Fire Safety (L1) Flashcards
(26 cards)
What is Building Regulations part B?
Government documents setting requirements regarding fire safety buildings
B1 - Means of warning and escape
B2 - Internal Fire Spread (Structure)
B3 - Internal Fire Spread (Linings)
B4 - External Fire Spread
B5 - Access facilities for Fire Service
What is your understanding of the Building Safety Act 2022
Major piece of legislation introduced in the UK in response to the Grenfell Tower Fire in 2017
- Aims to improve safety standards in buildings to ensure that those responsible for building safety are held accountable
- Building safety throughout the life cycle
- Design, construction, occupation, maintenance
- Building safety regulator works within HSE
- Focus on Higher-Risk Buildings
- Partially residential buildings that are at least 18 meters tall or more than 6 storeys - Duty holders and responsibilities
- Client
- Principal Designer
- Principal Contractor
- Accountable Person - Fire Safety and Building Design
- Building Safety Charge
- Cladding and Remediation
- PD role of Buildings Safety Act, responsible for plan, management, monitor and coordinate the design work to ensure that it complies with all the relevant requirements of the buildings regs
- Building Regulations Compliance Statement
- Competence Declaration
What is 18 important?
- High risk buildings are those over 18m or more than 6 storeys and at least 2 residential units
What is Passive Fire Stopping?
Fire stopping design within the building design to prevent spread
- Fire Doors
- Compartment walls
- Fire Dampers
- Fire Rated Glass
- Fire Resistant Ceilings
- Fire Stopping penetrations
What is active Fire Stopping?
Installations and Systems which activate in the event of a fire to provide early warning and fire fighting systems
- Fire Alarm/detection systems:
- Automatic fire doors
- Fire sprinkles
- Smoke control systems
What systems are there to protect buildings and occupiers?
- Active Fire Stopping
- Passive Fire Stopping
- Fire Safety signage
- Evacuation Plans
- Emergency Lighting
- Regular Fire Drills
What are key responsible person duties under the Fire Safety order 2005?
- For non domestic properties
- Responsible person is designated to ensure compliance with Fire Safety Regulations
Key duties include:
- Carry out and maintain an up to date Fire Risk Assessment
- Implement fire safety measure, fire fighting equipment etc
- Provide information and training to employees
- Ensure safe evacuation procedure’s
- Ensure the safety of visitors and non-employees
- Record keeping and documentation
What is BB100?
- Fire safety design in building schools
- Fire safety in the design, management and use of buildings
- Best practice guide to meet fire safety requirements
- Fire safety design principles
- Escape routes and evacuation
- Fire detection and suppression systems
- Fire detection and suppression systems
- Fire resistance and ratings
- Smoke control
What are the consequences of fire in a building?
- Injuries and fatalities to people
- Affects structural integrity of building
- Financial loss
- Environmental impact
- Disruption to lead community and services
- Reputational damage
What fire safety principles can be applied at design stage?
- Fire prevention and mitigation
- Fire compartmentation
- Design of escape routes
- Fire safety signage
- Active fire stopping
- Passive fire stopping
- Accessible design
- Design for fire fighter access
- Fire safety in external areas
What does building regulations part B cover?
- B1 means a lot of escape and warning
- B2 - Internal fire spread (structure)
- B3 - Internal fire spread (linings)
- B4 - External fire spread
- B5 - Access and facilities for fire service
What is the Fire Safety Order 2005 and what does it cover?
- For non-domestic properties
Appointment of a responsible person required to conduct;
- Fire risk assessment
- Provide information and training
- Ensure safety and visitors and non-employees
- Maintain fire evacuation plan
- Maintenance of fire detection and equipment
- Record keeping
- Special considerations
- Fire safety zonal plan
- Liaise with Fire service
What is a Fire Safety Act 2021? What does it cover?
- Legislation introduced in the wake of Grenfell tower disaster
- Maintain and improve fire safety in high risk buildings
- Focus on fire prevention, protection, and management
- Structure and external walls
- Fire risk assessments and documentation
Cladding must be assessed for fire risk, applies to:
- Residential buildings or domestic buildings above 11 meters high
- Cladding and external features such as balconies, windows and doors must be inspected to ensure they do not pose a fire risk
- Common parts, stairwells, corridors, lobbies
- Clear accountability
Enforcement and penalties:
- Local fire and rescue services empowered
- Penalties for non-conformance can include fines and in serious cases imprisonment
What guidance is there for fire doors?
- BRE Digest 524 - Fire Doors
- BS 476 - Door assembles meets fire standards
- BS 8214 - Timber-based fire door assembles
What’s the guidance for fire spread to external walls?
- PAS9980
- Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW)
- Provides guidance on the risk of fire spread via external wall construction
What are the penalties for not complying with the Building Safety Act 2022, Fire Safety Order 2005, and Fire Safety Act 2021?
- The building safety regulator will have powers to prosecute all offences
- The building safety regulators will be able to issue compliance notices requiring issues is non-compliance to be rectified by a set date
- In design and construction, stop notices requiring work to be halted until serious non-compliance is addressed
- Failure to comply with the act is a criminal offence, with a maximum penalty of up to 2 years in prison and unlimited fine
How can a fire start
What is a PEEP?
- Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan
- Plan for individuals who may need assistance during a building evacuation due to a disability, injury, or other condition
What is PAT testing?
- Portable appliance testing
- Safety check on electrical appliances to ensure they are safe to use
What buildings does PAS9980 relate to?
- Multi-storey, multi-occupied residential buildings
- Buildings with mixed use
- Building with at least one qualifying residential leaseholder
- High risk buildings
What key changes did the Fire Safety Act 2021 introduce?
- Strengthened enforcement and accountability, allowing fire rescue authorities to take action against non compliance
- Requires notification of any material change to the structures
- Resposnible person must share information with the fire rescue authority
- Clarified that the Fire Safety Order applies to the structure and external walls
- Responsibile person to ensure these elements are also included within Fire Risk Assessments
- External Walls
- Balconies
- Windows
- Cladding
- Insulation
- Fixings
- Flat entrance doors
Who is the Accountable Person under the Building Safety Act 2022?
- An individual or organisation who owns or has legal responsibility for repairing common parts of high risk buildings such as the structure, exterior, corridors, or lobbies
- The accountable person is responsible for managing structural and fire safety risks within the building
Key responsibilities:
- Preventing building safety risks
- Reducing the impact of building safety risks
- Registering high-risk buildings with the building safety regulator
How can fire start in a building? And how does it spread? What factors might affect fire spread?
Convection - Movement of hot gases
Conduction - Contact between materials
Radiation - Transfer of heat in the form of radiation
- Can spread through building materials, through opening and gaps, vertical spread, horizontal spread
Factors affecting fire spread:
- Building design and layout
- Fire protection and compartmentation
- Materials and contents
- Fire detection and suppression systems
How can fire be contained by the structure or layout?
- Fire compartmentation
- Fire resistant escape routes
- Fire-resistant external walls and cladding
- Vertical fire barriers and fire stopping
- Sprinklers and suppression systems
- Fire resistant materials and finishes
