Fireman1987

Thank you, Tom. I guessed you'd be the one to answer!

I've been out of fire safety for quite some time, so I can't remember where I've read that the single, protected means of escape from a converted house should not contain furnishings or other combustible materials, so could someone point me in the right direction, please? I appreciate housing associations may have their own rules, for example, but this is a house where the freehold owner of the building maintains responsibility for the common areas, but the flats are owner/occupied. These are quite exclusive apartments, and there is a desire to have a small seating area within the means of escape, reasonably close to the entrance door. Clearly, the carpets and furnishings would need to comply with the appropriate fire standards, but I thought this information would be in the LACORS guide? Thanks

Thank you. Sorry for my delayed response - I didn't receive notification that you'd responded! The Sainsbury's case you mentioned would indicate it can't be a statutory requirement, or they would/could have been prosecuted, even if they did put a case together to prove an acceptable alternative - therefore an assessor could only recommend they did it properly, not require them to do it properly? I think! Thanks again ?

Just a quickie about testing fire alarms in commercial premises: From a fire risk assessors perspective, is it a statutory requirement for a client to test the fire alarm (emergency lights, ventilation systems, automatic door closers, etc.) or a recommendation based on the relevant British Standard? This might be hair-splitting or just plain pedantic, but my thoughts are it's not illegal not to do it (although the outcome of not doing so may become a legal matter) Thank you.

The threshold gap (at the bottom of the door) should be either less than 3mm in height or fitted with a threshold seal. See here for more information.

Does a door from a single staircase on to a second floor balcony providing access to three flats need to be a fire door, e.g. to an FD30 or FD30S standard? The staircase only serves that floor, as the ground/first floor maisonettes are independently and externally accessible, and the building is of concrete construction. The stair is considered 'sterile'. The travel distance between the protected stair and the door to the furthest flat is 14m, and the window openings onto the balcony are at least 1.1m above the finished floor level. Thanks

Thanks, guys. that's good enough for me!

Ah, good point. In addition to the spaces above the false ceilings, I'm wondering if the walls separating occupiers should be 60 minutes?

I've been asked to carry out an FRA for a single tenant in a warehouse that's been converted to provide managed office spaces for quite a few tenants. Essentially, the first floor has been fitted out with partition walls and a suspended ceiling to 'void' the height of the original warehouse. There are two means of escape (23m and 32m) and an L1 fire alarm system (as far as I can determine), but I'm convinced compartmentation between different occupancies should be 60 minute walls and 30 minute doors. The building was built before the war, extended in the 50s and converted to this in the 70s. Any comments? Thanks

Thanks, guys. I'm impressed with your recall about where to even look, too! The Station Nightclub footage was one of my go to videos when teaching new fire safety inspectors about the subject. It certainly helps focus the mind. Thanks again, Peter

In a local school hall there is a gallery overlooking the hall with a single, timber, dog-legged staircase leading into a lobby, protected from the hall and a tea point by FD30S doors and with an exit from the lobby. The building is 140 years old with only a manual fire alarm system (I'm dealing with that). The gallery has seating for 60 to 80 people, but the stair width is 630mm at its narrowest point (at the top) but doesn't get any bigger than 670mm, so I need to limit the number of people who can use it - but I can only find required standards occupancy calculations, not calculations for an existing stair width. Where should I look, please? My gut feeling is there shouldn't be more than about 20 people up there (and it's too high to drop over the side!) Thanks

Thank you ?

Thanks, Tom. There is a live-in carer in all these scenarios, but I'm still not sure about this. My understanding from quite a few years ago (It may be brain fade, but I'm happy to be corrected) is that a carer is part of the household, like a butler or a housekeeper. In essence, the owner rents the building to a tenant, and the tenant's care is provided by the local healthcare provider, all be it on a 24/7 basis. As I see it, the carer's employer is responsible for their employee, but the fire safety responsibilities lay with the tenant, not the landlord? I suppose another side of this is if the landlord has the right to carry out an FRA in a domestic dwelling! So, back to the books for me...

I've carried out a number of fire risk assessments on three buildings which are, I believe, single domestic dwellings. None of the premises are on a Register of HMOs. One bungalow has a single occupant with a 22/7 (there's a day-time 2-hour 'break' in care) carer. The house is owned by a housing association and on long-term rent to the tenant, with care provided by a third party. The second bungalow is similar, but with three residents and a 24/7 carer, each with their own bedrooms but the rest of the house is shared. The third is a two-storey house with 2 residents and a 24/7 carer, each with their own bedrooms but the rest of the house is shared. I think the bungalow with three residents may come under the RRO, but surely the other two are domestic dwellings and do not? All the houses are fitted with full L2 fire alarm systems (including MCPs) and emergency lighting, therefore requiring testing and maintenance, and the member of staff carry out 6-monthly fire drills. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Thanks, AnthonyB - It's easy when you look at it like that ?