Construction Requirements of Fire Compartmentation, Emergency Warning and Intercommunication System - Report Example

Introduction In this portfolio report the important lessons learned in the semester have been discusses. The gains made by the students have been clearly been stated. The learning surrounded the issues addressed in the Building Code of Australia (BCA) with many of the example surrounding a typical high rise building that was used in the semester work.  Structural adequacy The students have learned various issues that are addressed in order to ensure that a building is structurally adequate. For a building to be structurally adequate it meets to withstand all the loads which is to be subjected to it during its lifespan. The loads include the dead loads due to self load, live load due to building occupancy and also loads due to wind and vibration caused by earth quakes. Structural adequacy is also looked at in terms of the ability of the building to with stand fire or simply referred to Fire Resistance Level (FRL), where according to Building Code of Australian (BCA) is the grading period in minutes where the building is assessed in terms of structural adequacy, integrity and insulation. In terms of structural adequacy the building is to be able to maintain its stability and also its load bearing capacity. The ability of the building to resist flames passage and hot gases is a measure of building integrity. On the other hand insulation refers to the ability of the building structure to maintain temperature below specified limits on the surface which is not under fire exposure. The students learned how buildings are rated so as to give their FRL. This rating of building gives the FRL in terms of three numbers and thus for a wall requirement of 90/60/30 it will be interpreted as a wall that is able to maintain a structural adequacy of 90 minutes, integrity of 60 minutes and insulation level of 30 minutes with the test being according to 1530.4-1990 the test description being "Methods for fire tests on building materials, components and structures - Fire-resistance tests of elements of building construction". The buildings which under BCA are to have fire-rated components may use certified walls, floor and ceiling systems which have been test using the test described. The various aspects of structural stability of a building in relation to different stakeholders were seen. The students were able to highlight some of these aspects for the various stakeholders. The structural engineer will emphasize the stability of the structure when addressing structural adequacy. For the contactor the building will need to be stable but the materials to be used to achieve this stability is of importance. The contractor would like to see a structure which is easy to construct. The materials to be used are to be available and easy to handle. For the owner and the occupier structural integrity is seen in terms of having less vibration caused by movement of occupants. Also there should be control of sound so that people can be able to have their own privacy. Type of construction requirements When learning about type of construction the requirement stipulated in BCA were enumerated. In accordance to the building codes of Australia (BCA), the high rise buildings constructed in the city center should comply with the act. The building certifiers are expected to go through some guidelines which guide them to meet their requirements with respect to the building regulations. The residential mix and density of the building should meet the local and strategic targets of the area. This ensures that particular house holds are appropriately located. For instance disabled resident are located close to facilities and entrances. The design of the building should comply with the Design Guidelines. Prior to the design stage, an assessment should be carried out to show how the design responds to the corresponding site. This depends on; existing vegetation, local building pattern, traffic and pedestrian cycles, public space and the key views. In addition, the site opportunities map should be prepared to summarize the assessment of the site. High density buildings are encouraged where access to services, facilities and public transport is adequate. Entrances to the building should be visible from the public and close to the car park should be illuminated properly. The entrance and exit out of the building should also be in consideration of the wheelchair users and the ambulant disabled. Pedestrian and vehicle movement should be separate. Pathways should also be well lighted to the appropriate standards of Australia. In office buildings with car park, the security is crucial in the city center which has proved to be expensive and problematic to provide. This has led to reduced car parking requirement, since community facilities and public requirements are readily available. However, the car park should be well illuminated in accordance to the regulations in order to enhance security in the car park. The building should be well designed to generously give access to the corridors to encourage increased activity. Compartmentation In a building the aspect of compartmentation was seen to be a very important in the control of fire. Compartmentation was found to be important in ensuring that there is no spread of fire within the building through subdivision of the building by use of floors and/or walls. Through compartmentation there is prevention of rapid spread of fire that is likely to result into the occupants being trapped in the building. Compartmentation also prevents the fire becoming large as large fires are likely to cause much more danger to occupants and fire firefighters and even people who are likely to be near the building. The sub-division of the building into fire compartments is dependant on several factors. The use of the particular space in the building and the fire load in the building which directly affects the chances of occurrence of fire and how severe is the fire likely to be as well as the ease with which evacuation can be effected. It is also important to consider the height to the floor of the top storey in the building as this serves as an indication of ease of effecting evacuation and the ability of the fire and rescue service to make effective intervention. The availability of a sprinkler system which has effect on growth rate of fire and has ability to suppress the fire. The special forms of compartmentation that are to be recognized in the building are the walls which separate the building into different parts (different units). In a typical high rise building that was used in the semester it was seen that each floor had four units and there was need for them to be separated. In the units the places of special fire hazards like stores and kitchen were also to have compartment walls. The floor of the ground floor for a building with one basement or more is to be a compartment. For high rise building it will be a requirement for all floors that are higher than 30m high to be compartment walls. Fire compartmentation The students learned the on how to interpret technical buildings drawings. The challenges of interpreting buildings were seen and it was found that it was important to able to understand the different views of a building. The students learned that it is important to have some architecture knowledge of drawing for one to be able to clearly address fire control. The characteristics of materials to be used in order to achieve compartmentation were addressed. A typical compartmentation for a high rise building was done by the student as shown in the figure 1. The doors to be uses as part of compartment are to possess some special fire properties. It was realized that for one to be able to interpret technical drawings it was required to practice and being imaginative. Figure 1 The drawing shows a typical floor which has four units. Each unit is supposed to be separated by use of the compartment walls.     