Bedroom smoke alarm and fire door needed?

[IanMartin]

Hi, Our new kitchen extension is open plan onto the downstairs hall and staircase. So we've fitted linked alarms in kitchen (heat), hall (smoke) and landing (smoke), and fitted egress window hinges to all bedrooms. Building control now want a linked smoke alarm fitted in the master bedroom, along with a fire door, because the master bedroom has an ensuite bathroom.

 I don't understand the need for a bedroom fire door and bedroom linked smoke alarm just because the bedroom has an ensuite. Please can somebody explain. Thanks.

[green-foam]

Since it is building control have told you what you must do, would it not be a good idea to ask them why? since anything else is only a guess.

[IanMartin]

8 hours ago, green-foam said:

Since it is building control have told you what you must do, would it not be a good idea to ask them why? since anything else is only a guess.

Yes, I've asked them by email - waiting for reply, just thought I'd get some forum thoughts to help me too. ?

By the way, just 2 storey home, with landing linked smoke detector 1.1m from bedroom door.

[IanMartin]

Ok I've received this from Building Control -

"I can confirm that the fire door would be required between the bedroom with the ensuite and the landing. This would not be required to any other bedroom. 

The relevant guidance that relates to this issue is paragraph 3.8 of Approved Document B volume 1. This paragraph advises that you can not have an inner inner room where any of the access rooms is a kitchen, which is the situation at your property. MSDC Building Control have assessed this guidance however, and agreed an alternative approach which allows this layout if the bedroom is separated from the landing with a fire door, as the risk to the inner inner room will then be suitably mitigated.

The alternative option would be to separate the kitchen from the hall with doors or partitions, as the kitchen would then not be considered an "access room". These separations and doors would not need to be fire resisting."

 

I'm going to have to read up about what is a room, what is an inner room, and an inner inner room, what is an access room. Maybe somebody here can give me a simple explanation?

[IanMartin]

Ok I now understand, building control are quite correct. This is the extract from the regs -

 

Inner rooms

3.7 An inner room is permitted when it is one of the following.

a. A kitchen.

b. A laundry or utility room.

c. A dressing room.

d. A bathroom, WC or shower room.

e. Any room on a storey that is a maximum of 4.5m above ground level which is provided with an emergency escape window as described in paragraph 3.6.

f. A gallery that complies with paragraph 3.13.

 

3.8 A room accessed only via an inner room (an inner inner room) is acceptable when all of the following apply.

a. It complies with paragraph 3.7.

b. The access rooms each have a smoke alarm (see Section 1).

c. None of the access rooms is a kitchen.

 

Our kitchen is an access room (it is open to the front door and open to the staircase) and you go though it to escape from any bedrooms or reception rooms.

All our bedrooms are inner rooms (they open to the kitchen access area) and permitted due to 3.7e (provided with an emergency escape window)

The ensuite is an inner inner room and fails to be legal because of 3.8c (our kitchen is an access room)

 

So we either add the bedroom fire door and bedroom alarm as explained by building control, or put up a door / partition so the kitchen is no longer an access room.