recommended interval drops to 5 years and if they fail to keep the installation in good order they commit an offence and enforcement action can be implemented by the local Council. An installation for common areas is the landlords responsibility with a 5 year interval. If you are concerned you should contact your local Environmental Health Department: https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/how_to_complain_about_an_unsafe_home Useful info source: https://www.rla.org.uk/landlord/guides/responsibilities/electrical_inspections.shtml

You tick the two main boxes - technical knowledge to equal or greater standard (far greater in your case) than you are teaching and adult teaching qualifications - this would be suitable for training commercially, so for an in house course you should have no problems at all!

How warm was the room when you went in? Environmental controls are primarily to stop damage to the server, although it is an ignition source and if it's not installed to spec (e.g. manufacturer requires an air con environment) there is a risk. Too hot and you break it, too hot and you may have a fire. A dedicated room is usually preferred and storage should be minimised.

Try here: https://www.jactonesigns.com/fire-safety-signs/means-of-escape/luminaire-overlays.html

It's like any sector of the fire industry, plenty of demand, but plenty of competition and like the rest of the trade there are lots of different skill levels plying their skills (or sadly lack thereof in some cases) Your specialist knowledge will set you ahead of many offering fire safety consultancy and risk assessments, but a baseline fire risk assessment qualification is highly recommended such as one of these: - NEBOSH National Certificate in Fire Safety and Risk Management - FPA C05 Certificate in Applied Fire Risk Assessment or C06 Fire Risk Assessment - CS Todd 4.5 day Fire Risk Assessment Course

Asbestos surveys have been required for a very long time - your duties under the current version of the regulations are summarised here: http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/duty.htm It's usually necessary for an accredited specialist to carry out the work. As Tom says Fire Certificates ceased to be over 10 years ago and an FRA is required. You need to include the offices as being vacant isn't an exemption, they are still subject to the legislation.

Keys are usually not acceptable except in exceptional circumstances such as lawful places of detention. A similar premises I have dealt with secures the fire exits where the students who are at risk of absconding with magnetic locks. These are linked to the fire alarm to release and in place of the usual green break glass overrides are key operated switches, the fire alarm break glasses are provided with hinged covers to prevent misuse and the fact that the alarm releases the locks is not advertised, the keys are used instead. The premises are also sprinklered. You should ask your fire safety adviser or risk assessor to look into this and produce a risk assessment that justifies a suitable solution. Consultation with the fire and rescue service may be advisable. Your suggestion may end up being accepted, but as it would be exceptional you need to go through the right process to justify it.

This is the official fire safety guidance applicable to your flats: http://www.local.gov.uk/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=1138bf70-2e50-400c-bf81-9a3c4dbd6575

If studying design you should be aware of the three approaches to compliance with the functional fire safety requirements of the Building Reglations: Standard Approach: Following the prescriptive guidance in Approved Document B Advanced Approach: Following the flexible design guidance in BS 9999:2017 Fire safety in the design, management and use of buildings. Code of practice Fire Engineered Approach: Bespoke design (including computer modeling) using BS 7974:2001 Application of fire safety engineering principles to the design of buildings. Code of practice These will all help you with definitions and solutions.

Find a quiet time! Shopping Centres, Leisure Complexes and similar have to do them and turf paying customers out once a year (or twice if best practice). Alternatively explore this alternative to the traditional drill https://www.ioshmagazine.com/article/whats-drill

Several OFQUAL registered Awarding Organisations do train the trainer qualifications for fire training in addition to their usual stable of first aid & first aid trainer qualifications. For live extinguishers you will need to have practical experience yourself as well as suitable insurance, plus the rigs aren't cheap! Whilst not yet mandatory for fire training it's becoming more common in similar sectors to need to hold a formal adult teaching & assessing qualification in addition to subject qualifications, this would be worth considering if you may be contemplating expanding even further in future to train first aid.

It's out of date as the current BS5499-4 no longer has the arrowless final exit sign in - the old version did. If you have the rectangular acrylic slide in inserts it is often cheaper to get a local signmaker to cut to size replacement opaque acrylic sheets which you can stick the legends on

The current guidance for exit signage BS5499-4:2013 requires all exit signs to have an arrow and the traditional UK Final/Storey exit sign (just exit/fire exit on it's own, post 1998 with an exit pictogram as well) is no longer meant to be used (I wouldn't replace any existing arrowless final exit signs just on this basis). Straight on (including through a doorway) should strictly use the up arrow, not the down, but in this risk based world I would apply common sense and where the use of a down arrow is obviously not going to confuse I would leave it in situ. New or replacement signs should of course be correct/ With internally illuminated exit signs you can get replacement fascias so you don't have to replace the whole unit - Whilst not on their website as a JaliteAAA distributor Safelincs should be able to order them in for you: http://www.jaliteaaa.co.uk/pdf/Page 28 Jalite - Industrial & Commercial Catalogue.pdf (Jalite don't sell direct to end users) If for some reason they can't I can post an alternative supplier. You would be very unlucky for the fire service to comment, as long as the routes are clearly signed their are not usually picky about the arrows and pictograms used.

Not any more, Building Regulations used to require many internal doors to be so fitted, but removed the requirement as in reality these doors usually ended up with the closer removed or a wedge put in place. The doors to the stair will (or should be) fire doors, but only where a fire door separates an integral garage from the accommodation is a self closer required. (This all assumes the premises are occupied as a single family unit and is not being used as a House of Multiple Occupation)

The official definition: Protected route: An escape route which is adequately protected from the rest of the building by a fire-resisting construction. In practice this is usually to a minimum of 30 minutes fire resistance (in some cases it can be much more) and 'construction' is usually walls, ceilings, glazing, doors, etc. Once in a protected route it should lead to a final exit to a place of safety, you should not usually have to leave a protected route to then go through an unprotected one to reach an exit. Emergency lighting is often required to escape routes as is signage, but there are always exceptions - your Fire Risk Assessment will determine this.

It isn't. But BS5839-1 is the benchmark used by enforcers and the 6 monthly service interval is quoted in the official HM Government Fire Risk Assessment Guidance, Deviations are possible, but you have to justify why going below the benchmark does not compromise safety (which is sometimes possible, Sainsburys did it for call point testing, but threw a lot of time and money in doing the research and stats to justify it)

You don't have an activated call point somewhere? Apollo Alarmsense is a conventional twin wire fire alarm system where sounders and call points/detectors share the same zone cable and have to use a compatible 2 wire panel. Apollo's fault finding guide suggests that continuous sounders indicate a non Alarmsense compatible panel has been used (different 2 wire panel or a traditional 4 wire) (or indeed the conventional sounder circuits instead of the Alarmsense zones) Apollo don't make the panels. Compatible panels are made by C-Tec, Haes and Kentec. Ask also on firealarmengineers.com/forum

DfEE guidance states "There should be a fire drill at least once a year and preferably once a term."