Fire hydrant

[Barny]

Hi.

Planners have kindly said we need to install a fire hydrant. The front door of the house is set back 60m from the road. The water meter is on the roadside. Would the fire hydrant also be on the roadside? As they are not metered I assume they should be on the other side of the water meter?

 

There are fire hydrants on the road already - I assume they are too far away hence the need for a new one.

 

Our architect has drawn the fire hydrant on the inside of the gate and I am just wondering if this is right. He has made other mistakes so I wanted to double check.

[Mr Punter]

You need to see what the fire service want.  Can you improve access?  They will sometimes concede a bit and relax their requirements.

[Temp]

How far has your application got? Is this just advice or a Planning Condition?

 

The fire service are frequently consulted during the planning process. Ask to see their reply (probably on the web). If there was no reply or they didn't request a hydrant point that out to the planers. 

 

Are you building in Cambs?..

 

https://www.cambsfire.gov.uk/business-safety/planning-and-building-control/

 

Quote

If a planning condition has been imposed with regards to water supplies for firefighting purposes, the land owner should consult with the water and planning manager at CFRS. 

 

MS Word doc..

 

 https://www.cambsfire.gov.uk/media/1577/building-safe-design-out-fire.doc

 

Quote

 

The requirements for water supplies are as follows:

1.5.1 Residential developments

No residential property should be more than 150 (un-obstructed) metres from a fire hydrant on a water main of no less than a 90 millimeter nominal diameter. The location and number of fire hydrants will be determined by Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue Service following a risk assessment once a water scheme has been received or once a copy of the existing water infrastructure has been supplied. 

 

 

So is there one within 150m ?  If yes send this to the planners and confirm there is one within 150m

 

1 hour ago, Barny said:

The front door of the house is set back 60m from the road. The water meter is on the roadside.

snip

Our architect has drawn the fire hydrant on the inside of the gate and I am just wondering if this is right.

 

That would appear to be OK but you would probably have to run a new 90-100mm pipe to it from the main in the road. I would budget about  £150 - £200 per meter for that. Might seem a lot but a similar water main cost me over £100/ m ten years ago.

 

It might be cheaper to put a new one in the verge rather than inside your plot? But I'm not sure what permissions are needed for that.

 

It should definitely go on the unmetered side, not least because of the diameter needed.

 

Edited October 6, 2023 by Temp