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Department of the Environment

Design principlesof fire safety

HMSO

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The need for a comprehensive guide for fire safety in designwas identified as a recommendation by the Authors in theirReport to the Depa rtment of Trade and Industry-titled Fir eand Building Regulation-in 1990.In s u m m e r 1 9 9 3 t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f t h e E n v i r o n m e n tcommissioned us to produce an illustrated text on the fire safetyprinciples underlying current United Kingdom legislation. Thetarget audience was building design ers, fire safety officers andbuilding control officers who, together with stud ents and a w ideraudience in other disciplines, would find the guide a usefulamplification of the principles behind legislative provisions.The current methods of prescribing technical levels for firesafety range from broad functional requirements to detailedtechnical specifications which, together with the continuingchanges in detail occasioned by developments, has led us toconcentrate on principles rather than numeric detail.The principal contributors were:Geoff G Connell Hon Dip ArchRoger Jowett BSc MSc Dip Arch RIBA A CIArbPhillip H Thom as PhD(Cantab) FIMechE FIFireE M IFS and0 Leslie Turner OBE RIBA A IFireEThey would like to thank their support team, particularlymentioning John Blew, Lesley Turner Dip Arch RIBA, andRobert Biddulph, who produced the illustrations.Foreword written by: Dr William A Allen CBE BArch LLDRIBA HonFAIA HonFIOA, who was Chairman of the FireResearch A dvisory Com mittee 1975- 1983.

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Chapter 9: Fire safety managementIntroductionFire safety planFire safety manualFire safety management structureFire action planStaff training planFire prevention planFire precautions maintenance planBuilding maintenance work, alterations and partial occupationIndependent auditThe accruing benefitsDegree of application and sources of information

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Design principles of fire safety 213

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Introduction Fire safety management relates both to hazards to people withinand about a building, and to the building and its contents. It is ofparticular importance in connection with life safety because acommon factor in many multi-fatality fires is the failure of theoccupants of the bu ilding, whether managem ent, staff or others, totake the correct action when a fire is discovered or when an alarmis raised.As fire engineering and risk managem ent plays an increasing rolein establishing life safety arrangements within a building, thesignificance of fire safety m anagement grows.Fire safety management involves the provision of managementprocedures sufficient to ensure that:- there are appropriate fire prevention measures so that the

possibility of a fire starting is reduced;- in the event of fire the various fire safety facilities,

installations and systems which have been provided willbe available and w ill function as intended, and

- there are appropriate arrangements to ensure that safeevacuation of the occupan ts will be possible.

Its aim is to plan to reduce the risks to persons by prevention andcontro l of a fire, the maintenance of fire safety facilities installationsand systems design to protect the occupants, and by the safetyevacuation of occupants.

Fire safety planIf fire safety managem ent is to be effective, .a plan tailored to theneeds of the particular building and its occupants is necessary. Sucha fire safety plan needs to identify:- a managemen t structure to ensure implem entation of the

plan;- the appropriate action to be taken by the various occupants

in the event of fire;- appropriate staff training arrangements;- fire prevention procedures, and

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- maintenance and testing procedures for the various firesafety features.

Ma nagem ent can only. produce an effec tive fire safety plan if it hasadequate information available to it concerning the function andmaintenance of all the active and passive fire protection measures.Such information needs to be supplied by the designer of the buildingor of the individual fire installations e.g. a sprinkler or automaticfire detection system, usually in the form of as-built drawings,manuals, specifications, and so on .

Fire safety manualIt would be appropriate to record the fire safety plan arrangementsin a fire safety manual that would also set out details of the activeand passive fire precautions measures in the building, would includeoperational details of m echanical and electrical systems, and wouldlog inspections, tests, and evacuation drills.Fire safety m anagement

structure The plan should set out a fire safety management structure thatidentifies the person or persons responsible for all matters relatingto fire safety, and subordinate lines of responsibility.These persons, who should have an appreciation of the f ireprecautionary measures in the building and their purpose, wouldbe involved in pre-incident planning w ith the fire service, and wouldmanage evacuation prior to their arrival.A fire safety manager should have overall control of the premisesrelating to matters of fire safety supported by the appropriate staffstructure to carry out this function.He should have an appreciation of the fire precautions within thebuilding and their purpose; to this end in large buildings he shouldliaise with the fire service before an incident as a preventativemeasure; during an incident to give detailed information and afterto learn any lessons and implement any improvements. He will takecharge of the evacuation of the building until the arrival of the fireservice.

Fire action plan Responsibilities and actions to be taken in the even t of fire need tobe set out in a fire action plan. Such a plan would include:- arrangements for calling the fire service and providing itwith relevant information;

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- procedures about evacuation from the building includingarrangements for assistance and guidance especially forpeople w ith disabilities where necessary;

- procedures for shutting down eq uipment; and- arrangements for first aid fire fighting where appropriate.