Window installation Window installation was found to be a very important for a building. The windows were found to be important in ensuring the comfort of the occupants. Windows areas were found to be important energy consumption of energy. With a typical high rise building located in the city the various aspects of the windows came out clearly. It was found that as much as the windows are for lighting there ability to contribute to the spread of fire need to be clearly be pointed out and taken care of.    Sketch preparation The students learned the skills of drawing a sketch so as to show important aspect of a building such as the compartment walls. The sketch was to be drawn is such a way that, as much as it was not to scale some element of proportionality to the actual drawing were to be seen. Use if lines different colours and of varied thickness was found to be important as it helped in easy understanding of the drawing. It was also important to use some important standard symbols used in architectural drawings like stairs cases. A sketch of a typical high rise building which drawn is as shown in figure 2.            Figure 2 Justifying the number, location and type of exits that you are proposing. In the course the students were introduced the clauses in BCA which addresses issues of the number, location type of exits. In a typical high rise building rising to eleven levels two exits provided were found to be important for each floor to serve the four units in each floor. The students learned on the importance of locating the exits appropriately with the exits being located at the extreme ends of the corridors so as to ensure that the distance of travel to reach the exit is as short as possible for all the units. This also could serve to ensure that occupants of all the four units on each of the floor have at least access to one of the exit irrespective of the point of origin of the fire. The students learned that the stairways are used as the safe areas to be used while evacuating from the building and thus they were supposed to be fire proof. The students inquired of the different materials that were appropriate to be used in making the stair ways to be fire proof. It was also learned that the thickness of the walls determined how fire proof the materials could be. The students learned that it was necessary that there should be some form of protection against fire on the escape routes. In a building with several floors the students were able to point out the corridors which were to be fire resistant as they acted as the main escape route leading to the stairs. The doors a typical high rise building were found to have a profound effect on the rate at which the fire is able to spread in the building. The aspect of the door that matters include their size, the resistance level of the doors and also the opening style of the door. The door width is supposed to be dependant on the number of people in the enclosing area while the door resistance is supposed to match to the resistance of the surrounding walls to which the door is part. The doors which are to be of the highest resistance are supposed to be those that are leading to the stairs. The doors which are on the escape routes are required to have a design that enables them to open in the direction of escape even if the number expected to use the doors does not exceed 60. The doors which are not on escape route will be expected to hand in such a manner to allow their opening to be at an angle of 90 degrees where the swing will be clear of any floor level other than the threshold and which will also not bring about reduction of effective width and escape route across the landing. It is also important that the doors which are opening towards corridors to be recessed so as to prevent their swinging from having an encroachment on the effective width of the stairway or in the corridor or to which their services are being utilized. The general principle which is applicable is that doors servicing escape routes are not expected to be fitted with locks latch or bolt fastenings. There may only be fitting of simple fastenings which are easy operate from the sides being approached the people escaping from the building. The operations which may be required for the fastenings on the doors are to be very simple with no need of use of a key or manipulation of more than one mechanism. In cases where the doors may need to be operated by combination swipe or proximity card, biometric data, a code or a similar means, it should be possible to do away all these options when the door is being approached from the side where occupants are making escape. The need of managing smoke in building was learned and the major issues addressed in this area coming out clearly. The students learned that design of the building should in such away that conducive environment in the route are to be maintained for all the period the occupants of the building take to evacuate the part of the building. The important conditions to be maintained include a reasonable temperature which will not put the life of the occupants in danger and also smoke should not be able to interfere with visibility of the evacuation route. The gases generated by the fire should not enter the evacuation route to a level that their toxicity will be dangerous to the occupants. It was learned that in exit routes a head way of about 2m was important in ensuring that there was enough room that could be occupied by some without being a barrier to evacuation of the occupants. The students realizes the importance of the buildings considerably high in comparison to the average occupants height. The students also learned that this was also important for the ventilation purpose where the exhaled gases from occupants are likely to move to the upper areas of the room with fresh air remaining in the lower regions. Emergency lightening The need of emergency lighting was learned. The students learned on the importance for the entire escape route to be furnished