Means of Escape a Charm House - Case Study Example

Running Header: Means of Escape Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Means of Escape It is relatively simple to provide the means for escape a Charm house. The building must be designed in such a way that there are suitable supplies of early warning of fire as well as suitable means of escape in cases of fire. This is to ensure the occupants of the building move swiftly to places of safety outside the building. The increasing heights of the building require complex provisions as illustrated by Communities and Local Government (2006). This is because emergency egress through windows on the upper sections becomes more hazardous. Therefore, it is important to protect the internal stairways so that they become impassable for the occupants of the upper floors to escape. Alternative escape routes should also be provided. The means of escape should be designed in such a way that they sufficiently assess the risks of the occupants in case of fire. Other factors that should be taken into considerations include use of building, the proposed fire safety management, and potential of fire spread. It is crucial to take into consideration that all escape routes should be protected or have comparatively safety. This is in an effort to assist people traverse to final exit or escape routes. It is crucial to reduce the number of routes that are unprotected. This is to ensure that people moving out to safety do not move for longer distances when exposed to immediate smoke and fire. In the ground floor, the means for escape for habitable rooms expect kitchen should open directly to an appropriate exit or entrance or be provided with a window or a door. However, the windows and doors should meet some conditions. Emergency egress windows used for emergency should have at least an area of 0.33m2 that is unobstructed openable or which is 450mm wide or 450mm high. The openable area’s bottom should be less than 1100mm from the floor as illustrated by Communities and Local Government (2006). The door or the window must enable the person escaping get into a place that is free of danger or fire risk. In order for an escape route to become acceptable into a garden or court yard that is enclosed, then the back garden depth must exceed the house height above the ground level (X) and height of extension (Y) in case rear extension is given as illustrated by figure 1 below. Windows should also be designed in such a way that they are always in a position that is open with no need of being held by a person making escape. Figure 1 basement storey exit to an enclosed area In case of upper floors less than 4.5m above the ground, all the liveable rooms in upper storeys that are served by one stair must have windows and doors with specifications as illustrated earlier to qualify as a means of escape. They should also have an access that is direct a protected stairway. In some instances, two rooms can be served by a single room but they should have their own access to the stairs as illustrated by Communities and Local Government (2006). A door should also be put in place in such a way that a window is accessible without necessarily moving through the stair enclosure. Floor above 4.5m from Ground The dwelling house that has an upper floor that is more than 4.5m from the ground must have several internal stairways that can provide alternative means of escape. They should also be physically separated from one another by several rooms or fire-resisting materials. In case the dwelling house has only one stairway, then it should have an upper floor that is served by a stairway as illustrated by Communities and Local Government (2006). Such a stairway must be protected at all levels and extending to a final exit as illustrated in figure 2a or offer access to two or more routes for escape, leading to an exit with each routes being separated from one another by fire resistance materials as in figure 2b. Figure 2 alternative arrangements for final exits A fire resistance construction must separate the top storey from the lower storey. It should also have an alternative escape route according to figure 3. Figure 3 Fire separations in building one flour over 4.5m above ground Inner rooms These are rooms that have an escape route through another room. There is a high risk to inner room in case access room or other room has fire. Such may include bathroom/WC/shower room, dressing room, or laundry/utility room. The inner rooms must have a smoke alarm and access rooms should not be kitchens as illustrated by Communities and Local Government (2006). Balconles and flat roofs A flat roof that acts as a means of escape must within the same building where escape is being made, route that is across the roof must lead to an external escape route or storey exit. Also, those parts forming part of escape route and supporting structure as well as opening within 3m of route of escape must give a fire resistance for 30minutes. In case a flat roof or balcony is given for the sake of escaping, then it should provide appropriate preventions from impacts, collision, or falling. Galleries must be provided with exit and in case the floor of gallery is less than 4.5m from the ground, then an emergency egress window must be provided. In case of a gallery is not provided with an escape or exit window, distance from the access stair head to the gallery must not exceed 7.5m, distance from the gallery to the access staircase and door to the room must not be more than 3m while the gallery must at least overlook half of the room beneath as illustrated in figure 4 below as illustrated by Communities and Local Government (2006). A cooking facility in a room having a gallery must be isolated from the stair to the gallery or be enclosed with material that are fire resistance. Figure 4 Gallery floors with no alternative exit Basements are also at a great risk of smoke. This may block the single stairway hence if there is any dwelling room from the basement, it should be provided with stairway that is protected that leads to an exit from the basement. It should also have an external window or door that is appropriate for way out away from basement. In case of dwelling house with a floor greater than 4.5m above the level ground, cavity barriers are required above the enclosures to a stairway that is protected as illustrated in figure 5. Figure 5 Protected stairways in a house roof space External escape stairs An external escape stairs must meet some several requirements in case it is provided within a building. Its entire external envelope should be fire resistance as well as the landings and flights of the external stair for escape. All the doors that access the stair must have fire resistance materials as illustrated by Communities and Local Government (2006). Fire resistance construction must provide protection to external escape stairs from any section of the building with inclusion of doors that are 1800mm of the routes for escape. This is unless there is an option of routes from the stair foot that would facilitate escape in trying to reduce fire exposure effects in bordering buildings. In situations where the houses are more than 4.5m from the ground, air circulation system should be taken into consideration to ensure that it does not increase the risk of both the fire and smoke. In ensuring that fire and smoke does not move in the protected stairway, several precautions should be undertaken. There should not be any transfer grilles fitted in ceiling, wall, door, or floor that encloses a protected stairway. In case there is a duct that passes through an enclosure to a protected entrance hall or stairway must have, a rigid materials of steel while the joints between the enclosure and ductwork must be fire resistance. The ventilation ducts that serve protected stairway in terms of extracting or supplying air must not serve any other section as illustrated by Communities and Local Government (2006). In case of smoke detection, the mechanical ventilation system that re-circulates air serving both stairway and any other areas, should be designed in such a way that it shuts down. There is need to mount a room thermostat for ducted air system in the living room. This should be put at a height of 1370-1830mm with a maximum temperature setting of 270C. Passenger lift within dwelling house and serving floors above 4.5m from ground level should be in the enclosure to the protected stairway or within fire-resisting lift shaft. All the building sections should be at all times above the required compliance after the entire construction work is completed. All the escape windows should be according to the required sizes. It is important to consider provision of escape in case there is addition of a new storey through the conversion of an existing roof space. Such include a situation where a lofty is converted to a two-storey house that results to a need for stairway protection through fire-resistance partitions and doors as illustrated by Communities and Local Government (2006). The means of design should be in such a way that they have alternative means of escape in most situations. In case it is not possible to provide a direct route to safety, then an alternative route should be provided in ensuring a people gets to an area of relative safety including protected staircase that is on the way to an exit within a reasonable travel distance. The safety ultimate place is the open air with no any fire effects. According to Building Regulations, portable ladders, manipulative appliances and apparatus like chutes and fold-down ladders must not be considered or accepted as means of escape. References Communities and Local Government 2006, Building Regulations 2000; Fire safety, Approved Document B-Volume 1; Dwelling Houses, Viewed 17 May 2011, from http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_ADB1_2006.pdf Read More