The need to tailor the fire action plan to a particular building, itsuses and mode of operation cannot be over emphasised. The firesafety design concept f or the building should have taken this intoconsideration and where it has, i t should be restated. In large orcomplex buildings or those to which the public are admitted theaction plan will require a high level of control as will those forbuildings occupied by people with disabilities necessitating a higherlevel of staff participation and training.

Staff training plan If fire actions are to be carried out effectively, staff need to be trainedso that individually they clearly understand their particular roleand responsibilities in the eve nt of a fire. The fire safety plan shouldtherefore include a staff training plan.The failure of persons to take the appropriate action when fire isdiscovered or the alarm raised is a comm on factor in fatal fires.Appropriate staff should receive training in:- action to be taken on discovery of a fire;- operation details of mechanical and electrical systems;- routine testing and m aintenance information;- logs for records of tests, evacuation drills etc.;- record drawings of active and p assive protection measures,

including sm oke control and fire alarm and public addresszones; and,

- the fire action plan.Th e frequency of the training w ill depend on the use of the buildingand codes relating to specific uses make varying recomm endations.

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... . . . . . . -. "". . . . . . . . " _ . " l l l . l l l l " . . . . . . . . " . ... . . .. .

Fire prevention plan It is best if fires can be avoide d in the first place, and regular ch ecksbased on a fire prevention plan can help. This would identifyhousekeep ing and s imi la r measure s re l a t ed to the use andmaintenance of items which could be a source of ignition, and tothe use and storage of combustible items which could ignite andlead to fire growth and spread. Electrical installations and equipmentand heat producing appliances could be ignition sources; buildingcontents generally and w aste materials in particular are potentialignitable items.Fire precautionsmaintenance plan In buildings designed on the basis of fire safety engineeringprinciples it is likely that there will be a wide range of active andpassive fire safety measures and facilities. Often these will dependone on another for their success, and regular checks and maintenanceare necessary if they are to remain effective. A fire precautionsmaintenance plan w ould identify appropriate frequencies of checksand maintenance of all fire safety facilities, installations andequipment. These include:- inspections and repair if necessary of the main fire

protecting structure and any openings in it, such as doors;- inspections and repair if necessary of protection toescaperoutes;- inspections to ensure that esc ape routes remain available;

t h i s w o u l d i n c l u d e e n s u r i n g t h a t t h e r e w e r e n oobstructions, that doors on routes were unlocked, thatclosing devices on doors operate correctly, and that firesafety signs and notices are maintained and not obscured;

- inspections and regular maintenance of active m easuresand installations to ensure that they will operate asintended, these include automatic fire detection and alarmsystems, smoke control and heat exhaust equipment,sprinklers and other fire sup pression system s, first aid firefighting equipment, general and escape lighting facilities,close circuit TV monitoring equipment, and hold opendevices on doors;

- inspections to ensure that external and internal fire serviceaccess arrangements are free from obstruction; and

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- inspections to ensure that facilities such as fire fightinglifts, water supply hydrants, inlets, control valves andoutlets, and override facilities for sm oke control and otherrelevant equipment are free from obstruction and operable.

Where buildings have a fire certificate or licence the necessarymain tenance requirem ents will normally be specified in thedocument.An essential aspect of this plan is that defects found are remediedand that persistent bad practices are investigated with a view totheir removal, thereby preventing the cause rather than be facedwith the consequences.Building m aintenance work,

alterations and partialoccupation The dangers arising from fires occurring during m aintenance workand alterations should be minimised by appropriate action in relationto the occupied building and the w ork practices proposed.If part of a building is to be occupied then all fire safety workappertaining to that part needs to be completed, including externalaccess and hydrants, protected escap e routes to final exits, fire alarmsystems and smoke control methods. Temporary arrangementspending com pletion of the building may be necessary to safeguardearly occupation.Separation between occupied and unoccupied parts should beprovided in fire resisting construction of a period commensuratewith the greatest risk. Such separation may be of a tempora ry nature.

Independent audit

The accruing benefits

'It has to be assumed that management will have procedures todeal with the above points that are appropriate to the design anduse of the building. De spite this there is always the possibility thatsome aspects of the fire precautions, systems, and evacuationprocedure s may not w ork as effectively as planned. Where justifiedby the use or complexity of the building these problems can tosome extent be overcom e by an independent audit of the procedurescarried ou t regularly.

Where there is a reliable audit it could be assumed:- that the number of fire starts is reduced;

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- that the probability of failure of one or more of the firesafety systems is reduced;

- that the probability of some shortfall in evacuationprocedures or escap e route availability is reduced, and

- that the probabil i ty of arrangements for access andfacilities for the fire service being obstructed o r unable tofunction is reduced.The degree of applicationand sources of information The deg ree to which fire safety managem ent needs to be developed

in a particular building is dependant upon its size, subdivision,comp lexity and use. This needs to be established by an assessmentof the relevant fire risks and hazards.Various guidance docum ents add ress different aspects of fire safetyman agem ent, in particular the subject is dealt with in detail in someof the British S tandard Codes of Practice on fire precautions in thedesign construction and use of buildings.

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