Approved Documents Flashcards
List the approved documents?
A – Structural
B – Fire Safety
C – Site preparation and resistance of moisture
D – Toxic Substances
E – The resistance to the passage of sound
F – Ventilation
G – Hygiene
H – Drainage and waste disposal
J – Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems
K – Protection from falling, collision and impact
L – Conservation of fuel and power
M – Access and facilities for disabled people
N – Glazing; safety in relation to impact, opening and closing
P – Electrical safety
What aspects of fire safety does Part B cover?
What is BS9999?
A prescriptive code of practice for fire safety design beyond the limits of Approved Document B.
- It is NOT a fire engineering guide, although it uses fire engineering
- principles to formulate the guidance provided
- Conceived in 1997 to publish in 2002
- Sits between Approved Document B and Fire Safety Engineering
- Replaces/updates most of BS 5588: Fire precautions in the design, construction and use of buildings, except Part 1 for residential buildings
What does BS9999 cover?
It has 9 sections covering:
1 General
2 Risk profiles and assessing risk
3 Ensuring effective fire protection
4 Managing fire safety
5 Designing means of escape
6 Access and facilities for fire fighting
7 Designing the building structure: Load bearing and non load bearing elements
8 Special risk protection
9. Managing occupied buildings
What is the difference between Approved Document B, BS999 and FSE?
General approach
- Applicable to the majority of buildings
- Government guidance, Approved Document B
- Prescriptive design guidance
Outline some of the requirements of Part B of the Building Regulations?
- Travel distances need to be less than 18m in one direction or 45m in more than one direction at 45º.
- Up to 60 people – 1 escape / Up to 600 people – 2 escapes / More than 600 people – 3 escapes.
- An inner room (Room within a room) should have sufficient fire detection, vision panels, no more than 30 people capacity.
- All escape routes should have 2m minimum head room. Fire corridors to have 30m fire protection.
- Fire escape stairs should be between 1000mm and 1800mm depending on the number of floors and occupants.
What factors determine the maximum number of persons that can occupy a floor in a multi storey office building?
Use, horizontal escape, vertical escape.
What is a fire risk assessment survey, when should it be carried out and who is responsible for its production and updating?
A fire risk assessment survey is an assessment of the fire risks within a building this includes the risk of fire occurring, the potential severity based on fire load and building use and the fire safety measures in place such as detection and alarm, compartmentation, fire fighting equipment, fire safety signage etc.
How would you undertake a fire risk assessment?
Stage 1: Identify hazards.
Stage 2: Identify who’s at risk.
Stage 3: Identify how to eliminate, control or avoid fire hazards.
Stage 4: Consider whether existing provisions need improvement.
Stage 5: Record findings of report and set proposed deadlines for remedial action.
Stage 6: Prepare emergency plan.
Stage 7: Review plan periodically.
What do you call a room which can only be accessed from another room?
An inner room.
When are inner rooms acceptable?
- The occupancy should not exceed 60
- The room should not be a bedroom
- The escape route should not pass through more than one room
- The travel distances from the inner room to the exits of the access room should not exceed those stated in Table 2
- The access room should not be a place of special fire hazard
- Only when one of the following amendments are made:
o Stop the walls of the inner room 500mm below the ceiling
o A vision panel in the door to allow the inhabitants of the room to see if a fire has started in the outer room
o A fire detection and alarm system in the outer room that can be heard within the inner room.
What is compartmentation?
Fire Compartmentation is the division of the building into discrete fire zones thereby limiting fire damage by delaying the spread of fire into neighbouring compartments before the fire brigade arrive.
What elements of compartmentation would you expect to see in the design of a building?
Horizontal and vertical compartments created by fire resistant materials and smoke seals. These are usually fire rated to a specified time (30, 60, 90 minutes).
Corridors will have doors every 12 metres.
Lift lobbies will be 60 minute rated.
Doors will match fire ratings of the walls they are formed in.
With regards to Approved Document B, what would you look for when undertaking site inspections during construction?
I would look to ensure that the fire rated elements had been installed as per the design and that where these elements were penetrated by service routes that they were properly fire stopped.
What are fire rated doors?
Fire doors maintain the fire resistance of the compartment by providing a specified fire resistance and smoke seals to prevent the spread of fire.
They are usually 30min or 60min doors with intumescent strips which act as smoke seals around the perimeter.
They should be self closing and signed as a fire door.