with adequate artificial lighting. The lighting that leads to the escape stairs in the building is to have separate circuit from that supplying the other parts of the escape route so as to ensure that they do not fail if the cause of the fire was as a result of the general electrical circuit fault. The fixing of the lighting is required conform to the guide given in BS 5266-1:2005. Provision of exit signs is very important especially where if the fire is to happen in a building whose occupants are not familiar with it. A typical high rise town house which was used in the subject served as a very good example. This being a building with offices and shops, the premises could be occupied at particular points with people who are not very familiar with it. They may have not participated in any fire safety programmes that could have been conducted in the building. Every escape route will be required to have distinctive and conspicuous marks of emergency exit signs which are to be of adequate size in compliance with the Health and Safety Regulation of 1996. Emergency warning and intercommunication system The students were introduced to the need to emergency warning and an intercommunication system. The provision of emergency warning and intercommunication is to ensure that the occupants are safeguarded from any form of illness and injury through warning them of a fire so that safely evacuate from the building. There is need for a building to be provided by a safeguard to enable occupants to evacuate safely. A warning system will also ensure that the occupants have time to safely evacuate before the situation in the routes of evacuation reaches untenable level due to the effect of the fire. According to the standards of fire regulation document a building occupant warning system is expected to comply with Clause 8.7 of AS1670.1 such that it is able to sound through all the areas in the building which will be occupied. The sound pressure level is to be measured within a sole occupancy unit level of not less than 85Db (A) which is to be provided at the door and thus providing access to sole occupancy unit. In addition the in build sounders of the smoke alarms may used to either wholly or partially meet the requirements. It is also required the parts provided with a smoke detection system, the sound pressure level from the warning system will be measured within a sole occupancy unit suppose the level of not less than 100 Db (A) is to be provided at the door providing access to the occupancy unit. Damp And Weather proofing The course came out clearly on issues that are addressed under dump and weather proofing. Dampness was found to be a health hazard and also to cause damage to buildings. The areas of the Building Code of Australia ( BCA) addressing the issue were identified. The building code of Australia (BCA) states ways trough which buildings should be constructed in order to reduce dampness and damage of buildings, and also safeguarding occupants from injury or illness. A building should be constructed in a way it provides resistance to moisture raising from the ground or penetrating from the outside. Storm water is also a major cause of dampness; its drainage should comply with AS/NZS 3500.3.2. In compliance with AS 2049, a roof must be fixed and covered with concrete roofing tiles or terracotta roofing tiles, which exempts cyclonic areas accordance with AS 2050. However, complying with AS/NZS 2908.1. The roof should be covered with cellulose cement corrugated sheeting and installed in accordance with AS/NZS 1562.2. In weatherproofing of roofs and walls using sacking type materials must comply with AS/NZS 4200 parts 1 and 2. The floor surface of a building should be fitted with floor waste in accordance to the act. This enables the floor to resist dampness caused by moisture rising from the ground. The junction between the wall and the floor should be fixed if the wall and the floor are required to be impervious to water. The water proofing of boggy areas in a building must abide by the relevant parts of AS 3740. In places where a slab or a stalled type urinal is installed, the floor surface must be an impervious material. Where a step has been installed, it is required to have an impervious surface and the junction between the floor and the urinal channel must be impervious. The surface of a room with steel or timber framed walls, is required to be impervious material extending above the urinal on each side from the floor. The junction between the urinal and the wall must always be impervious. Dump proofing should be provided in buildings to prevent moisture from reaching; the walls above the damp proof course and the beneath side of the floor constructed from another material other than timber. The damp proof course provided should be of a material that complies with AS/NZS 2904. Else impervious termite shields accordance to AS 3660.1.   Sanitary Provisions Sanitary provisions were learned and identified in BCA with a typical high rise building being used to give insight to the students. In accordance to the building codes of Australia (BCA), toilets should be provided at every level of a high-rise building. As described in clause 4.9 of the act, at least one washroom for individual wheelchair users should be provided for both male and female. Else a water closet room for wheelchair users shall be provided in both female and male toilets, as described in clause 4.10 of the act. However, clause 4.1.1 adds to clause 4.11 that standard water closet rooms should be provided for elderly persons and ambulant disabled, at every level of offices, shopping complexes, hotels hospitals and car park buildings where there is provision of toilets. In case a person a person falls in the inside, where swing doors are provided in toilets and bathroom, they should swing outwards in order to ease the rescue operation. Complying with clause 4.6, at least one wash basin shall be provided in the toilet. One should comply with clause 4.8 of the act, to cater for the ambulant disabled where there is provision of urinals. At washroom entrances, signs should be clearly visible and tactile finish as stated in clause 10.5. In addition they should comply with the symbols as illustrated in clause 10.2. Individual closet and washroom doors in a fully opened position should provide a clear opening of at least 850 mm in accordance with clause 3.8.2. The doors should be capable to lock from inside by a device operable with one hand. There should be provision of grab bars in individual water closet rooms and washrooms which should comply with clause 3.5 of the act. As specified in clause 4.3.1(d), that when the flip-up grab bar shall be lowered from the wall, it should be at a height between 280 mm and 300 mm from the top of the water closet seat. The sanitary facilities in shopping place/ supermarket shall be provided according to the requirements as follows; the floor are which is the gross floor area should range between 350 Sq m to 5,000 Sq m.   Read More