Confused about size of front door in new build and fire escape windows

[gwebstech]

Hi all

 

Im coming to get the doorways built in my new house, and am i right in thinking that the main entrance door, as to be used by wheelchairs should have a clear opening of 900mm? its part M i think. Thats the inside width of the door frame?

 

i ask as ive been told that maximum width i can have a new composite door made is 1015mm brick work opening. Is that enough to get the 900mm clearance?

 

Also can i make the windows so that the escape windows are only on the rear? i ask that as i dont know if top openers can be used as fire escape windows and idl ike a certain look of windows on the front but wasnt sure if theyd be classed as escape windows due to only being top openers

 

THANKS

[nod]

The front door doesn’t need to be Disabled access back side As long as the access is good 

910 opening which gives which gives us 860 clear 

Escapes have to be in every habitat room on the 1st floor ie bedrooms 

[Mr Punter]

21 minutes ago, gwebstech said:

i ask as ive been told that maximum width i can have a new composite door made is 1015mm brick work opening. Is that enough to get the 900mm clearance?

 

Should be but ask the people doing the doors. You need this to the entrance floor WC as well and that needs to open out.

 

All the escape windows should be min clear opening of 450mm x 450mm and the bottom less than 1100mm from the floor.

[Russell griffiths]

3 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

 

Should be but ask the people doing the doors. You need this to the entrance floor WC as well and that needs to open out.

 

All the escape windows should be min clear opening of 450mm x 450mm and the bottom less than 1100mm from the floor.

I think @Mr Punteryou have your measurements wrong 

450mm min height or 450mm min width, not 450 x450 has to be something like 0.33 m squared or something like that. Just sorting mine now and was reading it last night. 

450x450 would be a very small hole. 

[Temp]

2 hours ago, gwebstech said:

am i right in thinking that the main entrance door, as to be used by wheelchairs should have a clear opening of 900mm? its part M i think. Thats the inside width of the door frame?

 

It depends how wide the door opens. With the door open 90 degrees the clear opening width is less than the size of the opening in the frame by about the thickness of the door.

[andyscotland]

Not sure where you've got the 900mm figure from, I believe the minimum clear opening entrance door for a private dwelling is 775mm in England & Wales, 800mm in Scotland?

 

There's a diagram in Doc M of how the clear opening is measured, but I decided was easier to spec the door based on the clear opening it needed to achieve and then asked the manufacturer to provide the structural opening dimensions. And then built a hole to fit the door unit.

[nod]

4 hours ago, andyscotland said:

Not sure where you've got the 900mm figure from, I believe the minimum clear opening entrance door for a private dwelling is 775mm in England & Wales, 800mm in Scotland?

 

There's a diagram in Doc M of how the clear opening is measured, but I decided was easier to spec the door based on the clear opening it needed to achieve and then asked the manufacturer to provide the structural opening dimensions. And then built a hole to fit the door unit.

Absolutely 

A 900 structural opening will comply in both cases 

It may be because DA on a commercial is always a structural opening of 1010  Which would leave you 900 

Don't forget weather you use a front or side door as your DA you need a flat threshold with no more than 15 mil step onto FFL

and of course a ramp 

 

[andyscotland]

3 hours ago, nod said:

Absolutely 

A 900 structural opening will comply in both cases 

 

That depends on the doorset. For the Green Building Store performance range an 800mm clear opening has a 1039 frame and needs a 1060 opening.

 

Rational auraplus was I think 998 frame for 800 opening, haven't gone with them so didn't double check that size.

 

Don't know about composite but suspect a 900 opening will be tight?

 

[dpmiller]

Our door and window firm recommended upgrading the opening from the architect's 950mm to 1000mm, They apparently always recommend this rather than anything narrower where possible, to ensure an acceptable clear opening.

[nod]

36 minutes ago, andyscotland said:

 

That depends on the doorset. For the Green Building Store performance range an 800mm clear opening has a 1039 frame and needs a 1060 opening.

 

Rational auraplus was I think 998 frame for 800 opening, haven't gone with them so didn't double check that size.

 

Don't know about composite but suspect a 900 opening will be tight?

 

900 opening is perfect for composite 

[gwebstech]

thanks for the help guys

[Jeremy Harris]

The key thing I found was the "unless it is impracticable to do so" clause, plus the fact that the Approved Documents are not actually the regulations, and the regulations allow for a fairly broad range of means of compliance, not just those in the Approved Documents.

 

I opted to run a gently sloped, paved, ramp from the end of our drive around to the back door, with a large flat turning area immediately outside the back door.  The back door opens to our utility room, and the WC leads off that.  As I've a paraplegic, wheelchair using, friend, who regularly visits, I was more interested in getting his opinion than that of anyone else.  One thing he mentioned was that the flat area outside a door needs to be larger than that stipulated in Part M, as even his very narrow and small titanium chariot needs more space to be able to turn and for him to be able to operate the door handle (bearing in mind that he cannot lean forward in the chair, so has to do this side on, then turn his chair around).

 

Building control were absolutely fine with us having steps up to the front door, and the Part M compliant access ramp to the back door.  Apart from anything else, the length of ramp needed to comply with the maximum allowable gradient, together with the EA stipulated finished height for the car parking area and the house finished floor height, meant that including a ramp to the front door would have meant to loss of most of the car parking space.

 

I think there's sometimes a tendency to assume that the Approved Documents are actually the law, when the reality is that they have no legal authority, they are simply a guide as to how the regulations (which are law) may be complied with.   Often they are the most common sense way to comply with the regulations, but they aren't the only way, and it's sometimes worth going back to the wording of the regulations themselves, in the Building Act 1984 (here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/55 ) and seeing what the intention is behind any particular requirement.

[Temp]

9 hours ago, Sensus said:

Approved Document M requires that you make the principal private entrance accessible, unless it is impracticable to do so, and defines the principal private entrance as:

"The entrance to the individual dwelling that a visitor not familiar with the dwelling would normally approach (usually the ‘front door’ to a house or ground floor flat)"

 

You certainly need to convince the BCO to allow another door but ours was quite flexible. His view was that in rural areas disabled people would most likely come and go by car so if the parking space was nearest to the back or side door he was happy for one of those to be the part M door.

 

If I build another house I plan to make all doors have a level access as it's just more convenient.