More than 10 years ago the requirements to provide smoke detection in dwellings, escape windows and safety glazing were introduced through the Building Regulations. Today, these have become the industry norm and no professional Architect or Builder would contemplate erecting a building without them.

Over the next year we will witness further evolution, with several major changes to the Regulations. Whilst some of the proposals are at a very early stage of drafting, this article is intended to give you an insight into the changes.

FIRE SAFETY - PART E
3rd October 2005 saw the first change in the Regulations, with the introduction of new fire safety standards. In dwellings, improved guidance has been given on inner rooms. Emergency egress windows (smaller than the previous escape windows) are now required from every habitable room on the first floor and the requirement for automatic detection has been extended to cover kitchens and the principal living room.

In non-domestic buildings, new measures are required to protect escape routes. These include premises where food and drink are consumed, ancillary childcare facilities, buildings where phased evacuation is used and in small retail premises. New guidance is provided for enclosure of special fire hazard rooms and for escape lighting in schools, while the size of raised storage areas permitted without fire resistance has been considerably increased. A max. limit of 2000m2 has been set for the floor area of retail buildings which do not have sprinklers and fire tests have been harmonised with European standards.

Click here to link to DFP Technical Booklet E: 2005.