3 storey fire regulations

[deuce22]

Hi.

 

I'm looking for some advice on the best way around fire regs on a 3 storey house. The house has bedrooms on the ground on top floor and the living area to the first. I originally had a double vaulted ceiling to the living area with a mezzanine balcony on the top floor, leading to 2 bedrooms. However, I have now decided to do away with the balcony and just have the 2 bedrooms on the top floor. The BCO was concerned about having a protected route in case of a fire.

There is an open staircase from the ground to first floor and then I had an enclosed staircase in the corner of the room to take you up to the top floor. As there is no mezzanine now, I would like to just carry on up with the staircase from the ground floor.

I've been told that I still need to protect the staircase, so it would have to be enclosed and this would look out of place in an open plan living area. I've been looking at images for ideas and I've seen plenty, that are similar to what I'm planning, but they are not enclosed. How have they got around the regs for this?

I've attached some images of a staircases from the ground to 2nd floor that are not protected.

 

Thanks.

[PeterW]

A protected stair can be as simple as having fire doors with intumescent strips on all doors that lead onto the staircase, and the staircase cannot be open to any rooms with a source of fire such as a kitchen or a WBS etc. You can do this with open areas if you plan carefully what is in those rooms from memory. Alternate is to make the stairwell a feature on its own or even (assuming you have space...) put a second access stair to the ground floor in your original plan. 

[deuce22]

I have attached the images of the 3 floors. The 1st floor is open plan with a kitchen, so I'm guessing that's what's causing the problem. I have read that this is still ok if you install a mist or sprinkler system.

[Conor]

We will be using "moveable acoustic walls" to separate the stair / hall from the living and kitchen area. They park in to a spot behind a wall, hang on a rail recessed in the ceiling, so you hardly know they are there. In reality, they'll never be closed unless I'm doing a big cook-up or we've a group of friends round and the little one is in bed. 

 

We weren't sure this would satisfy BC but they approved the drawings so happy days.

[Temp]

Perhaps a fire escape staircase out back would make an open staircase inside acceptable? 

[deuce22]

I'll look into that Conor thanks.

 

The top floor is in the loft space, so the wall is only going to be about 1300mm high. Is there another way to get access out through the roof onto an outside fire escape?

 

Thanks.

[AliG]

Those pictures you have posted are from the US where building regs are much less strict than here.

 

The problem you have is that the kitchen is open to the stairs. That causes a lot of issues with the regs.

 

The issue is, if there was a fire somewhere, could you get down from the second floor and outside. A "protected" staircase is how you normally do this. So we have three floors in our house and all the doors between the hall and living rooms are fire doors. Thus if a fire broke out in any room then it should be contained and you could walk downstairs and out.

 

In your design if a fire broke out in the kitchen or living room, it could stop people getting down the stairs from the second floor as the stairs are open to that room.

 

A sprinkler system as you suggest might get around this. You would probably need a fire report drawn up. That is what we had to do.

 

If you reconfigured the first floor so that the kitchen and living room were one room, then this was separated from the stairs and dining/sitting room then you could get a hall into the first floor which would sort things. I would also then carry on the stairs up to the second floor, rather than put them in the corner with that long hall.

Edited October 26, 2020 by AliG

[deuce22]

I did think they were from another country Ali G.

 

I'm not going to keep the same lay out now, I'd like to continue the staircase from the ground floor to the 1st and 2nd floor and rearrange the 2nd floor. I'd like to keep the stairs open and I don't want to alter the first floor.

Are sprinkler systems not enough?

[AliG]

Sprinklers would probably be enough, but you would need a fire report confirming this too I think. I was about £7000 for those two items, plus I have a 1000l water tank so the sprinklers will work even if there is an issue with the water supply.So you will need to put that somewhere. A mist based system didn't seem to be considered as robust although I never pushed it.

[deuce22]

Thanks Ali G.

[AliG]

No problem, the ground floor bedroom doors would probably have to be self closing fire doors too, but that isn't a big deal.

[deuce22]

That wouldn't be a problem.

 

Who exactly do I need to look for, for the fire report?

 

Thanks.

[AliG]

My architect organised it, it came from a firm of fire engineers so I don't know too much about it.

 

I think what happens though is that the building control officer requests it, so until you put in a warrant you won't know if it is needed.