Fire Eng'd Solutions

fire engineered solutions

Building regulations were introduced seriously in the UK following the great fire of London (1666), and applied mainly to the building of private dwellings, so after three and a half centuries one would expect that we would be living in dwellings which protected us from fire. WRONG.

We are dying in our hundreds every year, partly due to our own carelessness and ignorance of fire, but also partly (in our opinion) due to the failings of building regulations guidance.

The ethos is that there should be alternative escape routes in case of fire. This places rigid constraints on the design of dwellings (and other buildings) especially where there are more than two floors above ground level, and even more so in high rise situations.

In the case of dwellings, 'escape' windows are acceptable where the floor level does not exceed 4.5m. The idea is that people can climb out of the window, lower themselves to full arms length and drop, at which height it is unlikely to cause severe injury (providing you avoid the spiked railings!).

This is all very well for the able bodied (providing the window isn't locked), but what about the elderly, very young or infirm etc etc.

Once above 4.5m, escape routes must be protected by fire resisting construction, which means self closing fire doors etc, (which we all love, don't we?).

In fact, fire resisting construction often fails due to poor construction, wear and tear, or most probably due to fire doors being removed or wedged open (by us!).

There has to be a better way, and there is: Sprinklers, but until building regulations change to enforce the installation of sprinklers (especially in high risk dwellings such as HMO's) the death toll will largely continue.

Until then we are restricted in the design of our homes (and other buildings), but there is light at the end of the tunnel!

Marsden Fire Safety can usually provide fire engineered solutions or fire strategies to overcome such design restrictions, and has been successful in obtaining building regulations approval for many projects involving:

extended travel distances
open plan design
single staircase escape routes
etc

Most solutions involve the use of domestic or residential sprinklers, along with smoke detection and smoke control measures.

Fire engineered solutions are tailored to each individual scheme, and incorporate control measures for ensuring, as far as possible, ongoing maintenance of components to ensure the engineered solution remains effective for the life of the building.

We work closely with a *Firas approved sprinkler installer, who design and install approved sprinkler systems to achieve a finished product which is usually welcomed and approved by local authority building control officers and private sector approved inspectors.

Fire service access requirements often cause rejection of town and country planning applications to build or convert dwellings in remote areas. These problems too can often be overcome by fire engineered solutions incorporating the installation of sprinklers.

*Firas is a third party accreditation scheme for residential and domestic sprinkler systems operated by Warrington Certification Ltd, and endorsed by the Residential Sprinkler Association.

If you have a building regulations or planning problem, Marsden Fire Safety can usually help.