Everything You Should Know About Protecting Your Building Against Fire
You probably didn’t know about the fact that in the previous year there were millions of fire and rescue incidents, and we do not want to state how many fatalities and casualties were there. The idea is to create meaningful and structural integrity that will help you fight fires that will come.
But the question is how to protect your building in the first place?
One of the choices is to have fire protection storage tank that will help you clean the fire as it starts, but the idea is how to prevent it from ever happening.
We all know that fire can cause severe devastation of lives and buildings, and according to building regulations, everyone should be aware of potential damage and try everything in power to reduce the chances of getting fire issues.
Building Regulations require an understanding of two types of buildings:
- Houses – Places and buildings where people live including apartments and flats.
- Other buildings – It represents all other commercial buildings such as offices, shopping centers hospitals and apartment blocks.
The idea is to understand what you should implement and which regulations you should consider so that you can ensure that building, as well as people inside, are protected and safe in case of fire
Warning and Escape
It is vital to outline two different routes for escape when it comes to fire issues. The first has to be horizontal, and it refers to moving across a building or a floor towards the stairwell. The second has to be vertical, that will provide you information on which stairs you should use in case of fire.
It is vital that these stairs have the ability to take people directly outside without them having to pass through other section of the building. At the same time, each room must point directly to the escape route, and the only exception is for bathrooms, kitchens and utility rooms.
You have to make sure and be prepared for wheelchair users too because vertical circulation has to present the stairwell and the point where they can reach so that they can wait for further assistance.
The most important thing that you should consider and remember is that your fire alarms should be entirely adequate and working. They need to have a standby power supply, and other parts of the buildings such as extensions must also have an appropriate fire alarm.
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For houses, smoke alarms should be no further than 8 meters away from bedroom doors, and it should also be located in halls and landings. You have to place one inside the kitchen, especially if you have an open plan area.
You should test your fire alarms once a week, especially if you are in a large building filled with offices. It is vital to run tests so that everyone could understand what they should do in case of fire. So people have to be alerted, and understanding before the fire starts.
Internal Fire Spread
Fire tends to spread through flammable materials, so you should find a way to reduce the chances of letting this happening. You cannot be aware of this, but since fire tends to spread through ceilings and walls, furniture can create a hassle too.
Therefore, if you have load bearing walls, it is vital that you build them with steel beams because they have the ability to resist fire for 30 minutes which is enough for people to escape without further issues.
In case that you have a concrete beam, you should add steel reinforcement inside, that will provide you the adequate protection. For ceilings and internal walls, you should consider whether it is Class-1 rated so that you can prevent the fire from spreading.
These materials tend to feature two layers: the first coat is intumescent and the second one is fire resistant. In case that your building features timber cladding, you should paint the coating that will protect it against fire damage. You should also break down structure into smaller areas so that you can restrict the spread of fire.
For commercial buildings, each floor should be considered as a compartment, and you can subdivide it and create a protected route that will help people get outside in a timely manner. You should close cavities in walls with fire-resistant materials so that you can reduce spreading.