Is carpet allowed on escape route?

[Guest JanineBa]

We have a 7 storey building with 25 flats. The common hallways with lifts are carpeted, but the fire escape stairs have concrete floors. A resident wants to carpet the fire escape stairs, but surely this is against fire regulations? Please advise.

Janine

[Tom Sutton]

There is no requirement forbidding the use of carpet on a means of escape staircase but it is likely to cause many problems for you as Responsible Person. A means of escape staircase has to have a very low fire loading and this means the carpet would need to be fire resisting (hot nut test). Being on the staircase it is likely to receive a high degree of wear and this would mean regular inspection to ensure the carpet doesn’t create a tripping hazard. If the carpet did not cover the whole of the staircase enclosure, tenants could enter the staircase on concrete then carpet then concrete which could be very disconcerting and may create a tripping hazard. I would suggest you try to convince the tenant against the proposals, which would be safer and easier to maintain remember the staircase is part of the common area and you responsibility.