Communal Fire alarm?

[Guest Guest82]

Hi

A block of flats we manage has been inspected by the Fire brigade. Its a 3 storey terraced house converted to 3 flats (one on each floor). It was converted in 2017 and was signed off by building control and local fire service also approved. 

After a fire audit last month, a notice has been issued by the fire brigade with a list of recommendations, incuding improvements to flat entrance doors and emergency lighting. One of the recommendations is to install a communal fire alarm system on top of the fire detection already inside each flat. 

I have since had a fire risk assessment done by an independent fire consultant who has advised that as the flats have protected entrance halls, they would accept as-is if I upgrade the flat entrance doors with strips/seals and self-closing devices and either install vents on each level or an AOV at the head of the staircase (not doable) OR go with the fire service recommendation and install an alarm system in common area and inside flat entrance halls. Im inclined to go with the vents on each floor as there are already small windows installed so cheaper option is to make the windows bigger (1m2 is what has been suggested). A fire alarm system is not only costly but also causes increased issues with management of the panel system. 

I suppose my question is a. would the openable windows suffice? and b. Both the fire alarm and/or ventilation do not seem to have been required at the time of conversion - why are they being asked for now if the building apparently complied in 2017?

[AnthonyB]

Do all of the following apply.
a. The top storey of the building is a maximum of 11m above ground level.
b. No more than three storeys are above the ground storey.
c. The stair does not connect to a covered car park, unless the car park is open sided
d. The stair does not serve offices, stores or other ancillary accommodation. 
e. Either of the following is provided for the fire and rescue service.
i. A high-level openable vent with a free area of at least 1m2 at each storey. (This can be in the form of windows)
ii. A single openable vent with a free area of at least 1m2 at the head of the stair, operable remotely at the fire and rescue service access level.

If so then, as long as the compartmentation is to 60 minutes then the only thing lacking is the smoke control for which is sounds larger windows to each floor is most practicable. You would be claiming the 'Small single stair buildings' relaxations in Building Regulations (as applied at the time of build and still does today)

The fact you are in this situation at all is a symptom of the massive legacy defect situation affecting post 2000 housing in the UK. Many builds that never even complied with the regulations at the time of build got signed off and as a Building Regulations Completion certificate is not a guarantee of compliance as most state in the small print (& is immaterial for occupied buildings fire safety as that is covered by separate legislation) it can't save you, especially when issued in error as is often the case. The fire service can be consulted in the Building Regs process but have no official involvement legally in signing off and in many cases they are the ones who pull up the defective buildings once under their jurisdiction, sometimes years down the line.

The fire service aren't allowed to tell you what to do, just identify the Articles of the legislation breached and they may give a suggestion as to the remedy, but it's up to you & your FRA to decide and it's possible to comply by doing something different (or in some cases by doing nothing if they are in error which does occur).

 

[Guest Guest82]

Thanks AnthonyB. That's exactly the paragraph and diagram he (the assessor) quoted. What threw me when reading it was in the 'notes' section where it says if the lobby is omitted, an Automatic Vent is required. I don't want to risk paying for works for the brigade to come back and say it still doesn't conform/they still want the fire alarm at an even bigger cost to the leaseholders. I will send them the FRA prior to the works and see if they raise any more concern. 

And thank you for the clarification. It baffles me that I can be handed a building to manage with all the certificates in place(completion cert, brigade consult letter) to then find it doesn't actually meet standard at the detriment of the leaseholders. We must've been lucky so far as it's a first. 

60 mins compartmentation - this hasnt been raised as a specific concern by either the FB or the FRA, is this something that would need a survey to confirm first? Adding that in to the equation and it may end up being more cost effective just to get the alarm installed. 

[AnthonyB]

If going down the alarm route 30min will suit. If you have a slab floor and block walls it's reasonable to assume its 60 minutes, if it's plasterboard then then you usually look for 15mm either side of a stud for walls and 2 x 15mm for ceiling linings, but there are lots of different ways of getting 60 minutes other than these and you may need an intrusive survey BUT if it's a 2017 conversion with no full alarm at the time of build it's likely to be 60 minutes as that was the standard at the time then (as it is now)